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Dear Friends, What’s one thing we can do to help children living in poverty gain a fighting chance to lead more fulfilling lives? The World Bank tells us to invest in their early education. Good news! That’s exactly what HIO is doing. With your kind support, nearly one hundred young girls and boys receive free early education at HIO’s Chandra Kala and Sanepa learning centers. They and their families are deeply grateful for the doors our learning centers open.  The curriculum at HIO’s learning centers is Montessori-based, helping young children gain academic skills while building confidence and self-reliance. Nestled onto quiet side streets, our two learning centers are hidden gems amidst dusty, horn-honking commercial areas in Kathmandu’s inner-city. They’re abuzz with a broad range of purposeful educational activities from early morning to evening. One center is used for women’s empowerment classes before young children bounce in for a full day of preschool. Both centers provide vital afterschool programming for sponsored girls in grades 1-9. Counseling services for older girls making college and career decisions are made available. HIO’s learning centers are hubs for our wraparound social services as well. Our Nepal team lovingly prepares healthy meals and snacks in the centers’ kitchens for all HIO programs. Community members gather at both centers for food distributions and health camps. HIO families living on the edge appreciate the sense of stability, connection and support they find at Chandra Kala and Sanepa. The centers’ nurturing, family-like environments make them feel like second homes. Beacons of hope that encourage young minds, bodies and spirits to thrive. Many girls now enrolled in HIO’s educational sponsorship program developed their first friendships and thirst for knowledge in our learning centers’ preschool programs. Administrators at our partner schools remark about how well-prepared our preschool graduates are for formal education. How their early learning experiences help them defy the conditions of poverty in which they live.  HIO’s Sanepa Learning Center serves fifty profoundly poor girls and boys living in makeshift homes along the banks of the fetid Bagmati River. One second grader, Naina, embodies all that our learning centers aim to accomplish. Naina began attending preschool classes at our Chandra Kala center when she first moved to Kathmandu with her mother, Nani, in search of a better life. Naina was recognized by her preschool teachers as being exceptionally bright and hard-working. Two years ago, she enrolled in our partner school, Saraswati, as a first grader. Naina quickly established herself as an outstanding student there as well, consistently earning marks of distinction. She’s been ranked first in her class of 65 students for two years running. Naina is well-respected by her HIO sisters for being friendly, helpful and smart. She’s a shining source of pride for her preschool teachers and Nani alike. Like many HIO families, Nani is a single mother, the head of her household, working long, back-breaking days as a domestic. She and Naina live in one rented room with no running water and scant light. Nani barely earns enough for rent, food and household expenses. She believes in the power of education. Having been denied access to school as a young girl, Nani enrolled in HIO’s Be Part of Her Dream women’s empowerment classes at Chandra Kala last June. She’s being taught by Naina’s teachers. Like daughter, like mother, Nani is now excelling in her classes too. Naina takes responsibility for doing household chores and ironing her own school uniform so Nani may focus on her studies. They enjoy reading and writing together at night. Through education, both mother and daughter are well on their way to shifting their life’s story.  Sponsored by Brian Cohoon, Naina gained a firm foundation for learning at our Chandra Kala center. Her mother, Nani, attends women’s empowerment classes there, her second chance for an education. Our Nepal team is at the heart of every small miracle our learning centers can accomplish. Through your kind generosity, we’ve employed eleven Nepali teachers and support staff at our learning centers since the devastating 2015 earthquakes. Most of our staff are women. Chandra Kala’s lead teacher, Manisha, was once an HIO sponsored girl herself. Although teaching young children is typically a low-paying, undervalued job with high turnover in Nepal, ten of our eleven original learning center staff still work with us today. We offer them competitive salaries, good benefits and opportunities to grow, hoping they’ll recognize themselves as the professionals we consider them to be. Each success our Nepal team helps make happen is a wonderful success story for us all. The access to education you make possible is truly transforming lives. We’re ever appreciative of your steadfast support. With deep gratitude - Laura and Ricky Chanda Shrestha, our Nepal Education Manager, helps create warm, welcoming learning environments that encourage all HIO students to shine. 
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