We first ran the RISE end-of-financial-year campaign in 2019 and shared with you the wonderful family reunification stories of six children that had been trafficked into orphanages in Nepal.

The process of finding families is long and painstaking. The reunification and reintegration process is also rigorous and involves assessing psycho-social, financial, community and other support. We provide intensive counselling and social work to ensure that children are ready to return home and that families are prepared to welcome them.

Our team monitors returned children and their families for as long as required.

We thought you might like to know how they are going!

Meena

We are happy to report that Meena is still living with her grandparents and aunt in Chitwan approximately 5hrs by road from Kathmandu. Her life in institutional care began when she was just 3 months old and ended at the age of 13. We found her family and she was returned home safely in June 2018.

Meena is happy to be with home with family although she says it is hard sometimes with very strict grandparents, especially her grandfather. She tells us that she feels deeply cherished and loved by them.

Meena believes she has done very well in her grade 7 exams and says her cousin helps her with study and life skills at home. It’s great that her school is just a 5 minute walk from home.

Everyone is safe and healthy. The family are all practicing good hygiene and washing their hands constantly, like the rest of us! The family says they are ok for food at the moment.

Shilu

Shilu was 3 years old when she was admitted to an orphanage and spent 3 long years in institutional care.

After her rescue from the second largest orphanage of Nepal she was reunified with her paternal uncle because her mother was working in India. Shilu’s mother was home for the holidays when COVID-19 lockdown was enforced so her stay has been extended indefinitely.

The silver lining is of course that darling Shilu has been lapping up the loving care and extra time she’s been able to have with her mother.

Shilu is a quick learner and very active girl. She has a lovely friendship circle in the village and they play together often. Shilu happily helps her mother with household chores including cooking and looking after the family pets. She is doing well in school, achieving excellent results and has great respect and care for her elders.

Shilu wants to be a teacher and already loves teaching younger students the alphabet!

The family are COVID-19 aware, are healthy and looking after each other well, and have received some emergency relief.

Kinu & Sunmaya

One year after their father died three-year-old Kinu and eighteen month old Sunmaya were admitted to an orphanage. Now after 13 long years of separation, these sisters are home with their family. We have provided extra support to the family because the adjustment from orphanage to family was significantly hard for the girls and their single mother.

Bicycles were provided to help them get to and from school and that has saved many commuting hours each week.

This no doubt helped them focus more time on studies and being promoted to Grades 8 and 9. Their school has closed during lockdown and both are trying to keep up with their studies from home.

The girls are happy and healthy and enjoying extra time at home with their mother and older sister. They promise to keep up the good work, practice personal hygiene and social distancing and call if they need help. We check in with them twice a week also!

Geeta & Arana

These gorgeous sisters were passed into orphanage life due to poor health and poverty at home. Geeta was a toddler when she entered an orphanage and years later Arana was admitted when she was school age. Their father disappeared long ago and their mother has been ill for many years.

Nobody can measure the love, care and support provided to the girls by their elderly mother.

Geeta is taking online classes and preparing hard for the Secondary Education Examination and Arana’s final exam result have promoted her to Grade 9 with good marks.

Geeta is brilliant at debating, speech and essay competitions. Arana is an excellent performer and enjoys dancing, practicing Tae Kwon Do and playing soccer. Both sisters have great life skills and hope the pandemic situation ends soon so they can return to school and enjoy their extra-curricular activities.

Mum’s doll shop has not been operational since lockdown began in March that has added financial stress and made life very difficult.

Your donations are assisting this family survive at this time.