Megan Welch

A GLIMPSE INTO OUR WEEKLY MEAL DAYS

Every week, our community joins together to uphold one of Nepal's most valued rituals–eating. Saturdays at Happy Kids Center differ from other days. When walking down the path to HKC, the aroma of curry and spices wafts into your nose.  Your mouth to waters and your pace to quicken. Yellows, reds, greens swirl around in giant metal pots aligned on benches like offerings or something to be revered. Families and children hang on each other's legs, skip rope or gossip in the corner as they await the "wash your hands, its time to eat." In a flash, 60 kids are lined up, ready to eat. The older kids sit and chat while the young ones giggle and shovel the food from their plates to their mouths with tiny hands in a mess. 

The children finish their hefty portions of daal baht. They offer their leftovers to our chickens and wash their plates with water from our rain collectors. They leave with full bellies and plates heavy with food being sent home to parents who could not attend. 

These are our meal days. Delicious. Wild. Colorful. Nutritious meals for the whole community and 100% donor sustained. Help us bring another year of delicious food to our community, for happy bellies makes a happy mind. Learn more about our programs www.happykidscenter.org

A GLIMPSE INTO OUR HKC Health Program

Imagine yourself in this position:

While boiling water for tea your child knocks the pot over, onto your foot. The burn is severe and you know you should see a doctor, but the cost is too high.  You must choose between $3 for medicine or several meals for your family. You choose food for your family. Several days later the wound is healing poorly and you can tell it is becoming infected. You wait, apply turmeric and oil and hope that this will be enough to heal the wound properly. Another week passes and your foot is severely infected. You finally decide it is time to seek treatment. You are running a fever,  your foot is swollen and your wound starts to smell. You finally acknowledge it is time to go to the hospital. Your doctor is shocked by your condition, but not as shocked as you are when you see the bill. You now need to take out a loan from a local loan shark to save your foot from amputation.

This scenario is not uncommon.

The HKC Health Fund was founded after the death of a mother in our community who contracted TB and went untreated due to financial constraints.  TB is a treatable condition, requiring a simple series of injections, but if left untreated for too long becomes a death sentence. Upon her death, her children were left orphaned, homeless and increasingly susceptible to trafficking.  We were not able to save this mother, but we are dedicated to making sure no other families suffer the same fate.

At Happy Kids Center we offer to reimburse the cost of healthcare for individuals from our community who face severe illness or injury while living in extreme poverty. For families living in poverty, even the most treatable conditions go uncared for in Nepal. This is primarily due to an inability to afford the cost of care which inevitably leads to more problems for both their health and finances down the line. With your help, starting in 2019 we will also begin providing an annual physical health screening for every child registered with HKC.

By donating to this fund you will be directly providing families in need with access to necessary healthcare, both preventative and urgent.