Welcome

A hearty welcome to the website of the association „Verein Stimme für notleidende Kinder e.V.“ (“voice for needy children”)
We invite you to make a virtual journey to Nepal, to understand and see the work of our association and also to bring you the country a bit closer.

Informations

The association consists of a group of people who live in and in the vicinity of Kiel, Germany.
Through hiking during the holidays in the Himalayas we came to know Nepal closer: In the capital city Kathmandu, we saw children – most of them orphans – under the age of 10 years spending the night homeless and freezing in small groups on the streets or on the front door steps. The total number of these homeless children is estimated to 1500. They were either abandoned due to financial problems or they ran away from their families because of physical abuse. This was the reason why we became active. We wanted to spare at least some of them this miserable fate.

The Association

“Stimme für notleidende Kinder” is a small, non–profit association, established in 1998. Since then we are running a small orphanage. The project is visited at least twice a year by us. Besides, there is a regular contact via telephone or e-mail so that the projects are accompanied continuously by the association in any case.
We appreciate each and every contribution!
The whole money is spent exclusively on the projects. No money is wasted on administrative costs because all the members work free of charge. Even the travel expenses form Germany to Nepal are privately financed.
A contribution receipt will certainly be sent at the end of the year.

Orphanage

The orphanage houses 18 children at the moment. The youngest is five years old and the elder ones are almost grown up. All children attend a private school until high school (class 10) as the government schools are unfortunately not up to standard. Like in Germany, the academic performances of the children are variable. Some are - fortunately - so talented that they manage to skip classes. We do not provide a luxurious life to these children but rather a good accommodation in comparison to Nepali standards and a proper medical care. Our aim is to give them a family-like atmosphere in which helping each other is possible. The progression of the project shows that we have been successful. The age structure assists in the social development of the children. You can see this from their pictures:

Nepal

On the map, one can find Nepal between India and Tibet/China. The small landlocked country extends around 900 km along the south side of Himalaya and is between 150 and 250 km wide. The total area is 147.181 km². Within this boundary Nepal offers ethnical and lingual richness as well as inherent natural beauty.
Nepal houses various climate zones of the world. Divided into three different geographical regions, a tropical climate is found in the plains (Tarai) in the south along the border to India. A chain of hills (Pahad) with heights above 4000m acts as a geological bridge between the snow-capped Himalayas (Himal) in the north and the southern region. Nepal boasts eight of the world's fourteen highest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth. The altitude differs from 68m above sea level in Terai up to 8848m in the Himal region. Due to the difference in altitude and climate, the land houses manifold flora and fauna.
Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. Since the city is surrounded on all sides by hills, it is also called Kathmandu valley. The valley is divided into Kathmandu (Kasthamandap), Lalitpur (Patan) and Bhaktapur (Bhadgaon). Each of these cities has its own history of origins and historical relevance. Hinduism is the official religion (constitute around 80% of population). Approximately 15% of the population are Buddhists, 2% are Christian and 3% make up Muslims. The population celebrates the hindu and buddhistical festivals together. The different religious communities live in peace and harmony with each other.
Hundreds of years ago, the nepalese people was divided into four groups: Brahmen or Bahun (priests), Chetri (politicians and businessmen), Baishya (peasants and merchants) and Sudra (shoemaker, tailor and other tradespeople). Members of the higher Hindu castes (Brahmen, Chetri) used to dominate the politics, economy and society of the country. They made their culture and way of thinking the basic principle of state and law. This caste system is not that common nowadays, in the cities in particular. This historical background story of castes and the origin of Nepal plays a great role in understanding the modern Nepal.
There are above 50 ethnic groups with different languages, cultures and religions in Nepal. They have their own customs and traditions. Nepal is rich in language diversity. Besides Nepali which is the official, national language of Nepal and also lingua franca (only around 50% of Nepalese people understand Nepali but not all of them can read or write), all the other languages of the country are recognized as national languages since 1990. The rate of illiteracy is estimated to 55%.
Nepal has like all developing countries a problem regarding population growth. At present, round about 28 millions people live in Nepal of which 2 millions live in Kathmandu. Many of them immigrated from India, Bhutan and chiefly Tibet.
Even though Nepal is world?s second richest country after Brazil in terms of water resources, there is not enough drinking water supply. The hygienic conditions are equally poor. There is no famine yet but the rate of infant mortality is very high due to poor nutrition and hygiene. Some kids go to school but most of them do not complete it because of financial problems. Girls and Women are still the disadvantaged persons. They have to work at home and look after the family. They also get married very early.
80% of the population depend on agriculture. The mountainous land makes life much harder. The young generation from the hills is attracted by the modern world in Kathmandu. They hope for a better life in the city and do not want to earn their living with farming. The per capita gross national product of Nepal is around 1,600 US$. In comparison the figure for Germany: 30.150 US$. Many international aid organisations help Nepal in different ways. Unfortunately, due to corruption development aids often do not reach the people in need. The small aid groups achieve a lot as they work together with the citizens. This helps to boost their self-esteem.
There is still a lot to do - the improvement of Nepal?s educational system and elimination of environmental problems to start with. The problems have intensified by civil war from 1994 till 2006.
Even the smallest brick helps in building the house; likewise each assistance builds up Nepal. All kind of support is welcome.