Minibus for Children Living in the Mountains

Hi, my name is Jaz and I’ve taken time off from my work to volunteer overseas with communities that are marginalised or vulnerable.

I spent 7 months as a volunteer in Nepal for a Not For Profit organisation called the Indra Foundation which was set up by 2 brothers and their father, originally in response to the 2015 earthquake there which destroyed thousands of homes and people's livelihoods. The Foundation works directly at a grassroots level to understand and address what can be done to help women, children and remote communities to develop and sustain an income generation source for themselves through microenterprises using natural resources.

I lived in their household and we have hiked to remote locations and spoken with the villagers in person. The communities receive no government assistance whatsoever and the current road infrastructure linking these remote mountain villages is terrible. Hot summers and cold winters with flooding can make the steep terrain hazardous. Consequently, children have to walk alone for more than 1.5 hours each way to school through forest areas which sometimes have resulted in being attacked by leopards. The need for some form of safe transport is very apparent and the Foundation is trying to raise money to be able to buy a 20-seater minibus which would provide free transport to school for the children, as well as a shuttle service for the villagers to travel to surrounding towns for basic goods, medical treatment and other necessities.

I have found the Foundation's mission to improve the lives of others inspiring and have been impressed enough by what I have seen to want to help raise some funds for this cause. There are no middlemen or overhead expenses to pay. This minibus would make an enormous impact on the mountain villagers' everyday lives and could also be used to benefit the local community and economy by promoting rural tourism in these mountain villages.

Please help me to make an immediate difference in these rural communities. Any amount would be appreciated and I would love to be able to see the impact of the funds raised as I am still actively involved with the Foundation.