Bringing hope to abused Nepali children
Saving and giving lies at the very foundations of YesTax’s business with “doing good” an unwavering constant within our team’s daily endeavours and business practice. We are fully committed to providing direct support to projects that serve children who are in need, both in the UK and overseas in Nepal. This commitment is further affirmed through active involvement with our Guiding Light Foundation, which helps to ensure that every contribution made directly benefits those who need it most.
YesTax’s Alison Ralston's visit to Nepal in 2018 ignited a deep affection for its warm-hearted people and inspired the concept of establishing the Guiding Light Foundation for the country’s vulnerable children. John Moxon's own travels within Nepal furthered the motivation for YesTax to provide hope to Nepali children and bridge the gap between good business and efficacious charitable giving.
From the outset the Guiding Light Foundation has been working alongside the Nepali charity Antardristi. The charity’s visionary founder, Binita Adhikari, a seasoned psychologist and counsellor, established one of the country's pioneering initiatives to combat child incest and rape, and together with her team, they confront the truly harrowing cases of sexual abuse, collaborating directly with Nepal’s police force, who refer many of the most serious cases to them.
Shockingly, on average, there are four new reported cases of child rape in Nepal each and every day. During one of our visits to an Antardristi safe house we met a 10-year-old girl who had been raped by her father, she was just five years old at the time the abuse took place. Her father was incarcerated, and she found refuge in the safe house. Sadly, this young girl’s story is far from unique.
Antardristi’s primary purpose is to counsel and rehabilitate these children, enabling them to one day return home. However, there are instances where the emotional scars run so deep that reintegration is impossible, and the safe house becomes a long-term home. The safe house offers a secure environment with ongoing psychological support, including counselling, life skills development, recreational activities, educational support, and job skills training.
Alongside offering abused children shelter, protection and a brighter future, Antardristi works hard to raise awareness about child sexual abuse and children's rights throughout Nepalese society. Education within schools and communities on sexual violence, human rights, and legislation, better equips children to recognise, reject, and report inappropriate behaviour. The charity also runs programmes to promote early detection and prevention, increasing awareness within communities and empowering everyone to break the silence.
We are constantly and deeply moved by the love and protection Binita and her team provide and have witnessed first-hand the resilience of these incredible young girls.
To date we have provided the charity with over £150,000 of funding to help meet their safe house’s ongoing running costs, further educational programs, and help bring about lasting societal change. We have also helped fund the purchase of a new off-road Jeep to assist in providing safe transportation for children, even from the country’s most remote areas.
We are deeply thankful to Binita and her team for their ongoing support of these children and are also incredibly grateful for all donations received that allow us to continue funding this life-changing work.
If you would like to support the work that Guiding Light and Nepal’s Antardristi charity do, then please get in touch with ali@yes.tax. More information about the Guiding Light Foundation can be found here.
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