Nepal is a small country bordered by China to the north and India to the south. It's a beautiful and tragic country, best known as the home of the Himalaya mountains, the world's highest. I've been there twice, and have found the people to be among the friendliest and most trustworthy people I've met. Unfortunately, Nepal is also one of the poorest countries in the world, with crushing poverty that leaves much of the country without clean water, adequate nutrition, basic health care, or economic opportunities. The current king is very unpopular, doing little to solve the problems of the masses, and a long-running Maoist rebellion in the villages has paralyzed the economy and made life for the average Nepali even more desperate.

The average annual income in Nepal is less than $200 per year, and it is estimated that only 15% of the population has access to even the most basic health care. Malnutrition is common, education is minimal, and people who desperately want to work find that there is nothing to do. About 80% of the country are farmers, and young men often flock to the cities in search of scarce jobs.

While opportunities for men are slim, for Nepal's women they are practically non-existent. They don't have even the poor access to education and job opportunities that boys have. Further, girls are often considered an economic burden to families since parents are expected to provide a dowry. This makes girls unfortunately vulnerable to trafficking. According to a 2001 study, between 7000 and 10,000 Nepali girls ages 9-16 are trafficked each year from Nepal to India, where prostitution is legal. Sometimes parents will knowingly sell a daughter to traffickers, and can earn anywhere from $200-600, a huge sum to a struggling family.

The dZi Foundation is one organization working to help. They support many worthwhile projects worldwide, focusing on the Himalayan regions of Nepal and India. These projects include dental clinics, nutritional rehabilitation for young mothers, education and monk sponsorships. Their first project, and one of their main ongoing projects, is the Friendship House, a safe home for at-risk girls in Kathmandu, Nepal. You can read about their work and some of the girls whose lives have been changed in the following articles.

Poverty statistics from nepalvista.com
Trafficking statistics from www.du.edu

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