Liberate Girls from Indentured Servitude

Give vulnerable girls in western Nepal the chance for an education and a future instead of a life of indentured service.

In the Dang District in western Nepal, indigenous families subsisting as farm laborers were forced into a desperate trade -- selling their daughters to work far from home as bonded servants in private homes or as dishwashers in tea houses. Some of these children are as young as six. Alone and far from home, these indentured daughters' living conditions are entirely at the discretion of their employers. The bonded girls seldom attended school and had no prospects for a decent future. Some were ultimately forced into prostitution.

Working closely with local communities, Nepal Youth Foundation (NYF) provided an alternative for these families, compensating the families for their daughters' lost wages and supporting the girls as they attend school. By 2012, due to this program, not a single girl from Deukhuri Valley of the Dang District was indentured.

There are thousands more daughters to be saved. NYF estimates that 20,000 to 25,000 young girls are victims of this terrible practice in five western districts. By following the model that succeeded so well in the Dang District, NYF hopes to achieve its ambitious goal, which is nothing less than the complete eradication of the custom of bonding children in Nepal.

While it takes only $50 to rescue a girl from virtual slavery, bring her home to live with her family, pay her school expenses for six months, and compensate her parents for her lost wages, NYF is in the heartbreaking position of having to turn away girls who want to enroll in the program simply because its budget will not stretch far enough.

Give a girl a new life. Support a rescued daughter for six months ($50), a year ($100), or for six whole years ($350), taking her through 10th grade and the start of an independent life. Your donation covers her school uniforms, books, school fees, and a kerosene lamp and kerosene -- highly valuable items in a region lacking electricity.

Report from the Field

April 2018

Thanks to YOUR generous donations, more girls are being freed from indentured servitude and getting the opportunity for higher education and vocational training! In 2017, NYF opened its own Olgapuri Vocational School, which trains Kamlari girls in non-traditional fields such as carpentry, farming, and food stall management. In 2017, 326 Kamlari women graduated from this program and 275 are now either employed or running their own businesses. In a country with severe youth unemployment and underemployment, vocational training and career counseling offer a life-transforming path to economic independence. This is even more important for young girls whose childhoods were spent as indentured household servants and who missed out on an education. The vocational training made possible with YOUR donations has changed countless lives in Nepal.

One of the women that has been impacted by your donations is Kalpana (pictured to the right). Kalpana was born into poverty and a large family of nine. She never attended school and was indentured into servitude at age 10. Fortunately, she was rescued two years later by NYF and was enrolled in a special course to ease her into school. After completing high school, she went on to complete NYF's vocational training. After completing her training, she returned to her village and established her own shop. At age 27, she is now earning enough to support herself and her family. Thanks to donors like you, women in Nepal are being given a second chance to better their lives!

March 2018

YOUR SUPPORT made it possible for an INCREDIBLE MILESTONE to be reached - a total of 2,330 women have been rescued from indentured servitude and received identity cards for the very first time! ID cards are important because they enable these young women to access the support promised in 2013 when Kamlari was abolished, including educational scholarships and special consideration for government employment.

Urmila (pictured right) is a Freed Kamlari women’s rights activist and a former indentured servant under the Kamlari system. At the age of six, she was forced to leave her family and worked as a domestic servant for 11 years. She endured incredible hardship including abuse, exploitation and no compensation for her work. Her future was bleak until Nepal Youth Foundation rescued her at age 17. She started school after she was freed in 2007 and was elected the first president of the Freed Kamlari Development Forum, an organization founded by women and girls to fight for their rights and support one another.

The Nepal Youth Foundation (NYF) is a U.S.-based nonprofit that brings hope to impoverished Nepali children by providing what should be every child's birthright -- education, housing, medical care, and loving support.