Mitch's Nepal Volenteering

My name is Mitchell and I’m 38 years of age. I’m going to volunteer in Nepal for 3 months and i need your help to raise some much needed funds to simply help children and their families.

Firstly I will volunteer in the office in Kathmandu to gain a greater understanding of how the Umbrella Organisation is helping Nepal. I will also assist local teachers in rural schools in places like Sangachok where I will live with local host families. I will also “attempt” to use my handyman skills to help fix parts of the school, like fixing the floors, window and shutters etc. which was quite badly affected in the earthquake. 

I am taking a career break from my fulltime employment where I am based in Melbourne working for a mining company. This is something that I have wanted to do for some time. The opportunity has now become available and I feel it’s time to do something meaningful and to give back. 

The Umbrella Foundation is a non-profit registered charity in Ireland, Holland, Hong Kong, UK, USA and Australia working to alleviate the impact of trafficking, poverty and war on children and their families in Nepal. Established in 2005 in response to the growing number of illegal ‘orphanages’ neglecting children’s most basic rights – food, education, safe shelter, healthcare and love – the organisation is a family-first, children’s charity which rescues vulnerable children and reintegrates them with their families and rural communities. When this is not possible, The Umbrella Foundation support them in  homes until such a time as they can stand on their own two feet. As a responsible and ethical organisation, we work alongside the Child Welfare Board to prevent further trafficking and corrupt children’s homes from operating. The Umbrella Foundations charity number (Ireland) is CHY17247.

I would appreciate any donations big or small, every little bit helps. 

The money I raise with your help will cover some of my general living expenses in the volunteer house (when in Kathmandu) but also goes towards the host family that will be providing meals and accommodation in the rural area where I will be teaching. It also covers the cost of housing and looking after one of the children living in the Umbrella homes in Kathmandu for 1 year. As the donation will go into our general fund - some of your donations will go towards some of the current projects for example, sending reintegration officers to remote areas to check up on some of the children that have been reintegrated over the past years, running workshops with the Umbrella Children and the Youth in the NYSEP program.
 
Anything I raise beyond the target of $2,500 can also be used towards specific projects once I arrive. An example of this is one recent volunteer funded the cost of buying carpets in Kathmandu for the rural school children to sit on during winter time.  Money will generally go towards the projects at the time that require the most attention and support.