Empowering Nepali Girls

So, I’ve decided to dedicate a few blog posts to talking about some really great non-profit organizations I’ve been learning about here. If you are not interested in donating or learning about this stuff then just ignore these posts guyz. But, I know that a lot of you reading this do donate money to charities and sometimes you wonder if your money is actually doing any good or what exactly it is funding. The charities I mention here are special in that I have been able to meet the founders and creators and know for a fact that the money they recieve goes to a great cause.

Okay, so the cause I’m gonna chat about today is a foundation created by Professor Kottler here on the ship called Empowering Nepali Girls. It all started when Kottler was wandering around Nepal and visited a Nepali school. The principal of the school explained to Kottler that some of the girls, as young as 8 years old, would need to be sold into sex slavery because they could not afford school anymore. He pulled aside one 12-year-old girl and explained to Kottler that this girl’s father had died from AIDs and that she would now need to be sold. Kottler was aghast. He asked how much it would cost to keep the girl in school until she was 18. The principal laughed and said that she would need books, uniforms, tuition, food, shelter, ect. He said it would cost over 4,000 Rupee. Only 50 US dollars. From then on Kottler dedicated his life to going back to Nepal yearly and establishing schools and giving scholarships to girls who would otherwise be sold into the sex industry.

One of the reasons so many donations to charities are lost is because the governments of the countries demand to be cut in on the money. Kottler’s program is kept secretly under the radar of the government. Also, the employees from his organization all work for free. Kottler and all of his volunteers arrange their own travel expenses. All donations go directly to the girls. If you find yourself in a charitable mood this year, I would definitely recommend this organization. Kottler even takes groups to Nepal yearly to see how far their money is going and to meet the girls that their small donations support.