The Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF), based in California, is a nonprofit organization that brings education, housing, medical care and loving support to the destitute children of the impoverished Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal. NYOF has been working in Nepal for over 16 years.

Olga Murray, founder and President of NYOF, spends about half of each year in Kathmandu working with NYOF’s Nepalese staff. Because Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, one dollar can make a big difference in some child’s life. Many of the children served are street kids, orphaned or abandoned, in this country of 26 million people.

NYOF’s Indentured Daughters Program rescues girls whose families have sold them into virtual slavery. For only $100, NYOF gives each family a piglet or goat as compensation for the girl’s wages and enables her to go to school, probably for the first time in her life.

Only 42% of girls are able to read or write in Nepal, and the culture makes it difficult for women to assert their basic human rights and receive health care and a decent education. According to UNICEF, half of all Nepalese children under the age of five who do survive are malnourished - a preventable condition. 51% of the population in Nepal is under 18 years of age.

Other NYOF programs include:

* Supporting two Kathmandu homes for children who have never known safety and security.

* Schools and Scholarships.

* Nutritional Rehabilitation Homes restore the health of malnourished children, while teaching their mothers about nutrition and child care.

* Counseling center for children and young adults, and special scholarships for girls of the ‘untouchable’ caste.

* Random acts of kindness to the children of Nepal.

More information on donation opportunities and program details can be found on their website.