Project Heart - Home for COVID Orphans

PROJECT HEART

(Healing, Empowerment, Advocacy, Resilience, and Togetherness)

Project HEART seeks to create a Community Children's Home in Nepal: "MAYA KO GHAR" in Nepali; in English: "HEART HOME."

OVERVIEW:
The Blue Butterfly Foundation (BBF), in partnership with nonprofit organizations BASE-Nepal and Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), is starting an emergency initiative to care for 100 children (aged 5-19) who have been orphaned, abandoned, or suffering from economic hardship due to the spread of COVID in the Western part of Nepal—the poorest region of the country and the area with the highest rate of COVID deaths and trafficking victims.

The pandemic has left these children extremely vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and enslavement, and their livelihoods are endangered. Our program—titled Project HEART (Healing, Empowerment, Advocacy, Resilience, and Togetherness)—will include two safe, loving homes (one for girls and one for boys), three nutritious meals a day, proper bodily and mental healthcare, academic education, vocational training, life skills, and emotional and social learning programs. BBF-BASE-BBA do not seek to institutionalize children; instead, our goal is to create a safe and loving community around those children who lost their caretakers and are living in vulnerable conditions. We will create a loving community home called "HEART Home." There will be at least two houses to separate the girls and boys, and we will work within the larger community to ensure the children are still very much a part of the society. BBF-BASE-BBA will provide the children with:

A safe, loving environment with proper bedding, furniture, and supplies. There will be at least two houses (to separate the boys and girls). A total of four house mothers (two in each home) will be hired to help cook, clean, and care for the children's basic needs.
Three nutritious meals a day and a consistent supply of potable water.
Regular doctor visits, proper medicines, and vitamins.
Good schooling and a proper academic foundation. Extra academic help and/or tutoring will also be available.
Mental healthcare and specialized trauma treatment. Four social workers will visit with 25 children each week to monitor their mental healthcare needs.
Vocational training in various areas like carpentry, sewing, crafts, mechanics, and more. Working and partnering with local craftsman will be a big part of the training program.
Life skills education programs like proper hygiene, finance and fair wage education, health and sexuality, and legal and human rights.
Emotional and social learning through special programs that emphasize self-awareness, confidence, empathy, empowerment, and community engagement.
Exploitation, trafficking, and bonded labor awareness programs.
Two House Managers, one Program Coordinator, and one Logistics Manager in Nepal to oversee the project on the ground.
One Project Director and one Program Manager in New York to oversee the project and provide all types of support in all areas.
One accountant in Nepal and one accountant in New York to closely monitor all financial activity.