Celebrating our partners on World NGO Day

The 27th of February marked World NGO Day, a day to celebrate, commemorate and collaborate with the various non-government organisations (NGOs) around the world, and the people behind them that contribute to society all year round.

Beyond the Orphanage (BTO) is proud to be working with our partners – Alfajiri, Star Children, Nawajiwan, Sano Paila and RHERI. We wanted to highlight each of them as a thank you for their continued work. 

World NGO day serves all of us to reflect and to work towards a cohesive future. 

Thank you to all our partners for your generous and inspiring work as we continue to help better the lives of these children who have crossed our paths.

Alfajiri – Kenya

Alfajiri works with children from the streets of Nairobi at a drop-in center. Professional staff assess the children’s needs, provide assistance for referrals to medical and rehabilitation centers, help find them a caring home, enroll them in a school and offer financial support to guardians who are supporting the child. 

Children can also participate in weekly art workshops where they have a chance to create their own artwork and find their dignity. They share their thoughts, ideas and hopes through their artwork which is usually exhibited in art galleries located in Nairobi, Kenya and eventually around the world.

Star Children – Nepal

In Nepal, there are an estimated 13,000 children who have lost their parents as a result of HIV. Since there is little education about HIV/AIDS in Nepal, many of these children are left behind and forced to live a life on the streets. 

Star Children offers residential care to HIV-infected young people in Nepal. Children who’ve been orphaned or abandoned, often due to the virus, are provided with shelter from stigma and judgment, where they’re free to just be young people. Along with meeting all their basic needs, Star Children provides specialist management of HIV, drastically improving their long-term outlook.

Nawajiwan – Nepal

Two values that are at the core of BTO are preventing children from becoming vulnerable, and keeping children with family wherever possible. Nawajiwan is a partner that exemplifies both of these values in its incredible work with HIV-affected rural families, providing medical support, counselling and material aid.

The core aim of the program is to provide support for these families to keep them together and avoid children being abandoned or neglected as a result of inadequate financial and health resources for the parents. Nawajiwan’s work focuses on keeping the children in the community and living with their families and to live happy, normal lives. Support is offered not only to the infected or affected child but to the entire family. 

RHERI – Nepal

Our partner RHERI in Nepal has a residential hostel that is rewriting the stories of 44 deaf children. They are provided with all their basic needs, and receive specialist support through sign language teachers, which allows them to attend school and get a proper education.

They also gain the ability to express themselves. Children who have experienced low self-confidence and social isolation blossom when they learn sign language and can communicate with peers. It is a truly remarkable gift.