2013: A Retrospective - Celebrating a year of hard work and great achievement.

This past year, the Nepalese Children’s Education Fund saw many exciting developments: we continued to provide assistance for eligible students across Nepal, expanded into new areas, successfully transitioned new and existing members of our executive board, hosted successful fundraising events, and got to hear directly from the volunteers, students, and donors who make up our extended community.

Last month we heard from Chief Executive Officer Omprakash Gnawali about the goals we were able to accomplish in 2013. As he said, about 70% of our students are young girls. Volunteer and former board member Gyami Shrestha, profiled in March, shed more light on the importance of this fact. As a woman who grew up in Nepal, Gyami witnessed firsthand the hardships that young girls faced trying to obtain an education. Because fulfilling even basic needs is such a challenge, education often has to take a backseat in familial priorities. This drives some families to pull their children out of school to work, oftentimes in hard labor, out in fields, or in the case of many girls, to be married off to much older men. The cycle of poverty and abuse continues as children grow up and are unable to afford schooling for their own kids.

Education offers a chance to break this cycle. It’s the mission of NCEF to give this opportunity to as many students as possible, but it couldn’t be done without a team of hardworking volunteers, area coordinators, and generous donors. This year NCEF was able to host and participate in successful fundraising events such as the annual Walk for Nepal event held in cities across America. These events not only raise donations for our 81 students, they get our larger city communities engaged in the work of NCEF, spreading the word to new audiences.

As we look back at our year in review, The Nepalese Children’s Education Fund would like to once again thank all of our volunteers, donors, and ambassadors for everything that they do. This year, we hope to continue growing and, as always, bringing you updates from our amazing students and keeping you informed of all the great work being done behind the scenes. In the words of donor Vladimir Markov, “...an investment in a child’s education is the greatest gift as it continues throughout the life of the person.”

Next month we will hear from CFO/Treasurer Abhishek Shrestha about his engagement with NCEF and beyond.