Rebuild Butterfly Home in Nepal

This GoFundMe Capaign is on behalf of 2012 CNN Hero of The Year, Pushpa Basnet and her Early Childhood Development Center in Kathmandu, Nepal who urgently need your help!

Pushpa has made it her mission to make sure children don’t have to grow up in prison along with their convicted parents. She is not only providing shelter, food and education but a family and hope – therefore ensuring the cycle of poverty and crime can be broken.

Unfortunately, the earthquake has effectively rendered this little group homeless.



I met Pushpa a few years back, documenting her story in “Waiting for Mamu”  (view on Vimeo). Through a continued effort since the film, it was possible to build a home for her group of almost 50 children: “The Butterfly Home” was a mere one to two months away from completion when the devastating 7.8 earthquake struck on April 25 and destroyed large parts of it.

Pushpa and her children are currently sleeping under an abandoned greenhouse and are still extremely exposed to the elements like rain and aftershocks.



We are working hard on the ground in Singapore and the US, tapping into our networks to source what is needed and to gather funds. I am planning to make the trip to Kathmandu by May 15 to get the needed equipment and supplies to Pushpa – we are still looking for the most cost effective way to transport such large amounts of cargo (any ideas, please share!).

By having a long term personal connection and understanding the needs locally even before the earthquake, we can ensure that the money goes to EXACTLY what  is needed, which right now are tents, generators, clean water and food – and later rebuilding the Butterfly Home.



We will personally see that everything reaches the group and will make sure they also get the emotional support needed in such a tough time. The funds will be managed together with the Utopia Foundation, a great non-profit with lots of expertise in this project.  Therefore our effort can be extremely targeted and we can avoid any unnecessary overhead so all your donations go directly to Pushpa’s project.



We understand how important it is that you know where your money goes! You will be able to track the progress and what is happening with the donations on this site but you can also follow my updates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Waiting-for-Mamu/512940322056571?fref=ts  

Every little donation counts, but sometimes people ask what else they can do to help. If you want to get creative and collect a larger sum, think out of the box! Are you a yoga teacher and can donate the proceeds of one class? Can you screen "Waiting for Mamu"  at your home or a bar and raise awareness along with funds? Can your company auction off some goods or services?
 


While urgent help is needed, this is a long term project with a sustainable impact – if you cannot donate now or already have, consider donating in the future or choosing the option to donate small, recurring amounts - rebuilding the home will take time and often the really devastating consequences after a natural disaster only happen weeks and months after the event, when news have moved on, initial relief is wearing off and the survivors suffer from long term consequences of losing their homes and livelihoods.

To all our friends around the world that are helping Pushpa and her children by donating or SHARING this page:

DANKE! GRACIAS! KIITOS! DANK  U VAL! TACK SO MYCKET! MERCI! GRAZIE! XIE XIE! DHANYBHAD!



Together YOU can rebuild this home and restore hope!