Nepal: Nepal Earthquake, Orphanage Support

Orphanage support for the improvement of Children’s Health – Nepal Children’s Organization
 
Established in 1964, Nepal Children's Organization (NCO), also known as Balmandir (The Children's Temple) is one of the oldest non-profit organizations in Nepal working for the protection and promotion of children’s rights and providing residential care to children at risk. This includes orphans, differently-abled, abandoned and conflict affected children.
 
After the devastating earthquake on April 25^th, followed by another strong earthquake on May 12^th, an estimated 2,023 children have been confirmed dead.  The number of injured children has been established at 876 and approximately 200 children have lost their mothers and 112 have lost their fathers. Nearly 2 million children are said to have been affected by this mega quake and the powerful aftershocks thereafter. (Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, June 2015)
 
Among those children who lost their parents, many have come under the tutelage of NCO, whose own shelter home was heavily destroyed by the disaster. Currently, through their 10 children’s homes within and outside Kathmandu valley, NCO has been caring for 280 children, including the earthquake-affected.
 
RMF will be supporting NCO in improving orphanage-based children’s health by providing better quality primary health care, including nutrition, sanitation and hygiene.  Through the provision of qualified staff nurses based at their centers, RMF will be supporting NCO in their goals to improve the overall health status of the children, and enhance knowledge and awareness of health and nutrition for operating staff and children of the shelter homes.  Their urgent needs for providing psychosocial counseling to deeply affected children- including those traumatized by the earthquake, construction of a room for infants, the improvement of toilets, and health and sanitation trainings for house mothers and children, and construction of a room for the differently-abled children are some of the activities that RMF envisages to support NCO in accomplishing.