 |
About NOH, Inc.
NEPAL ORPHANS HOME
Nepal Orphans Home, a 501(c)3 public charity incorporated in Davidson, North Carolina, was founded in 2005 by Michael Hess. As a volunteer in Nepal, Michael was moved by the plight of the children he witnessed living in poverty, often exploited, and vulnerable to the political turmoil and social upheaval in contemporary Nepal.
Mission Statement:
Nepal Orphans Home attends to the welfare of children in Nepal who are orphaned, abandoned, or not supported by their parents. Papa’s House provides for the children’s basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing, as well as schooling and health care, and administers to their emotional needs with love and compassion. Papa’s House allows children to grow up in a nurturing environment. The mission of Nepal Orphans Home is not just to rescue children from abject poverty, but to enable the children to develop and realize their potentials.
Brief History:
Nepal Orphans Home (NOH) began in 2005 with 12 children in a renovated building in Dhapasi in Nepal’s Kathmandu valley. Each year the mission has expanded to help more children. In 2008 NOH collaborated with Society Welfare Action Nepal (SWAN), a local nongovernmental organization operating in the Dang district to rescue kamlari girls from indentured servitude. NOH renovated two buildings in Narti and opened the Lawajuni (New Beginning) Home, providing shelter, food, clothing, schooling, and health care for girls rescued by SWAN.
Now, in its sixth year, NOH provides for 130 children in four Papa’s Houses, all in close proximity in Dhapasi. Three of the homes, Samanjasya (Harmony) House, Kalpana (Imagine) House, and Gumba (Sanctuary) House provide for girls, over 70 of whom are former kamlaris. The fourth home, Papa’s Sambhav (Possibilities) House, cares for the boys. The children, ranging from 6 to 19 years of age attend Skylark School, an English-medium private school also in Dhapasi.
NOH also supports two schools in remote villages in the Ramechhap district, the Shree Sham primary school in Dumrikharka and the Mudkeswori primary school in Votetar, funding hot lunch programs and contributing to teacher salaries and school supplies for over 140 children, most of whom are Dalits (untouchables).
An active volunteer program, Volunteer Nepal (www.volunteernepal.com) draws talented, compassionate people of all ages from around the world. In 2009 over 75 volunteers from a dozen countries served, several returning from the previous year.
Affiliations:
While primarily relying on private donations and income from Volunteer Nepal, Nepal Orphans Home is grateful to receive support from the Possible Worlds Foundation, the Sanctuary for Kids Foundation, and the William Hinman Foundation. Nepal Orphans Home has a profile on UniversalGiving, (www.universalgiving.org.) and is listed on Guidestar, (www.guidestar.org), the leading source of information on U.S. nonprofits, where a report on Nepal Orphans Home and the most recently submitted IRS form 990 are available.
NOH Board of Directors:
Brenda Barger, News Reporter, Davidson, North Carolina
Carola Drosdeck, Elementary Teacher, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Chauncey K. Gregory, South Carolina Senator, Company President, Lancaster, South Carolina
Barbara Hess, Secretary-Treasurer of NOH, Davidson, North Carolina
Michael Hess, Founder of NOH, Director of Operations of NOH, Dhapasi, Nepal
Peter Hess, President of NOH, Professor, Davidson, North Carolina
George N. McNeil, Physician, Steep Falls, Maine
Antonia (Toni) Thomson, Senior Video Editor/Documentary Filmmaker, Toronto, Ontario
Marcie Westphalen, Preschool Teacher, Raleigh, North Carolina
NOH Board of Advisers:
Jesse Bach, Teacher, Maple Heights, Ohio
Teri Duffy, Nonprofit Executive Director, Scappoose, Oregon
Fiona S. Gilbert, Migration Agent, Mountain View, California
Thomas D. Gilbert, Business Manager, Mountain View, California
Aaron Hess, Nurse, South Daytona, Florida
Benjamin Hess, International Development, Washington, DC
Jerry Hess, Attorney, Brooklyn, New York
Anna K. Merrill, Researcher/Doctoral Student, New York City, New York
Randi Miller, Attorney, New York City, New York
Lauren Yanks, Professor and Writer, Rosendale, New York
back to top |
|
