Profile of our Children

Prior life and the benefits of staying at Hopeful Home

Prior Life Challenges

Prior to coming to Hopeful Home children typically encountered major challenges. Children experienced at least one traumatic event. Their parents passed away or they were abandoned by them, they were relocated from remote impoverished rural areas, they experienced poverty firsthand, were typically food and nutrition challenged and did not attend school.

Benefits of staying at Hopeful Home

Since coming to Hopeful Home children have typically been resilient. They are hopeful for an improved future and a quality life with many opportunities. They now have a safe and secure place to live. They receive ample and nutritious food. They attend school on a regular basis and have active social lives.

Characteristics of our children

Where do our children come from?

Unlike other orphanages in Nepal, the vast majority (almost 80 %) of children residing at Hopeful Home were referred to us by official national and provincial Nepal government agencies. That is a testimony to the trust the agencies have in us to provide for the children's needs. The balance of referrals is from placements by relatives of the children, a referral from a local hospital and a referral from a Hopeful Home staff member who found a child in need of a home.

How old are our children?

Children at Hopeful Home are a mix of ages. We do not have any children who are less than 5 years old. About a third of our children are between 5 and 9 years old. Over 40 percent are between 10 and 14. Another quarter are teenagers. We presently do not have any children older than 19.

What is their sex distribution

We predominantly have more boys than girls. Over two-thirds of our children are boys and one-third are girls. Accordingly, 3 out of our 5 dormitories are for boys and 2 of the dormitories house girls.

What school grades are the children in?

All of our children attend school on a regular basis. Almost two thirds of our children are in grades 3 to 5. Another third are enrolled in grades 6 to 8. We also have a student in the 9th grade.

How long have the children been at Hopeful Home?

More than one half of the children have resided at Hopeful Home for less than 4 years. About a quarter have been with us for between 5 and 7 years. In addition, 16 percent have been with us for more than 8 years.

The daily life of children at Hopeful Home

Day Schedule

When the first morning light breaks, it slowly becomes noisy in the children's home and the children roll out of bed one by one. The children get up early and start the day with a cup of sweet milk tea, which is called 'chai' in Nepali. Before dawn, a start is made in the kitchen by cooking a large pot of rice for the first meal of the day.

The children are served the national dish 'dhal bhaat' twice a day. This dish consists of rice with lentil soup and a little bit of curry vegetables. The children receive the first meal before they are taken to school and the second meal they receive in the early evening. Before every meal, prayers are said to the Hindu gods Shiva and Ganesh. During prayer, the children sit on the floor in front of a wooden altar and a few songs are sung to reassure the gods. In the morning, the children receive a red tika on their foreheads, which offers them luck and protection for the day.

After the first 'dhal bhaat' it is time for the children to get ready for school and the school uniforms come out of the closet. It is a hectic affair to get all the children dressed on time. The older children help the little ones prepare to go to school. A black cleaning cloth is quickly run over their shoes to remove the worst dust and at half past nine the children walk to school. The school is about a 10-minute walk from Hopeful Home.

The children go to school six days a week and Saturday is a day off. Wearing a school uniform is mandatory. At about four o'clock in the afternoon the children come home again and they diligently start doing their homework, sitting on the floor. At the end of the day there is still some time left to play.

(This description is from the Laxmi Support Foundation)

Evening & Night Schedule

At the beginning of the evening the second 'dhal bhaat' is ready and then, when they are tired, the children go to bed one by one, after all it is early morning again and the whole ritual starts again. The children sleep in bunk beds and with several children in one bed. This is nice and warm in winter . In the summer time this is also nice and warm, but less pleasant. On Saturday it is 'washing day' and not only are the children washed, but the whole house is also scrubbed clean.

During the winter months it can be very cold in the children's home. There is no central heating or a fireplace and good insulation of the house is not common in Nepal. In these cold months, the children are required to wear a hat in the house and even though the children are used to walking barefoot, here and there they now also come out of the closet. Colds are an everyday occurrence and during the warm and cold seasons, several children often become ill.

Nepal has been experiencing a major electricity problem for years, resulting in electricity being cut off during the winter months. This happens a few days a week for a few hours a day and usually from six o'clock in the evening. Fortunately, Hopeful Home recently installed emergency lighting, but it does mean that it is not only cold in the evening but also quite dark. When there is no school, the children stay in the house. There is no suitable outdoor playground at the house, which makes it difficult to develop outdoor play activities.