Summary
Organization name
Daya International
2018
Tax id (EIN)
83-2675394
Category
Youth Development
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
7318 S Ridgeview DrLittleton, CO 80120
Arapahoe County, CO, US
NP
Women suffer disadvantage and hardship in many cultures, especially in Nepal. Daya International shines light on our sisters' plight.
Daya International is committed to making a difference by providing higher education opportunities for poor and orphaned girls who otherwise would not have any choice
Testimonials
Namrata and Priscilla are best friends and what they want most in life is to become nurses!
Both are 17-years old.
And Both Namrata and Priskilla's families come from impoverished villages in far west Nepal. Namrata's mother died from suicide and her father abandoned Namrata and her 5 sisters when she was just six years old.
When this happened, she was brought to the AS Nepal Orphanage. Namrata is Dalit, considered an "untouchable" in Nepalese culture. The Dalits live at the bottom of Nepal's traditional social order, known as the caste system, a 2000-year-old Hindu custom that violates civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights by many international standards. Because of her last name, she is not safe from being shamed and discriminated against. Fortunately, Namrata has grown up in a safe and healthy environment, as the orphanage does not recognize Hindu customs.
Namrata wants to make money and help streets kids and people living in remote regions who cannot access hospitals.
Priscilla comes from the Tharu Tribe
This tribe lives in the southern part of Nepal and were stripped of their land by a Rana ruler. Since then, the Tharu Tribe has been landless and were forced to work as laborers for their masters, working in exchange for meals. Like American slaves, they were sold and owned by families as if they were objects. Bound slavery was finally outlawed by the Nepalese government in 2006, but the stigmatism and discrimination of this centuries-old tradition is still alive today, and many Tharu continue to live in utter poverty.
The tuition for a 4-year nursing program costs a minimum of $8000 (2k each year)
Mission
Daya's mission is to provide educational opportunities for marginalized women and youth in Nepal.
Background Statement
In 2002, Bhakti and Udaya Bhatta, residents of Kathmandu Nepal, began opening their home to vulnerable children with no outside funding. That would come later. In addition to raising two children of their own, Udaya and Bhakti were suddenly caring for 13 orphaned children under one roof.
In addition to helping orphans, Udaya and Bhakti have been actively involved in their faith communities in Kathmandu and their hometown regions in far-western Nepal.
Concerned about the impoverished and harsh living conditions of women in Nepal, they began searching for someone who could speak to the women, encourage them, and provide information regarding basic health care and gender equality.
In 2006, Vaun Swanson volunteered to accompany a team from Denver, Colorado, and spoke to a gathering of 200 women in the far-west.
Since 2006, Vaun has continued to travel to Nepal about once a year to speak at women's conferences and visit the orphaned children being raised by Udaya and Bhakti, often taking teams with her from the US.
The number of children being raised has now grown to 60, housed in three separate homes. ServLife International, a non-profit organization in Indiana, has been sponsoring these children over the years through grade 12.
As the children got older, an important question emerged:
What happens when the children turn 18 and "age-out" of the orphanage?
In the fall of 2016, a team of women from Denver traveled to the far-west region of Nepal to offer business training to 30 women and their husbands.
Older girls from the Kathmandu orphanage accompanied the team to serve as translators.
It soon became evident that the girls were concerned about their futures when they left the orphanage, as they had no job skills or families to go home to. The Denver women decided to raise money so they could attend college and share an apartment together.
The first four women and oldest orphans were given scholarships to attend college in 2017.
Looking ahead, we see that all of the children growing up in these three orphanages, as well as many other marginalized children and women, would benefit from further education or job skills training that would enable them to live productive and sustainable lives as adults. Our dream is to partner with other like-minded people to provide education and help lift these Nepali friends out of poverty and into a life of exciting, new possibilities.
Daya International was founded in the fall of 2018 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We partner with Daya Foundation, a formal entity based in Nepal that is overseeing the day-to-day operations of Daya International as well as the coming-of-age orphaned children we serve.
Media gallery
Organization Data
Littleton, CO 80120