Plans & Programs
Why Support an Orphanage?
The short answer: due to extreme poverty, Nepal lacks social nets.
Whereas in the U.S. we have (comparatively) many options available to impoverished families (welfare, TANF) and underserved children (child protection agencies, foster care, strong infrastructure of adoption), in Nepal no such options exist.
In recent years, Nepal's government has pushed what little money it has toward modernizing the economy and fighting Maoist rebels, and at the cost of social services. As a result the number of children living on the streets has risen steadily in the last 20 years. Moreover, Nepal has witnessed a spike in the number of children drawn into human trafficking (labor and sex).
Orphanages can help prevent this problem, and furthermore, they can be used to provide outreach programs that can assist Nepalis in the areas of health, nutrition, and education.
Current Plans
Sam’s House is a 20 child orphanage in a suburban area of Pokhara, Nepal. As sustainability is a key factor in our decision-making, we have several years of operating funds in the bank with established fundraising to keep that fund growing in the future.
Our children of school age attend a local private school. Younger children are cared for at home.
Long Term Goals
We are planning for a capital campaign to construct our own facility with capacity for 50-60 children. We project this capital campaign to run five years (cost projections for permanent home not available). During the campaign, while Sam’s House occupies a rented facility, we will learn how best to address the needs of our children, and how to optimize their time at Sam’s House in terms of educational and social development.
The new facility will also provide accommodations for volunteers and donors who wish to visit and/or donate time to Sam’s House. Three Sam’s House trustees work as university instructors. It is hoped that Sam’s House will eventually provide service-learning opportunities for American college and high school students. This will provide both American students and Sam’s House children with unique learning experiences.
Implementation
In summer 2005, two Sam’s House trustees and the Sam’s House director conducted visits to 14 orphanages in Kathmandu and Pokhara to learn more about the work required for operating such an entity. They spoke with orphanage directors and workers, including house mothers, accountants, and custodians. Their research has served as the basis of our planning.
The governing board of Sam’s House Nepal will oversees the admission of children. Optimally, Sam’s House admits children at a young age, between 2-5 years, so that we may nurture children during the most important and formative years of development.
Sam’s House emphasizes education for all its children. Prior to formal schooling, children receive regular instruction at Sam’s House from tutors and staff. At the age of four, our children enroll in nursery school. Schooling is supplemented at Sam’s House by regular tutoring sessions in the late afternoon, and evening study hours for older students.
Sam’s House assumes a role as a valuable community partner. We strive to raise our children with a sense of social responsibility, the idea of passing on to others the benefits they received from Sam’s House. Our children engage in service projects, such as community clean-up days or cultural dance programs for local organizations. Sam’s House is positioned as an entity that keeps the community’s best interests in mind.
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Start-up capital had been raised by December 2006. In January 2007, one of our trustees traveled to Nepal to meet with the Sam’s House director and the governing board of Sam’s House Nepal to discuss the Nepali board’s role in selection of children for the home. Sam’s House has registered with Nepal’s Social Welfare Council, which, like the IRS, requires annual reporting and audits of financial transactions.
Initial staffing for Sam’s House (at 20 children) consists of the director, four full-time live-in didis (house mother), and a part-time tutor. Accounting is contracted to an outside accountant. For each additional ten children above 20, Sam’s House will add two didis.
During this time, the director of Sam’s House is keeping an eye tuned to the strengths and weaknesses of various factors in the home (e.g. convenience of physical structure; procedures for feeding and bathing; appliances and tools needed for daily operation). This input is being recorded for planning construction of the permanent home.
Rules and regulations for Sam’s House are designed by the director. These policies have been approved by both boards.
To assist with fundraising and promoting Sam’s House, we have developed a website that includes news and information about our children, as well as ways to donate or volunteer at Sam’s House.
Capital Campaign
Sam’s House will be a more potent and flexible organization if it can own a facility. For one, it will allow us to create a home that meets the specific needs unique to running a large orphanage. For example, a proper orphanage should have an extra room to be used as a sick room in order to keep other children healthy. There should also be space for children who are transitioning into the orphanage. Moving from a village or the street into a larger home can be a difficult adjustment for many children. A transition room allows the child to acclimatize at his or her own pace.
A permanent home will also allow Sam’s House to establish a formal presence in Pokhara as a firm community institution and partner. As many charities come and go in Nepal, having stability will give Sam’s House credibility among city officials and residents.
Sam’s House has started planning for a capital campaign to fund a home that provides space for 50-60 children. Cost estimates of this campaign have not yet been established. Because of the scarcity of usable land in Nepal, property tends to be 5 to 6 times more expensive than the cost of building a home on that property. For example, while it may cost approximately $100,000 to construct a home for 50-60 children, the property may cost upwards of $500,000.
Any land or construction will be owned by Sam’s House Nepal, as required by the Nepalese government. Sam’s House USA will be a silent partner in this ownership and control its holding interest through disbursement of funds to make payments on that property. A Sam’s House USA trustee(s) will be involved with the inspection and purchase of any property, as well as monitoring negotiations for construction contracts.
Endowment
In providing a social service to Nepal, sustainability is the most important factor. Our success will depend on our ability to be there “tomorrow.” A recent inventory of orphanages and children’s homes in Nepal in 2005 revealed that 85% of these groups had been in existence for four years or fewer.
Pending completion of the capital campaign we will start building an endowment fund to supplement our expenditures for annual operating costs. The endowment will provide Sam’s House with security and the ability to help children from a very young age through their matriculation into society as adults.
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