10 Jul AHF Update – health in Nepal

THANK YOU AND UPDATE FROM OUR CEO

Namaste friends and family, 

What an honour and privilege the past six months have been serving as the CEO of your Himalayan Foundation. 

The past half-year has flown by, and thanks to generous supporters like you we finished the end of financial year with a blizzard of busy-ness. We invited our supporters to help us meet our fundraising commitments to our partners, and we were so heartened with your response. Thank you. It is only  through the support of our Australian Himalayan Foundation family that we can continue our partnerships in Bhutan, Nepal and India. You support many remote and marginalised families, transforming their lives through quality education, accessible healthcare, and environmental conservation. 

Leading the Australian Himalayan Foundation (AHF) is not only engaging and riveting, but witnessing the impact of your support is so humbling, fulfilling and rewarding.

In April, I travelled to Nepal and Bhutan with our Chair, Simon Balderstone. We met with two key partners in Kathmandu – REED and Action for Nepal, and our key partner in Bhutan – RENEW.  

Our work has a lasting impact on the people of the Himalaya. In Nepal, Simon and I shared a cuppa and a chat with a few teachers who over the past decade had participated in REED’s teacher training and quality education program. It was just so inspiring to hear the impact our teacher training program has had on their lives. One of these teachers, Rikki, talked about the high reputation of the graduates from our programs in the Khumbu region. When they choose to undertake further studies, these graduates are recognised for their initiative, drive to learn, and ability to excel at further studies. Our teaching program not only heightens the standards for education in the project areas, but also awakens the spark for transformational development in both teachers’ and students’ ability and efforts to learn.

I was so inspired by my conversations with the Director of Action for Nepal, Dr Jangmoo Sherpa. Through the generosity of people like you, we are supporting a healthcare program that is raising awareness of health related issues, and improving access to healthcare. This project is just finishing the second year, but already the nurses report that there are significant increases in the number of women seeking the maternal and child health services. Similarly, in six months alone, the female health volunteers have run 22 school health programs that teach children dental hygiene, handwashing and other basic healthcare.  

We invite you to learn more about our health programs by watching this video that Trevor Harrison, one of our dedicated volunteers, produced for us.

We are so thankful to our partners, especially their field staff, who so tirelessly work in some of the most remote communities in the Himalayas, working alongside families and communities to help them realise their dreams and hopes for the future. 

Our AHF community tackles serious challenges every day, and we would not be able to address these challenges without the support of our amazing AHF staff, volunteers and supporters. Your support is integral to every story of success and every opportunity to make a change in a person’s life. I look forward to sharing more stories of change and impact with you in this next year. 

In solidarity, 

Angela