Aishworya is a small, family-run children’s home in Kathmandu.

Aishworya aims to provide the following things for the orphaned and abandoned Nepalese children in our care:

-    A safe, loving home environment.

-    An education for all of the children in our care.

-    Regular balanced meals, clothing, shelter and a sense of community.

-    A safe play area and the opportunity to develop skills of social interaction with the other children.

In 2003 Nirmala Ghimire found two boys on the streets in Balaju. Their names were Jeetu (10)and Arun (8) and they were dirty, hungry, homeless and crying. Arun was very sick and Nirmala took them to the hospital and then to her home.

After the local authorities placed the boys in an orphanage, Nirmala continued to visit them. A month later she found two more brothers in Chamati, Jack and Andy (9 and 3). Nirmala took them to the same orphanage and continued to bring food and comfort on her visits to them.

A year later the owner of the orphanage had a heart attack and the children were all moved to different orphanages. The new orphanage the boys were moved to was completely different, and the children there were badly neglected: the house aamaa (live-in mother) beat them regularly and they weren’t properly fed or cared for.

When Nirmala was at the hospital one day she met Biru and Sani, aged 6 and 4, looking lost and frightened. Their uncle had been bitten by a snake and was severely ill, but there was no one else to care for them. Nirmala offered to look after them for a while until their uncle was better. At this point she realized that she would prefer to look after the other four boys herself than leave them in such a bad orphanage, and so she took them in and decided to set up her own orphanage.

Nirmala quit her job as a driving instructor, and sold her land in order to pay the rent on a new property and provide for the children. Since then the orphanage has grown and has housed up to 35 children, although currently there are 32 children at the home.