FNC Projects
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Abolition of Indentured Child Labor: FNC pioneered the Indentured Daughters Program to eradicate the practice of selling daughters as Kamlari (servant) girls to wealthy employees, which the UN labeled as ’slavery.’ We give a piglet or baby goat to raise and breed to parents who agree to bring their daughters home, not contract them away again, and allow them to attend school. We provide the former Kamlari girls scholarships to attend school and intensive “bridging classes” if necessary.
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Child Protection: To protect and support abandoned, orphaned, beggared, and disabled children, FNC runs two homes (J & K House) for the children to live from childhood until college, offers Boarding School Scholarships, and a Kinship Care Program to assist children’s relatives in taking care and educating orphaned children.
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Education: Many children in Nepal have been banned from school, either because they are orphans, disabled, or from a low caste. We currently give scholarships to more than 3000 of these students from kindergarten through medical school, in partnership with NYOF and other international NGOs. We have also built a model community school and are building more classrooms in southwestern Nepal.
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HIV/AIDS: In 2007, UNAIDS estimated that 75,000 Nepalese were infected with HIV. Large amounts of money have been spent on awareness and prevention advocacy, but the needs of Nepali HIV+ children have not been adequately addressed by the government or other non-profit organizations. Our FNC project, MSPN-Nepal, provides a treatment, care and educational center to prolong and enhance the lives of children born with HIV, as well as educate their caretakers on better medical, hygienic, and nutritional practices.
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Nutrition: It is estimated that half of all Nepali children under the age of five are malnourished, and malnourishment is one of the leading causes of death for young children. Often, the problem arises less from poverty and more from ignorance in the dietary needs of children and preserving nutrition during food preparation. We currently have two Nutritional Rehabilitation Homes, where we treat over 300 children each year. During their stay, we nurse them back to health free of cost and educate their mothers on proper nutrition and diet. Another project of ours, Community-based Therapeutic Care, sends nutritional experts to remote villages to educate them in proper diet and to refer any severely malnourished children to a nearby hospital.
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Counseling and Vocational Training: Some of our children from various programs have special psychological and educational needs that cannot be met by our regular programs, like a child understanding why her HIV+ mother and sister passed away or a former Kalmari (indentured servant) overcoming past oppression and abuse. To address their special needs, we have established the Ankur counseling center. We also provide many of our Indentured Daughters and scholarship recipients with vocational training, with the help of NYOF and the Western Union Foundation.