It All Began With Building A Girls’ School

In 2010, Kylesh (14) and Saika (12) were introduced to a world that forever changed her life. After learning about Nepal House Society that focused on providing therapy to children suffering severe trauma in Pokhara, Nepal. Kylesh and Saika wanted to get involved. They set up a call with the Founder of Nepal House Society, Ashwin to learn more.

Counselors, Basanta and Shiva, shared with Kylesh and Saika that Nepali families living in poverty could only afford to send one or two children to school; they often chose the males. Females are the forgotten population. Unfortunately, Nepal is known for high levels of trafficking of girls ages 11 years old+.

Shocked by the disparity between the reality and opportunity for women in their community versus the plight that small girls were facing, they wanted to help break the cycle. Kylesh and Saika created Nepal House- US branch. Our goal was to build an all girls school for the most at risk girls in the community.

This school featured a holistic approach powered by therapy and wellbeing of the children to then succeed academically. The students were provided the following:

1. An education

2. Weekly therapy sessions

3. 2 meals a day

4. transportation to and from school 

5. School supplies

6. Uniforms

7. yearly medical, dental, and vision check ups

Later that year, Kylesh and Saika visited Pokhara, Nepal to  meet with prospective teachers, therapists, and administrators at the future site of the school, and participated in every aspect of its creation, from choosing desks to designing curriculums. Upon returning to the US, Kylesh and Saika worked to raise awareness for the girls and their education. To date, over 150K has been raised, multiple partnerships with large corporations developed, and 100% of every donation goes to our students.

During trips back to Nepal, Saika noticed that the mothers of the students at the school were in desperate need of support. Mothers in Nepal are tasked with juggling the responsibilities of managing the household, caring for their children, and earning an income ( many times through manual labor). Among families in Pokhara, the community where the girls school is located, husbands typically labor as migrant workers, sending money home for the first few months but lapsing in both financial support and communication as time goes on. Within those households in which husbands remain at home, domestic abuse is common, and husbands frequently spend a majority of family savings on gambling or alcohol.

In 2013, a “Mothers’ Group” was created as part of a school initiative to provide an open and safe outlet to stifled, overworked mothers, and Saika became increasingly invested in the wellbeing of these resilient, self-sacrificing women. She began to spearhead the initiative, and championed projects and partnerships for its continued growth. Before long, she realized the full potential of the Mothers’ Group, in one simple parable: “ If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. But if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for life.” In the case of the school’s pupils and their families, the key to ‘fishing’ was the mothers and their ability to learn valuable trade skills. 

The foundation of this initiative is the desire to create a meaningful difference in a mother’s life by enabling her to support herself and her loved ones. After two years of work in Nepal, in collaboration with a wonderful team and enthusiastic participants, the flagship Mothers’ Group includes 15 members and is now self-sustaining. 

Micro-loans 4 Moms is currently planning our next project, an endeavor which has brought us to Cape Town. Though our internal, organizational support is amazingly robust and dedicated, M4M also needs local support and interest to establish Mothers’ Groups. In particular, we focus on finding businesses willing to invest in their local communities, and locating individuals interested in strengthening the economy from within by reinvesting money to naturally create opportunity and demand. 

M4M believes :“If you give a [wo]man a fish, you feed [her family] for a day. But if you teach a [wo] man to fish, you feed [the community] for life.”