The Dusty Yak Foundation
The Dusty Yak Foundation aims to relieve the poverty, advance the education and protect and preserve the health of orphans, neglected, impoverished and/or sick children in need in Nepal and elsewhere in the world suffering from such hardship and distress through the provision of: a) basic necessities such as care, accommodation, clothing, food and medicine; b) educational tuition and equipment and the making of grants; and c) financial, material and logistical support to organisations and individuals who work with such orphans, neglected, impoverished and/or sick children in order to help build or improve their accommodation, schools and living conditions in general.
CURRENT PROJECTS An Update…
Our First Project – The Dusty Yak House, Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu
Education
Many of our girls performed so well in their end of year exams that the Foundation requested that five girls ‘skip’ an academic year (highlighted in bold below). The girls received their first semester exams for the current year and all performed above the school’s expectations. exam results are below: The GPA results are averaged across all subjects – 4 being 90-100%, 3.6 80-90% and 3.2 70-80% (all achieving A* to B grades).
| S.N | Name of the Children | Class | GPA (3rd Terminal Exam, April 2017) | Class | GPA (1st Semester Exam, July 2017) |
| 1. | Anita Shahi | U.K.G | 4 | Two | 3.74 |
| 2. | Ashmita Singh | One | 4 | Two | 3.96 |
| 3. | Bhawana Chaulagain | U.K.G | 4 | Two | 3.89 |
| 4. | Bipana Tamata | U.K.G | 3.93 | One | 3.78 |
| 5. | Kristina Tamang | One | 3.93 | Two | 3.96 |
| 6. | Manisha Singh | Three | 3.89 | Four | 3.5 |
| 7. | Parmita Shahi | Three | 3.93 | Five | 3.43 |
| 8. | Pratima Malla | U.K.G | 4 | Two | 3.85 |
| 9. | Puspa Bhattarai | One | 4 | Three | 3.78 |
| 10. | Puspa Chaulagain | L.K.G | 4 | U.K.G | 4 |
| 11. | Sushila Shahi | L.K.G | 4 | U.K.G | 4 |
Three of our girls were elected to be Class Representatives and many of them regularly perform at school assemblies.
| Class Representatives | Class |
| Puspa Chaulagain | U.K.G |
| Sushila Shahi | U.K.G |
| Bipana Tamata | One |
Individual School Achievements Our eldest girls took part in the school Debating competition:
| S.N | Name of Girls | Class | Position | Topic |
| 1 | Parmita Shahi | Five | Third | Wealth is better than education |
| 2 | Manisha Singh | Four | Third | Wealth is better than education |
The Budhanilkantha Kitchen Garden
We welcome Bimala Ramtel to the Foundation, who tends the garden a few hours a week at the house. Her green fingers have sown the seeds of green beans, aubergines, tomatoes, bananas, mango’s, kiwi, pumpkin, grapefruit and corn providing good nutritious homegrown food for the girls. The girls help with the gardening on Saturday mornings.
Birthdays
Remembering the days when our girls first stepped foot into this beautiful world, The Dusty Yak family celebrated the birthdays of: Parmita, 13 years old on 22nd May. Kristina, 9 years old on 3rd July. Manisha, 10 years old on 24th July
A road trip to Pokhara, Nepal on 14th July 2017
On Friday 14th July, the Foundation took the girls on a little road trip to Pokhara, the second largest city in Nepal, covering 206 km on the Prithvi Highway through the Nepalese countryside. We visited temples and museums (including the Gurkha Memorial Museum) and boated on the Phewa Tal lake. Swimming and seeing the sunrise at Sarangkot (a short hike to the 1590m peaklet) were two of the many highlights that made this trip so special to the girls. Many had never stepped foot outside of Kathmandu but for some it brought back memories of them working in the fields when little……
Our Second Project – Naxal Balmandir Orphanage
A Government run orphanage for babies and children in Kathmandu, the Foundation donates disposable nappies, baby clothes, formula, bottles and blankets and spends time chatting to their dedicated staff. Most of these items are donated to the Foundation in England for Lou to bring out on her visits and we wish to thank everyone for their donations. Baby (and children’s) clothes available to buy in Nepal are imported from India. They are expensive, synthetic and of poor quality so donations of boys, girls and baby clothes are gratefully received.
Please contact Lou Hurley if you have any items that you wish to donate (clothes, shoes, bedding, cotton towels).
Our Third Project – The Literacy and Numeracy Programme for illiterate mothers in Kathmandu
On 20th July 2017 the Foundation began its programme to help illiterate impoverished mothers read and write. Four times a week the house in Budhanilkantha provides a learning venue for mothers in the local community to receive help with literacy and numeracy. We are pleased to welcome Batai, Laxmi, Bhagwati, Kesari, Nani Maya, Binu, Mina, Pampha and Kamala to The Dusty Yak Foundation Literacy and Numeracy Programme and wish them well in their studies.
Our Fourth Project – The Dusty Yak Medical Centre and Healthcare Programme
Basic Healthcare is not accessible to many low income and impoverished families in Nepal. A Healthcare programme has been developed which will be run from a converted outbuilding at the house in Budhanilkantha. We will open our doors to orphans and impoverished families in the community. The programme will be extended to remote and rural locations going forward.
A huge thanks to Marianne Black for organising a clothing and toy sale on her move back to Great Britain from Japan, the proceeds of which will provide the seed funding for this project.
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
Nepali New Year Celebration (14th April 2074)
In Nepal, the New Year begins with the first day of the month of Baisakh, which usually falls within the months of April–May in the Gregorian calendar. The first day of the New Year is passionately celebrated in Nepal like other countries. Our girls celebrated with cake and home-grown banana chips.
Easter Day Celebration
The girls celebrated Easter Day on 16th of April. They discussed the significance of Easter in the Christian calendar and enjoyed fun activities including Easter egg rolling, an Easter egg hunt and Easter bunny hop dancing.
VISITS
Lou’s Trip in May
Mom Lou together with founder Friends of The Dusty Yak, Natascha and Angie, visited Nepal in May. Time was spent with the babies at Balmandir and the children at Bright Future Orphanage distributing much needed clothes and baby necessities. They also spent with the Dusty Yak girls swimming, painting nails and henna mehndi. Lou conducted the quarterly audit of the Foundation’s finances, prepared accounts and reviewed house routines and rotas with the House Manager.
Matt’s Trip in May
Daddy Matt surprised the girls with a visit to Kathmandu later in May. The girls were of course delighted to see him. He treated the girls to a day out swimming and lunch. Little treats for the girls brings smiles to their faces. Alongside his day to day business working on a training projects with INGOs, the visit included a review of the Foundation’s operating procedures and planning the Foundation’s new projects.
Visit from Lit Club
In May the children of Lit Club Nepal visited The Dusty Yak Foundation. The girls enjoyed a range of fun activities – singing the Hello song, Goodbye song and playing the Bull Frog game. The programme was coordinated by one of our previous interns, Miss Bandana Adhikary. The girls were happy to meet and interact with the children from Lit Club and a great day was had by all.
FUNDRAISING EVENTS / ACTIVITIES
A Colonial Evening, London, England on 5th May 2017
A fabulous evening of champagne, cocktails and entertainment in support of The Dusty Yak Foundation was hosted at the Cavalry & Guards Club in Piccadilly. Guests were opulently wined and dined and entertained all evening. Generous gifts and goody bags were donated by Culinary Concepts and a stunning house on the elite island of Mustique was snapped up in the auction. A very big thank you to all our guests for supporting the Foundation, to Culinary Concepts and all our very generous donors for making this night such a success.
The Duke of Kent Summer Ball, Surrey, England on 6th May 2017
A very big thank you to the Duke of Kent School in Ewhurst, Surrey, England for choosing to support the Foundation at their summer ball by donating the money raised from their auction.
A Second-hand Sale, Tokyo, Japan
The Dusty Yak Foundation would like to thank Marianne Black and her good friend Mirium for their ongoing support to the Foundation. Their second-hand clothes and toy sale in Tokyo Japan made 173,000 Yen (£1200/160,404 NPR), which will fund the Medical Clinic and Healthcare project.
FUTURE INITIATIVES
Gyanodaya Blind School
We are currently conducting a risk assessment of the infrastructure at the Gyanodaya Blind School which is located in Rakhu in the Myagdi district. The priority will be improving the infrastructure and health and safety training. We will review the medical conditions of all the children. We aim to find a charity or optometrists who will volunteer their services.
The Dusty Yak Village
The project will build a rescue village for children who have been liberated from unlawful halfway houses, reinforced work and sex trafficking. Our vision is to offer a healthy, safe and secure home whilst the children are reintegrated with their families and society. We have found several locations which will be suitable and appraised costings. Corporate sponsorship for this important initiative is being sought.
Charitable Status and Gift Aid Registration
We are pleased to announce that The Dusty Yak Foundation has now been granted Charitable Status (charity number 1172937) and is also registered for Gift Aid. If you are a UK tax payer the value of your gift can be increased by 25% under the Gift Aid scheme at no extra cost to you. If you would like to Gift Aid your donation, please contact Lou Hurley and she will send you a form to complete.
A Toast…
It is nearly one year to the day that The Dusty Yak Foundation opened its doors to 11 orphans. Relinquished by their own families and living in cramped and squalid conditions, these girls are now safe, thriving and happy thanks to the support and help of all our sponsors and donors.
The vision we had as a family to help the lost children of Nepal has been embraced by so many close friends, family members and kind strangers that I would like to send a sincere thank you to all who have made, and continue to make, it all possible. It could not have been done without you – through the charity events you attend and the events you have organised (across the world!) to the generous donors and sponsors of our girls. The support received has enabled the Foundation to extend into further programmes that provide help and happiness to hundreds of orphans and the impoverished in Nepal.
I would also like to extend my thanks to our staff in the Budhanilkantha house in Kathmandu, Nepal. The dedication to our girls does not go unnoticed.
A massive thank you to you all.
Lou Hurley
Trustee
Social Media Links
The Dusty Yak Foundation
www.dustyyak.com