Seeing Hands Nepal Covid-19 Appeal

Seeing Hands Nepal is a social enterprise, set up by us in 2005 to provide blind people in Nepal with employment opportunities as professional massage therapists.Due to Covid-19, the future of this enterprise is now uncertain and the blind staff face serious financial hardships. Please donate - or if a trip to Nepal is on your wishlist, pre-pay £25 now and get a free massage treatment at a later date.

History

SHN began as a UK charity with just four blind students and within ten years, became a completely self-sustaining enterprise, run by the blind with no need for external funding or support – an incredible achievement. A team of 25 blind massage therapists now work in and manage four successful blind massage clinics across Nepal, which have an excellent reputation with visiting tourists and trekkers. In 2013, our blind general manager in Kathmandu won the prestigious Surya Asha award for Social Entrepreneurship  

As an enterprise that is entirely dependent on income from tourists visiting Nepal, Seeing Hands is now facing extremely difficult decisions and is in desperate need of financial aid to continue operating as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Very few tourists have visited Nepal since the pandemic began, and despite trying to market services to locals, the clinics have only had a handful of paying clients in nearly 2 years. Rent payments are due every month on all clinic premises and although some landlords accepted reduced payments for a while, the team have now had to take loans to cover monthly expenses. Our contingency funds are exhausted and Seeing Hands is slipping into debt.There is no government support available and there are no benefit or support systems for disabled people in Nepal at all.  Without aid, Seeing Hands will be forced to close its doors permanently and 25 blind beneficiaries will lose employment. When tourism returns they will be able to restart, but the difficulties they will face finding and marketing suitable premises will set them back many years.

 The closure of one clinic is already being negotiated and the team desperately need support to keep the other three going and maintain what has been to date an incredibly successful social enterprise. It is extremely rare for initiatives like this to become truly self-sustaining and localised, operating without dependencies on overseas aid or funding. We cannot let the ramifications of the pandemic undo years of hard work and dedication and must support this enterprise to get through the next few months. As the original charity founders, we appeal to anyone who can to donate something, however small, to help keep Seeing Hands going until tourism returns to Nepal. Gift aid is not claimable as we are no longer a UK charity but we will ensure that 100% of donations make it to the team in Nepal.The target is to raise £5,000 to cover rent on the clinic premises and provide a relief fund for the living expenses of the blind therapists, many of whom are struggling to support their families as they were doing. 

Your support and generosity for this cause will be received with heartfelt appreciation from everyone involved. 

Thank you. 

Susan and Rob Ainley

Founders and Charity Trustees, Seeing Hands Nepal

More information: www.seeinghandsnepal.org