Nepal Orphans Home, Inc.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Nepal is a poor country. Many children are not properly provided for, which perpetuates generational cycles of poverty and hinders the development of the nation. Nepal ranked 143 out of 191 nations in the UNDP’s 2021 Human Development Index. The mean years of education for the population over age 25 in Nepal is only five years. Nepal Orphans Home began in March of 2005 when a friend took Michael Hess, a carpenter from Florida, volunteering in Nepal, to an ‘orphanage’ that needed help in Dhapasi, a village in the northern outskirts of Kathmandu district. He found a small, rundown house with two dozen destitute children. Malnourished, in poor health, and not attending school, the children were forced by the owners to beg on the streets. Michael assumed management of the home, renovated the building, and began Papa’s House to care for the children. Michael (Papa) and Nepal Orphans Home have since transformed the lives of hundreds of poor children in Nepal.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Papa's House
In 2023 Nepal Orphans Home (NOH) began its nineteenth year of operations, providing for twenty-five children in Papa’s House, as well as supporting nine adolescents attending college preparatory classes (grades 11-12) and funding the higher education of seventeen young adults enrolled in college and university.
Papa’s House is well managed by Nepali staff. In addition to the managers, the home has a cook and a housekeeper who help with the cleaning and laundry. The house managers also assist with buying supplies, accompanying children to medical appointments and other errands.
The young children attend the Skylark School, an English-medium primary school through grade 10. The children also attend after-school academic enrichment and life skills programs at NOH's Chelsea Education and Community Center.
NOH provides transition housing for the Papa's House young adults who are attending the first years of college preparatory classes.
Chelsea Education and Community Center
Nepal Orphans Home understands that education is the key to socioeconomic mobility and breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
While Papa's House children are encouraged and supported to continue their formal schooling for as long as they can, not all will choose or be able to attend college and university. In 2013 NOH established the Chelsea Center to provide vocational and life skills training, with a primary mission of supporting the transition of our children to young adulthood and productive, fulfilling lives.
Over time the Chelsea Center has expanded its programs for Papa's House children to include academic enrichment classes and in the summer of 2015 began offering free literacy classes to women in the Dhapasi community.
In October of 2015, Nepal Orphans Home was awarded a three-year grant from a Swiss foundation to construct a new Chelsea Center building. In April 2017, the completed Chelsea Center was dedicated.
Nepal Orphans Home Outreach
As part of its mission, Nepal Orphans Home has long supported other local charities. With the earthquakes in 2015, Nepal Orphans Home set up the NOH Earthquake Relief Fund for both short term humanitarian assistance and longer run reconstruction and development. In 2020 and 2021, NOH also provided COVID-19 relief, mainly support for Papa's House children who had returned to their home villages during the lockdown and young adults living independently while in their university studies, as well as other local families in the community.
Much of our outreach is funded by designated donations from friends, former volunteers, and board members of Nepal Orphans Home. In 2022, NOH Outreach provided for over $27,000 in charity assistance. Among those supported were a children's hospital in Kathmandu, homes for blind children and orphans from the earthquake, as well as the school tuition for dozens of local children from poor families outside of Papa's House.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of Children Provided For
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Papa's House
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
At the beginning of 2022, twenty-five children were provided for in Papa’s House and eighteen adolescents were supported living independently in NOH college transition housing.
Number of Children Educating
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Young adults
Related Program
Papa's House
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
Twenty-one Papa’s House children were enrolled in English medium primary school, eleven and fifteen Papa's House young adults were in college preparatory study and university, respectively, in 2022.
Amount of Outreach
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Nepal Orphans Home Outreach
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
NOH Outreach provided over $27,000 in assistance to other non-profits organizations, including Kanti Children’s Hospital and Goldhunga Blind Children's Home, and families in need in Nepal.
Number of community women in adult education
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls
Related Program
Chelsea Education and Community Center
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
The Chelsea Center was open weekly, Sunday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., for adult education. Over a hundred local women regularly attend classes in English, Nepali, and basic math.
Children in Academic Enrichment Programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Chelsea Education and Community Center
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
Papa’s House children and select local community children in primary school attended the Chelsea Center after school, for academic enrichment, including math and computer classes.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Nepal Orphans Home (NOH) attends to the total welfare of children in Nepal who are orphaned, abandoned, or not supported by their parents. Papa’s House provides for the children’s basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing, as well as schooling and health care, and administers to their emotional needs with love and compassion. Papa’s House allows children to grow up in a nurturing environment. The mission of Nepal Orphans Home is not just to rescue children from abject poverty, but to enable the children to develop and realize their potentials.
NOH funds and advises Papa's House NGO, the operations in Nepal. There are three divisions: Papa's House, Chelsea Education and Community Center, and NOH Outreach.
When children arrive at Papa’s House, NOH commits to providing for their shelter, clothing, nutrition, education and health care until they reach adulthood and are ready to live independently in Nepali society. To monitor the progress of the children, detailed files are kept, consisting of guardianship information from their villages and how the children came to Papa’s House, school and health records, the vocational training and life skills workshops completed, as well as anecdotal information. Moreover, each child has an electronic portfolio of photos depicting them over the years, providing them with a visual history of their lives from the time of their arrival at Papa’s House to their final farewell.
As Michael describes, “Papa's House is a really big family, with each child’s joys and fears, accomplishments and setbacks, anxieties and laughter, future plans and work to achieve them, deeply felt by all.”
Papa's House children are encouraged and supported to continue their schooling for as long as they are willing and able. In Nepal, upon completing grade 10, students take a Secondary Education Examination, and upon passing, they may enroll in college preparatory classes, known as Plus 2 (grades 11-12). After successfully finishing Plus 2, young adults may advance to university. NOH funds their higher education.
The Chelsea Education and Community Center (CECC) supports Papa’s House children and young adults in their transition to adulthood, empowering each individual to create and lead a uniquely meaningful and productive life. The Chelsea Center also promotes the empowerment, personal growth, and social connection of local Dhapasi women.
As part of its mission, Nepal Orphans Home has long supported other local charities. Outreach seeks to provide meaningful assistance for poor children in Nepal, supporting their education and other basic needs.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Papa’s House children are very busy during the school year, six days a week attending Skylark School from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and then the Chelsea Center in the afternoons for academic enrichment sessions. Some of the children practice basketball in the early morning before school. Others take Taekwondo classes. All the children enjoy their Saturdays off from school, breaks in the school year, and holidays, when they can relax and partake in fun activities at the Chelsea Center, like book clubs, art classes, and free time on the computers.
The Chelsea Center holds classes in math, science and computer, as well as study halls with tutoring, for the Papa’s House children attending Skylark. For the older children, there are also career workshops and vocational training. NOH also invites select local students from Skylark School to attend the after-school classes at Chelsea Center for free.
Papa's House young adults can expect support for the tuition and fees for their college and university studies, subject to their satisfactory academic achievement. Young adults not on a university tract receive support for vocational training and internships. Young adults choosing to work abroad are supported with the international travel fees and initial living expenses
Life Skills Training is an important part of effectively preparing our children for their lives after Papa’s House. There are workshops at the Chelsea Center for Papa’s House children and young adults, ranging in topics from information technology to sex education, mindfulness, health care and personal fitness. The workshops are led by CECC staff, volunteers from NOH’s Volunteer Nepal, local professionals, and members of the Nepal Orphans Home board of advisers.
In 2017 a business incubator program began, enabling nine young adults from Papa’s House to attend a six-month long culinary arts program and funding the start-up of the Brother’s Café, an initiative of two of our young men, who came to Papa’s House ten years ago. Two of our young men have started their own trekking businesses. In 2019 ten young adults from the Chelsea Center participated in the Empower Social Entrepreneurship Program, organized by a professor from the NEOMA Business School of Paris.
Most of our current vocational training involves apprenticeships and placements. In 2019, NOH supported sixteen young adults studying or working abroad, including programs in China, Germany, and Australia.
In 2019, NOH initiated a Director of Transition for the Chelsea Center, who meets individually with the college students to discuss their talents, interests, and career aspirations; and explores internship and job opportunities.
To promote women's empowerment and build social capital in the community, the Chelsea Center offers local women free English and Nepali literacy and basic math classes and life skills workshops in the mornings and early afternoons.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Nepal Orphans Home has good management of its operations in Nepal.
In 2023, Sunita Pandey begins her sixth year as the NOH Director of Operations. Educated in India and a teacher by profession, Sunita has been with NOH for over ten years, serving effectively in several capacities -- initially home schooling some of our new girls, then as an administrator for Volunteer Nepal, followed by Director of NOH Outreach.
Prashanna Bista is in his sixth year as the Director of the Chelsea Center. He previously earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and has a post-graduate diploma in counseling. Prashanna began his service at the Chelsea Center as an 8th grade math teacher and leader of workshops on self-awareness.
Michael Hess, Papa, who had been the onsite Director of Operations from the founding of NOH until 2017, has retired to North Carolina. He is still involved in strategic planning, fundraising efforts, and advising the NOH Board of Directors and Sunita Pandey. Michael also continues his parenting and counseling of Papa’s House children.
Often our Papa’s House children, upon becoming young adults, join the NOH staff. In 2023 over half of the NGO staff of twenty-five are young adults from Papa's House including: seven who are instructors at the Chelsea Center, while also attending college and university; assistants with NOH Outreach; the Papa's House NGO bookkeeper; and the staff of our Hope's Cafe at Skylark School grounds.
From the Director of Operations to the Papa’s House managers and the staff of Volunteer Nepal, NOH Outreach, and the Chelsea Center, we have dedicated employees who care about the mission. Systematic assessments of employee performance, important for improving the quality and efficiency of operations, providing opportunities for the professional development of employees and relevant input when determining compensation increases, are undertaken. In follow-up conferences, each employee receives feedback, including recognition of their strengths and a discussion identifying areas for improvement. Goals with action plans are agreed upon for the next year.
Over the year, the NOH boards are informed about operations of Papa’s House NGO, receiving regular reports from Director of Operations and the Director of the Chelsea Center. The minutes of the Papa’s House NGO directors’ meetings are forwarded to the NOH board of directors and board of advisors. The NOH board’s Chelsea Center Committee works with the Director and staff of the Chelsea Center. The NOH board’s Strategic Planning Committee works with the Director of Operations and Founder in planning and setting policy.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2006 Papa’s Harmony House moved to a new, larger building to accommodate the growing family. In the first two years of operation, NOH expenses exceeded income, largely from donations, and Michael Hess financed operations from his own savings.
Early in 2008 NOH began collaboration with Society Welfare Action Nepal (SWAN), a Nepali nongovernmental organization operating in the Dang district to rescue Kamlari girls from their indentured servitudes. NOH renovated two buildings in Narti and opened the Lawajuni (New Beginning) Home, providing shelter, food, clothing, and health care for girls freed by SWAN. During the year more than 60 girls who had been sold into servitude came to the Lawajuni Home, gaining their freedom, recovering their childhoods and attending school. NOH was able to bring 12 of these girls to Dhapasi, raising the number of children provided for in Papa’s Harmony and Sanctuary Houses to 70.
In early 2009, NOH brought another 26 rescued Kamlari girls from Lawajuni to Papa’s House, opening up a third home, Papa’s Imagine House. Our boys were relocated to a newly expanded and renovated home on the same grounds, becoming Papa’s Possibilities House. Later in the same year, 28 more girls came from Lawajuni to live in a fifth home, Papa’s Rainbow House. Over the next few years, the number of children in Papa’s Houses rose to 135.
In 2013 the Chelsea Education Center opened, providing vocational training classes for the older children of Papa’s House. In 2014 NOH opened a transition house for our college girls allowing them to begin living independently as young adults.
A devastating earthquake outside the Kathmandu Valley shook the nation on April 25, 2015 with the loss of thousands of lives and extensive damage. NOH quickly set up an earthquake relief fund and as donations from friends around the world poured in, NOH began rendering assistance. Volunteer Nepal sent out staff to villages where we had placements to provide cash for food, as well as supplies (tents, tarps, and blankets).
In the summer of 2015, the Chelsea Center began offering adult literacy classes to local women in the community of Dhapasi, becoming the Chelsea Education and Community Center (CECC). Nepal Orphans Home purchased property for Papa’s Possibilities House. In the fall of 2015, Nepal Orphans Home received a grant for constructing the Chelsea Education and Community Center on the grounds of Papa’s Possibilities House. The new Chelsea Center campus was dedicated in April 2017.
In the spring of 2019, the NOH Board of Directors approved a transition plan whereby Nepal Orphans Home would evolve to a public charity with the primary purpose of advising and funding Papa's House NGO in Nepal (which includes Papa's Houses, the Chelsea Education and Community Center, and NOH Outreach). This would allow Papa's House NGO to operate more independently and efficiently in Nepal.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Nepal Orphans Home, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 03/08/2023
Peter Hess
Professor of Economics Emeritus, Davidson College
Term: 2006 -
Peter Hess
Retired Professor of Economics, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina
Carola Drosdeck
Retired Elementary Teacher, Interlochen, Michigan
Ted Seymour
Photographer, Northern California
Anne McCadden
Homemaker, Marin County, California
Laura Handy-Nimick
Teacher, Lake Tapps, Washington
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes