Helping Kids Climb Out of Poverty

Photograph by Ilene Perlman

Many poor children in Nepal face a daunting uphill struggle. Some have been servants from an early age, sent away by their parents to do contract work. Others live in jail with an incarcerated parent because they have nowhere else to go. Still others roam the streets, getting little help from local residents because of their low caste or physical disabilities.

While 70 percent of Nepalese children attend elementary school, half of them drop out before the fifth grade. Medical care is limited, and half of all children under age 5 are malnourished.

For the past decade, the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation has been working to improve conditions for hundreds of children in Nepal. The charity started by providing scholarships to orphans and other children who could not afford to pay for schooling: More than 700 students have now received such assistance.

But the help goes beyond education. The charity, which is based in Sausalito, Calif., has also established two residential facilities for homeless kids in Kathmandu, one for girls and the other for boys. Many of the children are blind or otherwise disabled, and some have been abandoned by their families.

The charity’s founder, Olga Murray, gave up her legal practice in California eight years ago to supervise its affairs and to help raise its $350,000 annual budget. “I feel very grateful I have a chance to do this,” says Ms. Murray, 75, shown here with several of her small charges. “Not too many people in their dotage have a chance to make a difference in people’s lives.”