Help fund scholarships for disadvantaged youth
Quick link to this page: bit.ly/CMCscholarship2019
This fundraising drive is to provide scholarships for disadvantaged young people in Nepal to be trained in hospitality so they have the skills they need to get a start in life.
About Nepal
Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with one-third of its population living below the poverty line and 80% of the population living in poor rural areas.
About Cocina Mitho Chha
Established over 20 years ago by Association Nepali Aki, Cocina Mitho Chha (CMC) is a non-profit social enterprise located in Kathmandu. Among its many programs, CMC offers scholarships in hospitality training to disadvantaged young people from orphanages, mountain villages and low-income families. It is primarily funded by running a small B&B, a restaurant, fee-paying students, and by holding Nepali cooking classes for guests and other tourists.
Tourism is the fastest growing sector in Nepal so training young people to work in the service sector arms them with skills to find work anywhere, from family cafés to five-star hotels. The courses are run by professional teachers, with the B&B and restaurant providing hands-on experience.
CMC also created the Peepalbot Agriculture Cooperative to help farmers and children in the mountains, supporting their agriculture by purchasing their spices and vegetables directly. CMC also supports remote schools in the Gorkha region with school uniforms, sporting materials, providing them with new education programs, and finding them volunteer teachers to help out at their schools. After the devastating Gorkha earthquake in 2015, CMC also gave shelter to more than 200 families and provided them with food and materials.
You can follow CMC on Facebook or Instagram, or visit their website for full details of their programs and success stories.
• Download a CMC promotional brochure (PDF)
About Rod Lewis
I will be travelling to Nepal in October & November 2019 to volunteer in one of the remote Gorkha schools supported by CMC. This fundraising campaign is one of the ways I am also supporting CMC itself. Online banking is not commonly available in Nepal so I'm raising the funds to take to them. I am a state government employee who has volunteered with refugees and asylum seekers for more than 10 years. I am also a youth mentor and adult educator. In 2014 I was shortlisted as a State finalist for the Australian of the Year Local Hero Award for my volunteer work. Prior to that, I was also nominated for a Pride of Australia Award.
I’m happy to answer any questions you have about this fundraising campaign and hope you can support my desire to build a better life for those less fortunate. To get to know more about me, feel free to stalk me on on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Please donate!
This fundraising is to cover scholarships for disadvantaged young people, which may include:
• Barista training (approx. AU$400 ea)
• A 6-month cooking & catering course (approx. AU$800 ea)
GoFundMe fees are almost $60 for a successful $2,000 fundraising effort so the odd target of $2060 is to include the GoFundMe fees so that CMC gets a full $2,000 gift.
Please help spread the word and make a donation because every dollar counts:
• Share a shortcut link to this page: bit.ly/CMCscholarship2019
• Download an information sheet (PDF) to share with friends or place on noticeboards
• Use the Facebook and Twitter buttons on this page to share the link with your network of friends and colleagues
• Share this Glam Adelaide article (thanks, Glam Adelaide!!)
Above: Debendra Pokharel is the founder and manager of Cocina Mitho Chha.
Below: The company's certificate of registration as a non-profit enterprise (partially in English)
(Images used with permission from CMC)
