Welcome to Kailash Home
“We are happy because we are content. We are content because we are happy.”
Home to 100 children between the ages of six and twenty, Kailash Home is the hub of the Himalayan Youth Foundation’s work in Nepal and serves as the residential campus for all 100 of our Kailash Kids. Daily operations at Kailash Home are overseen by the Himalayan Children’s Foundation (HCF) a charitable organization registered with the Nepali Government and an HYF global partner. Upon arrival at Kailash Home, all of our children are welcomed by both loving professional caretakers as well as by the other students. At Kailash, these children find a new family and are able to recreate the home and parental nest they may have lost or perhaps never had at all. All of the children at Kailash Home are provided both traditional and cultural education, as well as proper nutrition and healthcare, and opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities and outings. Each Kailash Kid is individually sponsored by an international donor who often forms a deep and continuing bond with their child even beyond graduation from Kailash.
The Campus
Located just over eleven kilometers outside Nepal’s capital city Kathmandu, Kailash Home consists of two dormitory buildings, staff headquarters, communal gathering space & kitchen, and a combined library & educational building. Surrounding a central courtyard, the iconic red roofed buildings are the embodiment of home to not just the current students, but hundreds of alumni, donors, and friends as well.
Education
Working with partner schools in Kathmandu all of the children at Kailash from primary school through high school receive a well rounded, traditional education. Daily schooling also allows our Kailash Kids to form friendships and bonds with their peers outside of Kailash Home. Increasing numbers of Kailash Alumni pursue secondary education via college programs and trade schools both in the region as well as around the world.
Health and Nutrition
For many children in Nepal and other developing countries, lack of proper nutrition can be a major impediment to growth and success. All of the children at Kailash are provided not only balanced meals, but are also given quality medical care and supervision. Through guest speakers and educational seminars, the staff at Kailash Home also provide invaluable education, so that even beyond the bounds of Kailash, the children are empowered to make healthy choices. In recent years, programs to provide fresh fruit and workshops to educate students and staff on proper sanitation techniques have continued to improve quality of life at Kailash.
Heritage
Through extracurricular classes that emphasize the traditional arts and our annual home visit program, HYF strives to connect each and every child to his or her home village and culture. We firmly believe that our Kailash Kids should be proud of their heritage, and that they will in turn also be the best stewards of their communities in decades to come.
Girl1
Founded in 2020, the Girl1 initiative is the newest program at Kailash Home. Through community building events & workshops, education & open dialogue, Girl1 aims to further HYF’s mission to empower the children of Kailash Home to create prosperous, secure, equal lives not only for themselves, but also for their families and communities. As Nepal and the rest of the world strive for gender equality, HYF and Kailash are doubling down of a belief in the power of one girl to change the trajectory of the world.
The Girl1 Program is sponsored by Kaimont
Extracurriculars
From athletics to music to art, the children of Kailash Home are involved in a variety of pursuits aside from their compulsory schoolwork and cultural classes. Monthly birthday celebrations, movie nights, and outings into Kathmandu and to neighboring Nepali sites provide fun, community building opportunities for all of the children regardless of age.
Alumni Network
With 20 years of students, Kailash Home and HYF are constantly striving to connect and champion our alumni around the world. These talented young people are a living testament to the work and mission of the foundation as well as an inspiration to current and future generations of Kailash Kids. Our alumni remain connected through visits to Kailash, connections in Kathmandu and beyond, and through a vibrant alumni networking group.
As HYF’s main partner in Nepal, Himalayan Children’s Foundation (HCF) is responsible for the day to day running of Kailash Home and the care of the children of Kailash. The Nepali foundation was founded in 1997 by a group of young and energetic local social workers with the objective of improving the education, health and living condition of helpless, poor and orphaned children from the mountain districts of Nepal.