Kareena Thing is ten years old. She is studying at Shree Jana Jagriti Secondary School in fifth grade and lives in the Makawanpur District. She is a very charismatic child, bright and with a contagious smile, but her family has been through very difficult times.

Her father, Ram Krishna, has not been in contact for years now. In 2014, he went to Malaysia for foreign employment but has never sent home any remittance or kept in contact with his family since he left. There are currently 700,000 Nepalese migrant workers in Malaysia. There is a slight possibility that he could be one of the average of nine Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia dying every week.

Rovi Maya, Kareena’s mother, is now working as a labourer to maintain the family. She is very determined to give her children education. However, her income is not sufficient to cover the costs of her children’s studies. For this reason, CMIR has selected Kareena to receive a scholarship to support Rovi Maya in fulfilling her desire to give her children the education they deserve.

This year we have managed to give scholarships to fifteen children with a life story similar to Kareena’s. We are seeking to increase the number of scholarships available to twenty-five. This is why we created this fundraising campaign. We would like to raise as much money as possible to give children like Kareena the opportunity to pursue careers and bright futures instead of having their choices restricted to farming or foreign employment. Your contribution is fundamental for the future of these kids and your generosity will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Find here the link to donate to our organisation, which creates the scholarships for these children like.

#theworldis1family

This is Chet Prasad Jhedi. He is a sixteen-year-old Nepali student at Shree Sikshya Bodhani Secondary School. He is now in eighth grade and lives in Nawalparasi district. He lost his father, Ran Bahadur, a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia.

Chet’s father left in 2009 to search for better financial opportunities and found a job as a labourer, but he passed away in 2010, after a sudden heart attack. The circumstances he was working in are uncertain. One can wonder whether specific working conditions could have contributed in causing the heart attack. Many questions can be asked concerning the environment he was working in but answers are hard to be found. Ran Bahadur was the only breadwinner of the family. When he passed away, the future of Chet and his mother was put into jeopardy.

After Ran Bahadur’s death, his wife Munisara, an unskilled worker, could not find any job opportunities. The situation was weighing on Chet to start earning money instead of continuing his education. Due to these circumstances, Chet has been selected to receive a scholarship from CMIR. This has certainly not resolved the myriad of problems the Jhedi family is facing. However, this scholarship has bought the family some time. Chet can now complete his studies, and his mother does not have to worry about paying for his schooling. Furthermore, at sixteen a student is usually supposed to be attending tenth grade. Perhaps, this scholarship could give him the confidence and will to work hard in order to recover from the time lost. This scholarship might give him time to make up his mind on whether or not to continue his education and go to university. This scholarship has the potential to improve his life opportunities, which will not be restricted solely to foreign employment. This scholarship gives Chet and his mother hope.

This year we have managed to give scholarships to fifteen children with a life story similar to Chet’s. We are seeking to increase the number of scholarships available and for that we need your help. We would greatly appreciate a donation, big or small. Kids and their families could benefit a lot from what you decide to donate and hopefully, your generosity could change their lives.

#theworldis1family

Lokendra Tamang is a 13-year-old boy, living together with his mother Laxmi in Manthali, Nepal. He has big dreams for his future; he wants to open his own business one day. 

But life hasn’t always been easy for him. At his young age, Lokendra is facing many challenges that prevent him from doing what kids his age usually do  — go to school and play with friends. Surrounded by poverty in an underdeveloped community with bad roads and no permanent access to electricity, his parents realized that they didn’t have much to offer him. They saw only one option to improve their situation: foreign employment. Nepal is a country with one of the highest proportions of its population leaving the country for foreign employment. According to the Nepali government, around 14 percent of the population work abroad, making remittance a major contributor to development financing in Nepal.

Like many other Nepalis, Lokendra´s father Tarman Tamang left to Malaysia in 2005. In order to cover all the expenses of securing employment abroad, Lokendra´s parents took a loan of NRP 100,000. Lokendra was only 3 years old when his father left; he grew up not having his father around. All responsibility for carrying for Lokendra and their farm rested, from that point forward, on his mother Laxmi. But their dream of a better future was dashed shortly after Tarman’s arrival to Malaysia. Facing bad working conditions and low pay, his father wasn’t able to send any money back to his family. Then, after two years, he just vanished. Until today, nobody knows where Lokendra´s father is or what happened to him. Already traumatised by the disappearance of their father and husband, the family has also had to deal with high debts, making it impossible to send Lokendra to a good school. His mother has done the best she can, working on their farm to support her son. But her salary is insufficient to support Lokendra’s education.   

Thanks to CMIR´s initiative, Lokendra was given the opportunity to continue his studies. In his case, there is a possibility to arrest the perpetration of migration as his only prospect of income. Perhaps, he will be able to decide what is best for him, and choose education and will undertake a career instead of having unskilled labour as his only future. Like him, fifteen other children were given the same opportunity. They were given hope. Our aim as an NGO is to protect these kids from dropping out of school and giving them equal opportunity by ensuring them an education. This year we are trying to expand our scholarship fund to support more kids. 

Through our campaign, “The world is one family”, we want you to be part of our mission and support migrant workers' kids in need. 

Every contribution matters, so let's work together and make this world a bit better – together!

#theworldis1family