OUR APPROACH AND OUR SUCCESS
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NETWORK OF SUPPORT
HIO has a unique ability to create long-lasting, trusting relationships to promote better futures for poor girls. For years, we’ve successfully paired poor, low-caste, inner-city girls with generous sponsors who underwrite their long-term education. We’ve formed strong bonds with our girls’ families and created bridges between poor households and our valued partner schools in Kathmandu Valley. These nurturing relationships begin when our girls are very young, usually by the time they're in kindergarten. Most HIO girls are day students, rather than boarders, helping preserve the family structure and encouraging family engagement with education. Our hard-working Nepal staff criss-cross the dusty city daily making home and school visits and becoming like surrogate parents. Many of our sponsors communicate directly with our girls in Nepal through heartfelt letters and notes of encouragement. Over time, lovely relationships often develop that are very special and rewarding for everyone involved. Many HIO sponsors stay connected with their girl throughout college and beyond. Focused and careful mentoring is the key for keeping our girls in school and on track to become independent, self-reliant women. 98% of our girls over the years have remained in school, avoiding early marriage or teen pregnancy. With the power of education, HIO girls have shown their ability to break the systemic cycle of profound poverty they face, and have gained chances to follow their dreams. |
Deepa, who's been lovingly sponsored since age five is now on her way to college. Her mother, Dhan Kumari, is a student in the HIO Women's Education Program.
How You Can Help
HIO's donors make a profound impact on the lives of marginalized girls and their families. Sponsoring a girl, supporting an HIO learning center or a women's empowerment programs gives these vulnerable people a chance. HIO girls and their mothers live in poverty not because they lack intelligence or initiative. They simply need access to the resources and opportunities education affords. |