Organization: Nepal Youth Foundation

All Photos Established in 1990, the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF) is a U.S. based, non-profit organization devoted to bringing hope to the most destitute children in the beautiful but impoverished kingdom of Nepal. With a personal touch, NYOF provides them with what should be every child's birthright - education, housing, medical care and loving support. NYOF hires staff without regard to caste, religion, disability, ethnicity or political affiliation, and fosters tolerance & diversity.

Focus Areas:	Children, Education, Health, Human Rights, Poverty, Gender & Equality, Microfinance
Countries Served:	Nepal

Description of Services:
NYOF leverages the wealth of developed countries to help Nepalese children. Dollars go far in Nepal, it costs only $75 a year to send a village child to school. $100 rescues a little girl from bonded labor and pays her school costs. $340 restores a starving baby to health and educates the mother so the problem doesn't reoccur. The opportunity to help is irresistible. At first, the problems seem overwhelming. The majority of Nepalese are subsistence farmers, eking out a living far from roads, electricity, or social services. The disabled are cast out or hidden. Most people, especially women, are illiterate. Cultural and legal traditions make it difficult for women to assert their basic human rights. NYOF's programs are changing this.
History:
Upon visiting Nepal, witnessing the extreme poverty, and realizing what a difference can be made with a relatively small amount of money, Olga Murray began NYOF in 1990. She realized that a few dollars could literally change the life of a child forever. Girls and the handicapped were especially disadvantaged. NYOF's Major Programs: Nutritional Rehabilitation Homes NYOF manages six centers for severely malnourished children in Kathmandu and in rural areas of Nepal. Children and their mothers come to live at these centers, where we restore the child's health while educating the mother in child care, including preparation of nutritious meals.
Accomplishments & Progress:
Indentured Daughters Program Unable to survive, thousands of families are forced into a desperate trade; selling their daughters as bonded servants. Some of these girls are as young as six! The situation is tailor-made for abuse. Some of these girls never return home. The fathers receive an average of $50 a year for their daughter's services, and the girl gets nothing. NYOF provides a humane alternative. We help parents bring their daughters home and provide a piglet or goat, which the families can sell for the same amount their daughters would have earned. We pay all expenses for the girls to attend the local school. NYOF also has a micro-lending component. These girls are the first females in their families to be educated!