It all started with a trip to Nepal...
In October 2006, Vanessa & Guy Higgott traveled to Nepal to trek and climb in the mountains. They fell in love with the country, but more importantly, the people.
Genuine and kind, Nepalis are blessed with a rich and beautiful culture, but an historically unstable political and social framework. Even the 2008 elected Maoist government failed to deliver new hope and direction for a country who has fought amongst itself for so long.
In May of 2012 the Constitution still had not been created, leaving the country in further turmoil with frequent nationwide strikes, paralyzing it’s economy and tourism industry.
In 2006 Vanessa began volunteering at Hopeful Home Orphanage, in Kathmandu. Most of the children there, were abandoned by poor and
uneducated parents. Almost sixty percent of Nepal is illiterate.
In 2008, Learn for Life of Canada teamed up with ANSWER of the United States to complement each others efforts. This coalition provides children the enhanced opportunity to study from primary school, through to post-secondary. Our Nepali faculty, in Kathmandu, are the daily operational component and the core of our organization.
Looking around at our friends and peers, it is safe to say that we are where we are in our lives, and have enjoyed some degree of success, because of our education and the opportunities that were available to us. Simply put, we won the 'birth lottery'.
Education is a gift, and we have the opportunity to share this gift. Our students are young people who are exactly like us, yet so circumstantially different.
Our Selection Criteria includes:
- 1st division academic standing – 70% or higher
- Poor economic status and low caste
- Commitment to Social Welfare Club (see below)
- Agreement to repay 25% of the tuition fees (starting 5 years after graduation)
- Commitment to sponsor a primary school child after (once their 25% loan has been repaid)
Our weekly Social Welfare Club (SWC), held every Saturday morning, is designed to develop abstract thinking, confidence and create more worldly young adults. Jailina, one of our Nepali correspondents, leads movie sessions that evoke topics for discussion. Recent topics have included “A Beautiful Mind” where we learned about mental illness, and “Wall-E” where students were challenged to find parallels between the movie’s message, and students who study abroad and don’t return home to contribute to their Native Nepal.
A local Kathmandu journalist also visited SWC to lecture on the roles that International NGO's play in countries like Nepal.
Just recently, students voted on the alumni commitment to repay 25% of their scholarship. The repayment starts 5 years after they have graduated, and they have had the chance to start earning a career-based income. After their loan has been repaid, our graduates look forward to sponsoring their own primary school child, continuing the cycle of empowerment. We are pleased to see the student’s commitment to paying back into the very system that afforded them the opportunity they will soon be enjoying
