Children of Sagarmatha | Organisation Suisse Sagarmatha

Sagarmatha home

Sagarmatha home (Sagarmatha Asahya Sewa Sangh / SASS) opened on 31 November 2002 in the northeast of Kathmandu at an altitude of 1100m. It is supervised by a local NGO and under the responsibility of local staff.

This home currently welcomes almost 35 children and youngsters. The children generally arrive at the center at the age of 5 or 6. They leave the center at the end of their schooling (16 years old).

SASS takes in children with a difficult past; they have either lost their mother or father, or come from large families living in poverty. The center provides them with a stable life and family environment, as well as a complete education.

To the children, this home is much more of a family than an accommodation center, and they consider Phinzo and his wife Beena as their adoptive parents.

SASS is a local NGO, under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs of Nepal.

Would you like to discover the life of the centre? Watch this film : https://youtu.be/mlJ_DAs3iSA

How the center is run

Daily life at the center focuses on two main aspects, family life and education.

Family life

The main objective of this home is to take care of the children’s essential needs, that is, to provide food and accommodation, as well as regular medical check-ups (many of the children suffered from various infections when they arrived). It also provides a family environment — the children live with the adults that make up the team, and so Beena and Phinzo, who run the place, are considered mother and father by the children. Their son, is the administration and finances manager. The support team includes other employees: cook, assistant cook, nanny for younger children, accountant.

Education

The other objective of the center is to enable children to complete their studies. In Nepal, schools go from grade 1 to 10, including two years of kindergarten for younger children. The older ones have the possibility to carry out practical training.

The children and teenagers of Sagarmatha

Who are they?

The children who come to stay at the Sagarmatha home come from various regions, casts, and religious and ethnic communities in Nepal. What they have in common is a difficult childhood until they were lucky enough to come and live at the center. These children are all with us at the request of their remaining parent or family.

The center is currently home to close to 35 children and teenagers from 8 to 16 years old, and who all attend the local school nearby.

The children

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Studies or practical training

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After completing school, some young people choose to return to their families while pursuing studies or vocational training. Here are photos of the latest students for whom we have funded training.

A day at Sagarmatha home

5.30 am:

Time to get up. In the yard, the children are getting ready for their daily walk to a nearby hill.

7.30 am:

Once the children’s homework is done and they have freshened up, they play in the yard until their dahl bhat breakfast is served. After breakfast, the children place their dishes in a large tub used for cleaning dishes and laundry.

8.30 am:

Time to put on the school uniform. After waiting in the yard until everyone is ready, the children line up and head out in an orderly manner to the Shangri-La school. This public school has about 1000 students and classes are divided into seven periods of about 45 minutes each.

4 pm:

After school, it’s time to go back to the center. The children head home between 16h and 17h, except Friday when classes end earlier to leave time for the weekly hair washing sessions. Back at the center, the children change out of their uniform and play in the yard. But before long, the tutor is back to revise lessons for an hour in the dining hall.

6 pm:

Once homework is done, the children can finally go and relax in the yard, play hide and seek, ping-pong, basketball, etc.

8 pm:

Dinner time. The children line up, ranked by age and enter the dining hall after being called by name. At the table, they say a prayer and then tuck in! Meals alternate between Nepalese, Hindu and Sherpa dishes.

9.00 pm:

After the meal, the children play a little more in the yard and then go to bed. Once a week they are allowed to watch TV and that’s an opportunity to go to bed a little later…

The managers of the home

Sagun (Babu) Sherpa is the administration and finances manager. His parents - Phinzo and Beena Sherpa - help him to run the center since it was created in 2002.

Financial support

To see the names of the organizations which support Sagarmatha's children, please click here.

Their financial contributions are indicated every year in our annual report.

For more information

Visit the Facebook account of the association that manages the home : Sagarmatha Asahaya Sewa Sangh (SASS)