My name is Sally and in  2011 I visited Nepal for the first time.  I was lucky enough to trek for a few weeks through the Himalayas and this luck included meeting a local trekking guide who was known as " the mountain man".  I came to know him as Chet; he smiled and laughed easily and  was generous to a fault.  Over the next few years I visited Nepal many times; sometimes as a visitor and other times living as a local.  Chet and I married in Nepal in 2015 and his  children and grandchildren welcomed me with open arms. 

Needless to say Nepal is now part of me.  It's a  country of 30 million people, situated in the shadow of India and China.  It is best known for its mountainous peaks, the most famous being Everest and its smiling, easy going people.  Nepal is an impoverished country that has weathered a civil war (1996 -2006),  the 2015 earthquake that killed over 10,000 people and left people destitute; and the continued vulnerabilities of an unstable economy.  Women and children are regularly trafficked out of the country; migrants are at risk of poor work conditions abroad, the health care system is under resourced and the living conditions of the majority of the population barely live above the poverty line.

Today, Nepal is in its second lock down; it has Covid positive rates of 45%, the highest in the world.  They have over 1000 new cases everyday and recorded 20,000 new cases in May.  Their Covid deaths are greater per capita than India per capita ; they have less than 1500 ICU beds and 600 ventilators for 30 million people.   On top of this, they have low vaccination rates related to resources and accessibility.   Nepal's health system is overwhelmed; there is no financial assistance from the Government for families who have lost income , resulting in the population being more vulnerable in the presence of Covid.

Tourism has buoyed the Nepali economy for many years, as people from all over the world visit to experience the hospitality, culture and vibrancy of this once closeted country that only opened its borders to visitors in  the 1950's.  The tourism industry was disrupted in the 1990's due to the civil war and was finding its momentum again when the 2015 earthquake hit ; and now Covid has derailed it again.   

Having lived in Nepal at various times over the years, I have witnessed the poverty and experienced  the vulnerabilities this brings with it;  as well as the extraordinary beauty of the landscape and its peoples.  Our daughter was trafficked out of Nepal in 2016 , groomed by a perpetrator,  espousing the dream of better work outside Nepal.  She was 16 years old and like so many women and children in Nepal whose prospects and incomes are meager, she was vulnerable to this dream.  Many girls and women are trafficked across the border to India and disappear into other worlds; sometimes never seen again. 

Many people have to leave Nepal to find work. Migrants leaving Nepal, legally for better jobs abroad, also  find themselves vulnerable to merciless employers who see  cheap labor;  so many Nepali workers return to Nepal in coffins from countries that  once offered a dream of a better life, but turned into a nightmare.

Chet and I live in Melbourne and  are lucky to be able to financially support our Nepali family.  However our hearts are never  far from Nepal and we are wanting to support organizations in Nepal whose work is meaningful to us.

With our history of experiencing the trafficking of our daughter; Chet's lived experience of growing up in poverty and in turn relying on the meager wages of a trekking guide as an adult, to support his children, we are fundraising for three organizations.

Center for Migration and International Relations (CMIR): Is a not for profit organization that supports migrant workers and advocates for their rights abroad.  CMIR helped us rescue our daughter from Oman where she had been trafficked as a bonded domestic worker.  CMIR is supporting workers to return to Nepal and advocating for their rights in this current climate.
cmir.org.np


Destiny Rescue:  Is an organization working to rescue women and children trafficked into sex work throughout South East Asia.  They have recently started working with local Nepali women on the Nepali/Indian border to identify women and children being trafficked to India. Natural disasters increase the risk of  vulnerable people being trafficked and this has been seen in the increased number of women and children trafficked during this time.  Destiny rescue are also providing food and supplies to impoverished families within rural communities who have had family members as victims of trafficking or who are vulnerable to being trafficked.
www.destinyrescue.org.au

Nepal Rising:  an organization who are seeking "to join a collective effort to build and support health care capacity in Nepal for Covid 19."  They have partnered with grass roots organizations who are working on  the ground,  providing health care, support and food to vulnerable populations.
nepalrising.org

Our passion lies in supporting organizations who are providing support to the most vulnerable in Nepal.  We are asking our Australian community for their generosity and financial support in providing some hope and relief to the people of Nepal.   The funds raised will be divided equally between these organizations.

Thanks for your generosity. 

Sally and Chet