Mitrataa Foundation - Projects - Bal Mandir Children's Home

A piece of history houses the future of Nepal

In a Nutshell
On 1 May 2011, Mitrataa took over the management of the Naxal Children's Home from one of our partners, Nepal Children's Organisation (NCO). NCO run 11 children's homes all over Nepal as well as a number of other projects. Mitrataa agreed to run the Naxal home which is currently home to around 220 children for a period of 5 years.

Our Vision
By 2014, to create a world class sustainable model children's home which prepares the children to take control of their futures, physically and emotionally and with the right skills and opportunities.

Some of the challenges we face!

The home is in a beautiful old Rana palace which is gorgeous but in a serious state of disrepair. A lot of renovation and maintenance is required to turn the building into a perfect place for the children to live, play and learn.
There are around 220 children in the home, aged from a few days old to around 18. After the age of 10, the boys are transferred to another home and we only have girls. That's a lot of kids to feed, educate and inspire! It also takes a team of over 30 house mothers, cooks and cleaners.
The kids study in around 10 different schools so managing relationships with schools, negotiating fees, providing books and uniforms and getting them all to school regularly and on time is a logistical challenge! Not to mention parent-teacher nights for around 120 kids! Helping them to do their homework is an adventure!
Providing fresh, nutritious food appropriate for their age and needs and ensuring they are all eating properly is a challenge.

Why is this project perfect for Mitrataa?

The children at Bal Mandir are primarily girls and we will be empowering them to take control of their futures - our core objective
We will be aiming to create a sustainable children's home which can be used as a model for other homes in Nepal. This is in line with our "train the trainer" and sustainability approach
We will be drawing on our Dream Centre experiences in teaching skills for learning and skills for life based on the research surrounding creating resilience in the children
Nepal Children's Organisation, which currently runs the home, is one of our core partners in Nepal and we have a strong relationship based on trust and mutual objectives. This will be crucial for the success of this challenging project.

Mitrataa's Core Responsibilities

Day to day management of the Naxal home, including management of staff and co-ordinating with the schools
Financing of Naxal home, including salaries of staff, food, schools, medicines etc
Creating sustainable sources of income and sponsorship for the home
Sharing experience and expertise on fundraising and sustainable development with NCO
Establishing our Dream Centre model to teach the children at NCO life skills

How do we plan to do it?

Our strategy has 6 main elements:

Current Status
We are currently developing our strategy in conjunction with NCO so watch this space for updates! In the meantime, our focus for the first 6 months is on the kids - their nutrition, safety, education and environment. We'll be posting updates on our blogs too so keep an eye on that for more information or email Bec who is based in Nepal working at Bal Mandir.

How YOU can help
As you can imagine, running a home for so many children, particularly in a run-down old Rana palace, costs a lot of money! So your support is crucial to the success of this project. There are so many ways to help us:

making a donation (you can do this through the link below to Paypal or by sending us a cheque made payable to Mitrataa Foundation to PO Box 9086, Bathurst, NSW 2795 Australia);
checking out our shop which allows you to buy gifts which touch you – eg eggs for the kids for a week or a month or a year;
helping us to hold a fundraising event – get in touch for ideas on how you can do this. We can provide you with ideas, support, marketing materials etc;
signing up to Everyday Hero for an event to raise money – eg for your birthday, or for a local fun run or other event.

Thanks for your great support! This is by far our biggest project yet and we are so excited about the opportunities for change.
We are also very grateful to NCO for entrusting Mitrataa with this great project.