Himalaya House Needs Your Help

Home to girls rescued from servitude in Pokhara, Nepal -

Himalaya House was founded in 2003 with the purpose of creating a safe haven for disadvantaged and abandoned girls in Nepal. Girls who have spent their lifetimes in distress are now given hope for the first time, along with a second chance at the world like never before. At the gateway to the Annapurna Mountain Range, Himalaya House is home to up-to-15 girls, a Nepali housemother and visiting foreign volunteers.

In the ongoing struggle for survival of the family, girls as young as 5 or 6 are commonly bonded into sweatshop labor or domestic servitude. In exchange for their daughters, parents are promised money, support of their domestic affairs and even education and fair treatment for their children. Instead, these girls are forced to work in extremely poor environments and imprisoned in inhumane conditions. Many suffer from harassment, abuse and sexual violence. Even worse than forced labor, but for the promise of more money, family members often kidnap or bond their own kin into the sex trade. Giving them a new chance at life means giving much more than just a safe haven, beyond the affection and protection of their new family.

Some facts: Each year more than 10,000 girls between the ages of 10-18 are trafficked into the sex trade, often sold by their parents or a relative. The trafficking of young girls is on the rise. They are trafficked for domestic work, forced beggary, marriage, carpet weaving and into the sex trade. Since the beginning of the Maoist conflicts in 1996, many families are fleeing their village homes. Because of this, there is a dramatic increase in the number of girls displaced in the city areas now involved in exploitive labor sectors.

Himalaya House is devoted to creating meaningful lives and second chances for disadvantaged girls in Nepal. Only with your support are we able to continue to provide this hope. For $60 a month you can provide a home, food, clothing and an education for a young Nepali that needs your support to succeed. That's only $2.00 a day to help a young woman start a new life. Skip one trip to the espresso bar and give a girl a home and education, won't you? Himalaya House is full to capacity with no funds to feed and educate these girls.

Volunteer opportunities at home and in Nepal are available for the motivated and dedicated.