Holiday Wishes from Nepal

NYF President Som Paneru sends his holiday wishes to you! This letter was featured in an email sent to NYF supporters on December 23, 2024. If you’d like to receive messages like this in the mail, please subscribe to our email list here. 

Dear NYF Community,

After your love and generosity during Nepal’s festival season at Dashain and Tihar, it is now our turn to send warm holiday wishes to all of you.

When we ask our graduates about their experiences with NYF, most of them mention holiday celebrations. Of course, they are tremendously grateful for the opportunity to receive a good education, for excellent healthcare, for nutritious meals, and for a safe, stable home. But happy festival memories bound them together as a family.

Our late founder, Olga Murray, always understood intuitively that alongside our wonderful programming, the children in our care needed these joyful traditions. These special times bring us together, creating a shared sense of belonging.

This is our first holiday season since Olga’s passing. It is a bittersweet occasion. The holidays are not the same without her mischief and laughter.

But even this is part of what makes these occasions important. Cherished festival traditions provide opportunities to remember those who came before us, to remember everything they made possible. 

This holiday season, I am tremendously grateful for all the years we spent with Olga—and for all the ways she showed her love for Nepal’s children. I am grateful that her work introduced us to all of you, our generous supporters. And I am so moved by the way you have embraced Olga’s promise to the children of Nepal, and made it into Our Shared Promise.

Thank you all for sharing this remarkable year with us, and for your loving commitment to our shared promise. We wish you and yours a warm and joyful holiday season, and love and prosperity in 2025.

Som Paneru, President
Nepal Youth Foundation

Urmila Chaudhary & Rising Leaders in Saptari District

Urmila Chaudhary receives the Global Anti-Racism Champions Award

On October 21, 2024, NYF’s own Urmila Chaudhary was in Washington, D.C., one of six civil society leaders receiving the Global Anti-Racism Champions Award from the U.S. Secretary of State.

This prestigious award honors Urmila’s dedication to advancing the rights of marginalized castes and ethnic communities across Nepal and for combatting systemic racism and intersectional abuses. It brings us such joy to see Urmila’s remarkable accomplishments recognized on the world stage in this way.

NYF President Som Paneru first met Urmila in 2007 when she was 17 years old. She had been trapped in kamlari bonded servitude since age 6. She learned about NYF’s work from a brochure about street dramas being performed by girls like herself who had been liberated. Soon, she began seeking us out in a daring bid for her own freedom.

When Urmila returned to her village in Dang District, she joined an ongoing rally against the bonding practice before stopping to reunite with her family. She immediately became a relentless force and leader within her community, determined to ensure the freedom of the many others who were still enslaved.

• Urmila performed in street plays to raise awareness.
• She stormed outgoing buses at checkpoints to ensure no girls were being sold.
• She visited the families of young girls, convincing them not to send their daughters away.
• A natural leader, Urmila was one of the founders of the Freed Kamlari Development Forum.
• In 2013, Urmila was even hospitalized after being beaten unconscious by police during a peaceful demonstration. Footage of the brutality experienced by Urmila and other demonstrators was broadcast on national TV. It permanently turned Nepal’s people against the kamlari practice. By the end of the year, Nepal’s Supreme Court had formally outlawed the practice.

Perhaps most remarkable of all is this: Urmila accomplished all of this while still attending school. Urmila had never set foot in a classroom before being sold into bondage. Following an academic bridging course, Urmila enrolled in Grade 5 alongside 10- and 11-year-olds, taking on school at the same time that she was becoming one of the fiercest, most active leaders in the Kamlari Freedom movement. Today, she is in the final semester of her Bachelors of Legislative Law program at one of Nepal’s best law schools.

Urmila will use that law degree to continue her lifelong fight against injustice.

As we reflect on Urmila’s story, we see the same spark and passion in the young people we are serving in Saptari District. In these earliest days of the Caste Equality Project, several young women have already distinguished themselves as superstars—born leaders capable of achieving tremendous change for their communities. Please scroll down to learn more about two of these leaders, Renu and Anju.

Our Caste Equality Project is helping them unlock their remarkable potential.

For nonprofit organizations like ours, the “Giving Season” between now and the end of the year determines how much we can accomplish in the new year. Thanks to the success of the Empowering Freed Kamlaris program, we already have a proven roadmap for extraordinary, community-led change.

But only your help can keep the wheels in motion. The loving gifts you send right now determine how many young people NYF can support next year.

We’re hoping to raise an additional $250,000 by December 31st to ensure that we can reach as many kids and young adults as we can in 2025. The more you give, the more people we can support.

NYF’s transformative work has always been fueled by loving supporters like you. We hope you’ll consider making a donation today.

At NYF, we know how powerful young people can be, with the right support. With passionate leaders like Urmila, the Tharu girls we liberated in the early 2000s ended the terrible kamlari practice within a single generation. Today, we’re already identifying powerful young Dalit leaders in Saptari District. Will you help empower them in 2025?

Meet the rising leaders in Saptari District:

Renu Kumari Sada, 20

Renu Kumari Sada is an upbeat, optimistic young woman who grew up in a family of ten. She is part of the Sada community, a Dalit subcaste that experiences intense discrimination even from other Dalit groups.

Renu’s family relies entirely on income from agricultural labor jobs, so she was only able to attend school through grade three. After that, she needed to help support the family, which she did through household chores and farming.

When she was only 13, Renu’s family married her off to a local young man. But her husband soon moved another woman into their marital home, calling her his “new” wife. Humiliated, Renu returned to her family home, locked into a life with no future prospects, and full of social rejection—all before she ever reached adulthood.

Everyone in the village, even Renu’s family, blamed her for this misfortune. Everything would have been fine, they said, if she had only been able to make her husband happy.

Renu was living with her parents in March 2024, when she heard about a community gathering nearby. NYF was presenting information on the career training programs available through Olgapuri Vocational School. Our team hoped to include these programs in the first year of Caste Equality Project work in Saptari District.

Most young people in Saptari District’s Dalit-majority villages were too anxious to sign up for vocational training this year. These communities have endured so many broken promises, casteist obstacles, and exploitation that many parents discouraged their adult children, believing that after our training programs, any job opportunities would disappear. Their families, they thought, would end the year in worse financial condition than they began.

But where others expected a dead end, Renu saw an escape hatch.

Renu enrolled in NYF’s Industrial Tailoring training program with tremendous enthusiasm, leaving her village for the first time ever and moving to Kathmandu. Despite her limited educational background, she committed herself to mastering the math and literacy skills needed to enter this new career path. Today, Renu is thriving at work in Kathmandu’s garment industry—and her success has been noticed back home.

Inspired young adults in Saptari District are looking at vocational training opportunities with greater interest. After only a few months, Renu is putting money aside in savings and also sending some home to her family.

Anju Sada, 20

Anju Sada, 20, has already left a positive mark on her village through her artwork. Like Renu, Anju belongs to the Sada community. Most of the buildings in their village are simple, traditional structures made of mud, bamboo, thatch, and wood. The method of insulating with mud allows for intricate decorative patterns sculpted on the walls.

During the COVID lockdowns, Anju began experimenting with paints, enhancing the designs on nearby homes with beautiful colors. She refreshes the colors every Tihar, when Nepalis traditionally deep clean their homes for the coming year.

For this young woman from the most oppressed subcaste of all, this cheerful artwork was a kind of defiance. Despite generations of harmful messaging about her place in the world, Anju knew that she and her neighbors deserved to be surrounded by joy and beauty. And she was determined to create as much of that beauty as she could.

Anju was a local trendsetter before NYF ever arrived—she was our first local teammate when we arrived in Saptari District!

In mid-2024, Anju became the first woman from her village’s Sada community to ever complete the 12th grade. She was able to accomplish this because her parents sent her to live with her uncle in another region for much of her childhood. Growing up in another community allowed her to master both Maithili (her native language) and Nepali—but it also separated her from her cultural heritage.

When Anju first met NYF, she was accepting what she thought was a one-time translation job—a great opportunity to bring home extra income. But her eyes lit up as our team described the Caste Equality Project.

She’s been a passionate local Caste Equality Project leader ever since.

Today, Anju is an inspiration to other local girls as she encourages them to stay in school. She’s NYF’s go-to local translator, providing vital community mobilization support. And she’s also been working as a paid volunteer, helping girls who recently dropped out of school to rejoin their peers in the classroom.

If you are as inspired by these incredible leaders as we are, please click here and show your support by making a donation now.

A beautiful tribute to Olga Murray

On October 21, 2024, over 450 people gathered at Olgapuri Children’s Village for a special, bittersweet celebration of our founder Olga Murray.

We were so please to see so many NYF Community members present at this ceremony. Attendees included community leaders, stakeholders, and dear friends of Olga’s. Staff members, board members, Olgapuri children, and many adults who were raised in NYF’s care were also in attendance. Even current students at Olgapuri Vocational School joined us! We were also deeply honored to be joined by Nepal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honorable Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba. Dr. Deuba was a close and dear friend of Olga’s.

The Program

The program was emceed with heart by NYF Nepal staff member Laxmi Ghimire and K House alumna Bunu Sherpa. It featured a wide range of speakers, including our very own Board Chair, Chris Heffelfinger. Chris shared some sweet, funny stories about Olga’s life before NYF. The highlight of the program was a theatrical performance by the children telling the story of Olga’s founding of NYF.

At the end of the program, Olga’s grandson and newest NYF US Board Member, Sean Murray, helped to unveil his grandmother’s statue—a golden bust of Olga resting happily on a wooden lotus flower carving. As we unveiled this statue of Olga Murray on the grounds she cherished, we are reminded that her legacy of compassion and empowerment will forever be a part of this place and the hearts of all those whose lives she touched.

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed a delicious Nepali lunch. They then toured the Children’s Village, the Vocational School, Ankur Counseling Center, and the gardens.

Olga’s Legacy

Between 1990 and 2020, Olga spent about six months of every year living in Nepal full-time. She served as a doting grandmother figure to hundreds of children and forged lifelong friendships with community partners. She built transformative programs with her fierce determination and mentored a generation of Nepal’s child protection leaders.

In remembrance of her tremendous impact on the lives of tens of thousands of Nepali children, as well as her work to empower and strengthen the nonprofit community within Nepal, the NYF Community was honored to unveil this beautiful statue on the Olgapuri grounds.

As we rapidly approach the end of the year, we’re reflecting on Olga Murray’s dearest wish—that the organization she built would continue transforming the lives of Nepal’s children for generations to come. We hope you’ll join us in ensuring Olga’s vision lives on!

More Photos:

Click here to view this update on NYF’s Facebook page.

Two Community Learning Centers inaugurated!

On September 25, 2024, NYF officially inaugurated two new Community Learning Centers (CLC) in Saptari District as part of our Caste Equality Project. These centers will serve as vital hubs for children and adults in their respective villages with a wide range of programming available. Programs include afterschool tutoring, childcare, early childhood education, adult literacy & skills training, and more.

We’ve already started operating out of these two centers, and we have plans to build three additional spaces in villages throughout Saptari District.

Programs have started in the Community Learning Centers!

Our Peer Counseling Program, which launched in the spring of 2024, is now fully operating out of the Community Learning Centers. In April, 30 young women (aged 13-19) from Tirhut Municipality traveled to Kathmandu to receive peer counseling training at Ankur Counseling Center. Now, these trained women are leading monthly support groups with 70 attendees (so far!)!

Reliable Childcare & Early Childhood Education

These two Community Learning Centers offer play-based & educational Early Childhood Care all day to toddlers under the age of 3.5. This empowers parents, particularly moms, to access stable job opportunities, allowing them to nourish their children, to save and invest in the future, and to participate more actively in their communities. While parents work, preschoolers spend their days in a safe, social, learning-rich environment provided by local experts trained by NYF. This also benefits older sisters who often miss class to provide childcare, allowing girls to stay in school, too.

After-School Tutoring & Bridging Courses

Older students who visit the centers can receive after-school homework help and tutoring. Those who wish to re-enter school after a long gap can receive special “bridging courses.” This would help them catch up to their peers and thrive in school. Bridging courses provide a rapid foundation in mathematics, Nepali, English, science, social studies, and health sciences, all based on the government curriculum for each grade.

Nutritious Meals

Children receive hot, nutritious meals prepared on-site using proven Nutritional Rehabilitation Home principles. This ensures local kids receive at least one nutrient-rich meal per day.

Other CEP programs planned for these spaces include:

• Adult Literacy Classes (covering reading, home finance, and legal literacy).
• Town meetings where teachers, parents, and local leaders build community-wide, unified strategies.
• Nutrition-focused home cooking classes for mothers, applying NRH principles.
• Disaster preparedness programs.
• Peer counseling and support groups (these are already underway).
• Women’s empowerment and co-op groups.
• Teacher training.

Letter from Som Paneru: Empowering the next generation

The following is a version of a letter from NYF President Som Paneru. The letter was featured in a mailing in September 2024, sent to select NYF friends in North America. If you’d like to receive stories like this in the mail, please let us know. We hope you enjoy reading about the NYF Community’s heartfelt efforts to empower the next generation of children in Nepal!

Dear NYF Community,

This year, as we all commit to keeping Olga’s promise—now our shared promise—I often find myself reflecting on Olga didi’s inspirational impact on generations of Nepal’s young people. I am so grateful to you for making this remarkable work possible.

Nepali culture is deeply rooted in relationships, and in exchanges between each generation. Our language is full of special family-oriented terms of respect. Additionally, multigenerational homes are very common here. And our most cherished festivals highlight blessings offered to children from their elders.

In the early years, as our beneficiaries began to reach adulthood, Olga was tremendously proud that many of the children we supported began joining our efforts to empower the next generation of children. Their support, combined with the enthusiasm of our loving community in the U.S. and beyond, allowed our work to expand far beyond our expectations.

This trend has continued throughout NYF’s 34-year history. More and more, graduates are using their success to “pay it forward” for the next generation of NYF students. Even the children of long-time NYF staff members have joined our work!

Recently, I received a heartfelt email (below) from Nishant Mahat, the son of long-time NYF team member Reeta Mahat. When Reeta joined the NYF team in 2001, Nishant was only nine years old. Reeta had never anticipated needing to financially support her family. But she found a job at NYF at exactly the right time—and she has been a crucial team member ever since.

Nishant’s Heartfelt Email

To: Som Paneru
From: Nishant Mahat
Subject: Contribution to NYF

Dear Som Uncle,

I have seen NYF grow over the years very closely and it gives me immense pleasure that NYF continues to carry on Olga didi’s dream of making lives better for the most vulnerable in our society.

Among many things, what distinguishes NYF from other NGOs is the integrity it shows in delivering aid to the ones who really need it. As you know, my mother is one of the earliest staffs in NYF and I have witnessed first-hand the passion, devotion and sincerity that she puts into her work. That kind of devotion would not be possible if her work was not making an impact on lives of others. Her dedication strengthens my trust in NYF.

While NYF’s work of helping Nepali children and youth deservedly gets credit, I think what is often overlooked is the impact it has on its staffs’ life and family.

Without my mother’s job at NYF our lives would have turned out very differently and not in a good way. Sushant, Sidhant and I always considered ourselves beneficiaries of NYF. So, it is time I think I give something back.

The idea of giving back has always driven us. Sushant has donated to NYF before and his company matches his donation. Sidhant, when he was here, also made contributions. Therefore, it would be an honor for me to contribute to NYF as well.

Sincerely,
Nishant Mahat

The Mahat Brothers: Supporting NYF

Today, Nishant is a successful software engineer in Kathmandu. His younger brother Sushant works in the U.S. at a leading-edge tech company.

Their youngest brother, Sidhant, unfortunately passed away while hiking in Colorado in 2022. He was pursuing his master’s degree in computer science and already supported NYF whenever he could. His family finds comfort in knowing that Sidhant’s spirit of generosity lives on in the kids he helped to empower.

I was very moved by Nishant’s email. His thoughtful compassion clearly shows that he is following in his mother’s (and brothers’) footsteps. And his desire to give back to NYF to support the next generation of Nepal’s children means much more than financial numbers.

Caste Equality Project Updates & Next Steps

Now, I want to take this moment to share this one-pager which provides an overview of our Caste Equality Project work from the past year. It also includes exciting next steps. Photos from Saptari District remind me of the early days of the Indentured Daughters program. In 2000 and 2001, we had no idea how much we would accomplish by empowering young Tharu women to reject oppressive systems and demand change. Thanks to support from people like you, in just 20 years, childhood indentured servitude changed from a day-to-day reality in their communities to an illegal, widely-rejected relic of the past.

Now, with support from you and young, inspired Nepali people like Nishant, Sushant, and Sidhant, we are building that same momentum in Dalit-majority villages in Saptari District.

We hope you’ll help us keep our transformative shared promise by making a generous gift today.

Onward!

Som Paneru
NYF President

Make-A-Will Month 2024

The Power of Planned Giving

August is National Make-A-Will Month—an annual reminder to review your future plans and ensure your wishes are recorded. Here at NYF, Make-A-Will Month 2024 is special. As we continue to honor Founder Olga Murray’s memory, 2024 has become a year focused on legacy.

This post includes new details on NYF’s Legacy Circle and the benefits of early estate planning. We also share more about our new partnership with FreeWill, a free, supportive estate planning resource.

The Nepal Youth Foundation prides itself on building transformational change with slow and steady strength. We make long-term promises to individual children and families, devoting focused attention to creating sustainable, generational triumphs. We devote tremendous effort to refining each program, improving upon our remarkable outcomes year after year. And in everything we do, we think ahead, considering the practical long-term needs of the Nepali children and young people in our care.

Olga’s Legacy

In a time of shortened attention spans and instant gratification, Olga built NYF on principles deeply rooted in wisdom she acquired over nearly a century of lived experience. She knew that truly sustainable social change requires hard work, patience, and committed supporters.

Olga was adamant that at NYF, “we finish what we start.” Launching NYF’s Legacy Circle was just one of the ways Olga committed to ensuring her life’s work continued beyond her lifetime. She became the Legacy Circle’s original member by including NYF as a beneficiary in her estate plans. And NYF’s team set to work raising awareness of the power of planned giving. 

Legacy gifts like Olga’s help ensure our proven, transformative programming can withstand unexpected disasters like pandemics and earthquakes. They allow us to maximize the care we offer to the children we serve. Most of all, these remembrances provide the stability we need to continue serving Nepali children long into the future.

The Legacy Circle

The Legacy Circle is NYF’s way of saying Dhanyabad, or Thank You, to those who remember us in their estate plans.

To join this special group of NYF supporters, all you need to do is let us know you’ve included us in your will or other plans. No minimum bequest is required.

There are many ways to make a legacy gift, including gifts of cash, stock, real estate, retirement funds, life insurance, and more. To learn more about these giving approaches (and ways they may lower tax burdens for your family), please explore our Planned Giving page!

If you have included NYF in your estate plans but are unsure whether NYF is aware of this, please share those details through this form provided by FreeWill.

NYF is currently developing ways to honor the deeply committed individuals who have chosen to join our Legacy Circle. Legacy Circle members receive: 

• An enamel lapel pin designed exclusively for NYF’s Legacy Circle.

• Annual Special Impact Report packets including stories, photos, and detailed updates from our programming.

• Small annual gifts (often Nepali tea) with an invitation to a personal meeting with U.S. Executive Director Ryan Walls.

• Early invitations to events like Founder’s Day.

Three Reasons to Make Your Will Now

Many people are surprised to learn that around two-thirds of American adults do not have an up-to-date will. 

Reasons for this include not knowing where to start, feeling overwhelmed by the process, and believing only extremely wealthy people benefit from these documents.

Fortunately, starting your estate planning is easier than ever with free tools like FreeWill. And there are many reasons to create or update your estate plan during Make-A-Will Month 2024. Here are just three:

1. A formal will is an important legal document for everyone to have.

All adults, whether you’re 18 or 80, and whether your estate is large or small, should have a will. Your will allows you to distribute your property and protect your loved ones after you pass away. 

When you consider your belongings, you may find that you have more property than you realize: your home, vehicles, furniture, clothing, books, sentimental items, and more. With so many assets stored digitally today, you may also possess financial accounts your loved ones are unaware of.

No matter what your age, stage of life, or socioeconomic status, maintaining an up-to-date record of your wishes for your property will ensure that those wishes are carried out, no matter what happens. Many people also find that keeping estate plans up-to-date encourages them to live more fully in the present and enjoy the people they have safeguarded for the future.

2. It provides peace of mind to you and your family.

Times of loss are highly stressful for families. Creating a will prevents family conflict that may arise when wishes for property are unclear. A will gives your family guidance and reassurance that they can fulfill your wishes during this difficult time.

Your will can also name a legal guardian for your minor children and identify who should care for your pets.

Depending on your state’s laws, the absence of a will may result in your estate being distributed by a court system that does not understand your values or your relationships. It may also increase the tax burden on your heirs.

Your up-to-date will is a loving gift to your heirs and beneficiaries, giving them peace of mind during a challenging time. Knowing you have prepared this gift for them gives you peace of mind, too.

3. It lets you create a legacy that lasts beyond your lifetime.

Olga lived to be 98 and a half—an incredible, full, inspirational lifetime she lived to the fullest.

None of us live forever. But Olga has shown us that your power to make a positive impact on the world can last long after you leave it.

Leaving a gift for a nonprofit in your will costs you nothing during your lifetime. But it makes a tremendous positive impact on causes close to your heart for years to come. And as the children who benefit from your gift grow up and invest in the next generation, their triumphs become part of your transformative legacy.

NYF and FreeWill: Make-A-Will Month 2024

This Make-A-Will Month, making a will is easier than ever through FreeWill. FreeWill is a free online tool that will walk you through the process step-by-step. At the end, FreeWill provides you with your completed document, plus clear instructions on how to make it legally binding in your state (for example, letting you know whether you need witnesses or a notary).

Those living outside of the United States or who have more complex estates may still benefit from using FreeWill’s tool as a starting point. Take the completed document with you when you visit your lawyer or financial advisor to use as an outline.

If you choose to leave a gift for a nonprofit like NYF in your will, FreeWill makes that process simple, too.

If you’ve already completed your formal will, this month is a great time to review it! Estate attorneys recommend doing so every three to five years, or whenever you experience a big change (getting married, moving states, or welcoming a new child or grandchild). Things often change faster than we realize, so regularly updating your preferences is important. 

You may also wish to make sure you’ve named beneficiaries for your life insurance policies or retirement accounts.

Through NYF’s new partnership with FreeWill, information on estate planning is available right on our website. Click here to start today!

Dhanyabad!

Thank you for everything you do to help support transformative change in the lives of Nepal’s children. 

NYF’s entire global team—and the children and families we serve—are so grateful for the tremendous progress your love has made possible since Olga founded this organization in 1990. From all of us: dhanyabad.

Founder’s Day 2024: Recap & Recording

Every year, NYF’s global team is reminded of the many reasons to be grateful for our remarkable community of supporters and friends. Thank you to everyone who joined us for Founder’s Day this year on May 30th, 2024.

It was a bittersweet night as the NYF Community reflected on Olga’s remarkable life, celebrated her transformative legacy in Nepal—and recommitted to our shared promise to Nepal’s rising generation. We hope the evening was as meaningful for you as it was for us.

If you were unable to attend Founder’s Day 2024 in person (or if you would like to share the evening with a friend or over social media), the event is now available through our YouTube channel. You can also view it below:

Tribute Room (Now available digitally as an online gallery!)

At Founder’s Day this year, an entire room was dedicated to honoring the life of NYF’s late founder, Olga Murray. In this tribute room, we collected meaningful moments and treasures from Olga’s life and placed them throughout the space. Friends, family, and NYF supporters gathered together—in tears and in laughter—to remember Olga’s amazing story.

Since this tribute room was a such a highlight at Founder’s Day, we decided to create an online version so that our friends around the world could also “gather” in celebration of Olga’s extraordinary life.

Click here to visit the digital tribute gallery!

Fundraising Goal & Update

This year’s Founder’s Day event was both a celebration of life for Olga Murray, as well as a fundraiser to honor her dearest wish: for her work in Nepal to continue. With that in mind, we set an extremely ambitious fundraising goal of $340,000—by far our most ambitious goal to date—in honor of Olga’s 34 years of impact in Nepal.

We are thrilled to share that so far, including donations and pledges, we have surpassed the previously unimaginable figure of $350,000!

Our global team is so grateful for the incredible love of the NYF Community. The funds raised at this event will go so far in ensuring Olga’s legacy continues—providing Education, Health, Shelter, and Freedom for the children of Nepal. They will also allow us to build our momentum in Saptari District, offering transformative Caste Equality Project programming from a position of strength and stability, achieving sustainable results right away. If you would like to make a gift in honor of Olga and Founder’s Day, please click here.

(The thermometer above only reflects gifts we’ve received and does not yet include pledges. We expect the total to increase as pledges are fulfilled!)

Endowment Campaign

At the end of Founder’s Day 2024, we also announced our forthcoming endowment campaign. This is a major step for our organization, inspired by Olga’s generous legacy gift.

Olga chose to dedicate the value of her beautiful Sausalito home to supporting NYF in perpetuity. Her most fervent wish was to ensure that NYF’s programs, especially Olgapuri Children’s Village, could continue as long as they are needed by the children of Nepal. Olga’s remarkable bequest will lay the foundation for the endowment campaign. We will share more about this ambitious campaign in the coming months.

Olga was the original, founding member of NYF’s Legacy Circle. NYF is currently refining and deepening our Legacy Circle process through a partnership with FreeWill—an organization providing free access to will-making services as well as user-friendly support for those wishing to make donations to nonprofits using assets like stocks, retirement accounts, Donor Advised Funds, and cryptocurrency. Keep an eye out for updates in the coming weeks on this new partnership!

Thank you all again for your commitment to our shared promise.

Thank you to everyone who registered, attended, participated, and donated. Thanks, too, to anyone who invited a friend or spread the word. A very special thank you goes to filmmakers Roy Cox and Robin Mortarotti; to the volunteers, board members, advisory board members, and staff working behind the scenes; to our Nepali team members Raju Dhamala, Anjita Parajuli, and Lalit Gahatraj for traveling to join us, and of course, to Sean Murray, Som Paneru, Gina Parker, and Angela Pal for their heartfelt remarks.

Our team is overwhelmed with gratitude for your belief in Olga’s promise—now, our shared promise. Stay tuned for updates on the Caste Equality Project as we continue to scale our work in Saptari District!

Thank you, and Dhanyabad!

If you would like to see more photos from Founder’s Day 2024, please click here. Please email us for the password as the gallery is password-protected.

Spring Updates from Saptari District

NYF’s long-term Caste Equality Project (CEP) is our most ambitious and daring undertaking yet. Our goal is to empower Dalit communities in Nepal to access the opportunities and resources they need to build towards the futures they envision for themselves and their children.

In order to meet these goals, NYF launched two phases of the Caste Equality Project. Phase I was the Educating Dalit Lawyers (EDL) initiative, which we launched in the summer of 2022. (You can read more about EDL here). Phase II of the Caste Equality Project takes place in Saptari District. The project is led by NYF’s very own Lalit Gahatraj, and it officially launched in the summer of 2023. We’re anticipating the work in this phase to be a decades-long project in order for us to truly build a transformative and sustainable movement.

Almost a year into the launch of the project in Saptari District, we’re thrilled to share some exciting updates!

Education Advocacy

At the end of April, NYF officially launched the School Enrollment Campaign for students in Saptari District in Tirhut Rural Municipality. In collaboration with the local government, NYF set into motion a vibrant initiative aimed at boosting school enrollment in the region. Our dedicated team, alongside enthusiastic students and teachers, began spreading the word across communities with energizing rallies and personalized home visits to promote the value of education.

On May 3rd, NYF kicked off the campaign by taking to the streets. Community members and students made posters and marched through their communities while chanting inspirational slogans like, “Send all children to school/leave no one behind!” & “Quality education is our right!”

Our team also made door-to-door visits to encourage parents to enroll their children in school. At the same time, they addressed concerns and answered any questions parents may have.

Then, in mid-May, NYF distributed hundreds of school uniforms and bags to children in the region. These uniforms were handmade by our industrial tailoring students enrolled at Olgapuri Vocational School. You can read more about this unique, cross-program detail in a recent blog post, here.

The School Enrollment Campaign ran until May 10th. Lalit Gahatraj, CEP Coordinator, shared that the early signs are very promising, with an uptick in school attendance already noted! This surge is partly attributed to the community buzz around NYF’s scholarships and nutritious mid-day meal programs, which are drawing more and more families to enroll their children into school.

Peer Counseling Program

In mid-April, thirty girls (aged 13 to 19) from the rural municipality of Tirhut in Saptari District, traveled with our staff to Olgapuri Village to participate in a five-day Peer Counseling training at our very own Ankur Counseling Center. The training began April 23rd.

For many of these girls, it was their first time leaving their village, a journey that brought both excitement and apprehension. Our staff dedicated a lot of time to earn and maintain their trust while supporting them every step of the way.

Building peer counseling skills within individuals will help empower young leaders to make an impact in their own communities. This is a prime example of NYF’s approach to addressing the “felt needs” of communities over “observed needs,” which includes recognizing community members as experts of their own experiences, successes, and challenges. This community-centered approach is a cornerstone of NYF’s strategy to ensure sustainable, far-reaching social change!

We’re excited to see the impact this peer counseling program will have on the wider Dalit community.

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Street Drama Campaigns

In February 2024, over 100 people gathered to watch ten girls from Tirhut Rural Municipality, Saptari District, perform their first street drama. Their play tackles various scenarios related to child marriage. This included dowry negotiations by the groom’s family and self-serving middlemen, the squandering of dowry funds on alcohol, a daughter’s stand against her forced marriage, and harmful consequences for girls experiencing early marriage.

The audience, including men, women, children, and elders, responded positively. During a guided discussion following the play, one man observed, “We often engage in certain practices without fully comprehending the consequences. This play was an effective eye-opener.”

New Community Centers in Saptari District

Construction begins with a groundbreaking ceremony

In early April, NYF hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of two new community centers in Saptari District. The ceremony was completed in collaboration with village members, and a respected elder named Chebli Sada performed a “jag puja,” or foundation blessing, to purify the land. The blessing was an important start to the construction of the ceremony because it allowed a connection to the spirits of the land and the ancestral deities of the people we’re serving. She also led a prayer to ensure a smooth progression of construction, free from hindrances and misfortune. Offerings of sweets, betel nuts, betel leaves, and incense were buried beneath the foundation, symbolizing a blessed new beginning.

Since the ceremony, construction on the two community centers have been underway, with a tentative completion date for June.

Community Centers will serve as vital hubs for Caste Equality Project programs

These two community centers in Saptari District will house most of our programs in the Caste Equality Project, holding spaces for education, childcare, and other important initiatives like:

• Adult literacy classes (reading, home finance, legal literacy)
• Town meetings where teachers, parents, and local leaders build community-wide, unified strategies
• Nutrition-focused home cooking classes for mothers, applying NRH principles
• Disaster preparedness programs
• Peer counseling
• Women’s empowerment and co-op groups
• Teacher training

The plan is to hire staff for the centers from within the communities served, to build sustainable local capacity. Each center (and we hope to build more!) aids NYF’s sustainability in Saptari District, expands and enhances regional impact, and resources NYF to pursue its vision for meaningful change for the communities served. The more centers we fund, the more strongly we can scale while maintaining existing momentum.

The enthusiasm from the community in response has been heartwarming. We’ve seen widespread eagerness to engage, a testament to the importance of community involvement in bringing sustainable changes. Our late founder Olga Murray’s vision is alive and well, manifesting visibly in the strides we are making in Saptari District.

These initial campaigns have been made possible by several generous friends in the NYF Community. But we still need wider support to continue our work within (and beyond) the Caste Equality Project. Please click here to make a donation if you’re able to!

In Loving Memory of Olga Murray (1925-2024)

Olga Murray, beloved founder of the Nepal Youth Foundation, left us peacefully on February 20th at her home in Sausalito, California. She was surrounded by love, in the form of many individuals whose lives she enriched through her generous spirit and passionate work.

While our hearts are very heavy, we take great strength from her enduring love, legacy, and undying commitment to the children of Nepal.

Since her passing, the outpouring of love and support from our incredible community has been both humbling and uplifting. As we come together to honor her legacy, we are reminded of the impact she made not only in Nepal but around the world. We want to express our deepest gratitude to every one of you for your reflections, kind memories, and unwavering support during this time. Your words have brought comfort to us as we navigate this loss together.

Visit Olga’s memorial page

To honor Olga Murray’s life and legacy, our team has created a memorial page where community members can gather virtually. We invite you to visit this page often, and hope you will find comfort in the presence of others who loved and supported Olga throughout her life.

The memorial page includes links to published obituaries, a beautiful photo gallery, details on how to make a tribute gift, and a public tribute wall, where you can share your favorite photos and stories of time with Olga, as well as any messages you may wish to share with her loved ones and friends.

You can also read Olga’s obituary published digitally in the San Francisco Chronicle here, and in the Marin Independent Journal here.

Ceremonies & Celebrations of Life

Our Nepal team has already hosted a beautiful memorial ceremony at Olgapuri, where staff members and beneficiaries gathered to celebrate Olga’s life and reflect on her remarkable contributions. This provided the Olgapuri children, for whom Olga was a stable, loving, warm, encouraging elder and family member, the opportunity to share the impact of this loss as a community.

We look forward to honoring and celebrating Olga’s extraordinary life, legacy and the ongoing work of NYF with the broader community during our Founder’s Day event this summer.

Propelling Olga’s Promise

In the days ahead, we are inspired to fulfill Olga’s promise – her dream of helping countless individuals in Nepal. She has always been grateful to the NYF Community for sharing in this promise to empower Nepal’s children, and we know that Olga took great comfort (and pride!) in the knowledge that, thanks to friends like you, this remarkable work would continue well beyond her own extraordinary lifetime.

This shared promise is one we will all carry forward in her honor. Together, we will continue Olga’s mission, making a difference in the lives of those she cared for so deeply.