Youth for Nepal (YFN) is a non-profit organization that empowers the young adults of Nepal to initiate various awareness and development programs in the country. YFN aspires to act as a unifying force for all people who seek a brighter future for Nepal and commits to the creation of a better Nepal by assisting in the growth and development of education, environment and health sectors.
Our Objectives:
YFN works in the fields of education, environment and health to further the following causes throughout Nepal:
- Develop the infrastructure at resources-deprived educational and healthcare institutions
- Increase literacy amongst underprivileged children and adults
- Raise awareness about environmental issues and implement grassroots-level environmental programs
- Increase knowledge of basic health and sanitation issues in the community
- Devise vocational projects to reduce the burden of operational costs on donations, while staying true to YFN’s mission
How we work
The basic steps are simple--someone comes to us with an idea or a project. We help them figure out the details of the project and what they really want to do. They we work with them to eliminate other administrative hurdles, if necessary. Then we fund them and let them do the project the way they want to, with minimal supervision.
With time, we also intend to set up a platform where these people can showcase their accomplishments. We can also start some projects of our own and enlist individual volunteers if we think we can do it efficiently.
How we think
Often times, when people want to do some cool project, they end up being faced with multiple hurdles that detract from their ultimate objectives in implementing the project. We wish to eliminate these hurdles and act as coordinators or facilitators for these people so that they can get the best out of their intended projects.
As per our mission, we will support grassroots programs in the education, environment and health sectors only. While the need for macro-level awareness and advocacy is also paramount in Nepal, we think that similar organizations are addressing these issues well. However, there can never be enough grassroots projects.
US Team
Abha Eli
Abishkar Shrestha
Amrit Tuladhar
Bigyan Bista
Jeshica Baral
Monita Rajbanshi
Niju Shrestha
Raunak Agarwal
Sanchit Chokhani
Saugar Sainju
Suyog Shrestha
Nepal Team
Akash Shrestha
Deepesh Shrestha
Sanjeeb Rajbhandari
Sarita Sapkota
Sanzit Shrestha
Shubham Amatya
Sugat Manandhar
Sujat Dahal
Utsav Bhattarai
Testimonials
Abishkar Shrestha
Abishkar is a graduate of Grinnell College, IA. He graduated from Grinnell in 2006 with a degree in Economics and has been working since at Moody's Investors Service, a corporate credit rating agency in New York. He is originally from Maharajgunj, Kathmandu and completed his high school education at Siddhartha Vanasthali Science Campus.
Coming from a simple middle class family in Nepal, Abishkar considers himself pretty lucky to have been able to attend a top private college in Grinnell. This would not have been feasible without some thoughtful alum's benevolence in sponsoring scholarships for students like himself. In Nepal, there's a saying that what you receive with one hand should be returned with ten hands. It is sometimes tempting to wait till one grows ten hands to return, which will not happen. He thus sees YFN as a means of stepping out of his comfort zone and doing his small bit to try and make a positive difference for communities in Nepal.
Sanchit Chokhani
Sanchit completed his undergraduate studies at Grinnell College, Iowa where he graduated with a Bachelor's in Computer Science and Economics. He is originally from Kathmandu, Nepal and finished schooling at St. Xavier's Campus. He now works as an Analyst for Digitas LLC, a marketing agency in Boston, USA.
Sanchit's primary interest in YFN stems from his early experimentation with SET Council at St. Xavier's, where he realized that people come up with great social projects when they are in school or college. However, there is no system to encourage active pursuit of such ideas and to eliminate simple administrative issues which often make these endeavors unfeasible in an already busy life. So, having idled a while in his post-college life, he decided that YFN would be the best way to add some value to his own life by helping others pursue their own projects.
Sarita Sapkota
Sarita currently studies as a student at St. Xavier's Campus, where she is pursuing a Bachelor's in Social Work. She finished her +2 level education from Himalayan White House College in Baneshwor, Kathmandu. She just finished her first year in college and, as a part of her field work, she has been working with children at CWIN - an eminent NGO in Nepal.
She is interested in YFN because she wants to be involved in making positive changes (small or big) in her own and other people's lives and surroundings considers YFN to be a great platform for such changes. The other thing interesting about YFN is the concept of encouraging and supporting people's own ideas to develop things around them, i.e., making themselves the major part of the change that they want to bring in or need.
Saugar Sainju
Saugar is currently a senior at Grinnell College, Iowa. He is a Computer Science major with a strong interest in Social Studies. He completed ICSE from St.Joseph’s School, Darjeeling, India and A-levels from Rato Bangala School, Kathmandu, Nepal before coming to the US.
In grade 9, Saugar was exempted from his final examination to go and volunteer in a (middle) school in a remote village of Darjeeling. He was moved by the situation of the students who had to walk miles through the hills everyday to attend classes. He not only helped the teachers in the classes but also helped build a playground and a basketball court for the students. In Kathmandu, Saugar was involved with various social service programs such as Habitat for Humanity and some AIDS awareness programs. With such experiences, he believes that empowering the youth with resources complements their ideas and energy to make a difference in their society. He envisions such possibilities through YFN, and hence his involvement.
Sumit Shrestha
Sumit graduated from Minnesota State university with bachelor's in Computer Engineering in the spring of 2006 and he is currently working at Beckman Coulter Inc. as a Software Configuration Management Engineer.
Sumit met Fr. E. L. Watrin at St. Xavier's campus in 1998 and was inspired by his selfless devotion to socio-economic development of rural towns in Nepal. Since then, Shrestha has participated in Fr. Watrin's numerous social work activities. At YFN, Shrestha is proud to be back with his St. Xavier's alumni and carry on its social work legacy.
Suyog Shrestha
Suyog Shrestha, a graduate student at Iowa State University in Ames,
Iowa is originally from Sindhuli, Nepal, a small town to the southeast
of Kathmandu. He finished his high school from St. Xavier's College
in Thapathali, Kathmandu and graduated from Grinnell College,
Grinnell, Iowa in 2006 with physics major.
When he was a small kid, he participated in various stage and street
programs organized by the townspeople or students during festivals in
his hometown. Then, of course, the idea was to have fun with other
kids more than anything else, but now he can trace his earliest
inspiration in social services to those programs. The money thus
raised would ultimately be donated to Sindhuli Vidhyashram, a private
high school run by a public trust. His father was one of the founding
members of the school, whose commitment and persistence brushed off on
him, he reminisces, and in the subsequent years, he himself organized
a few street programs to help raise fund for the school.
In the summer after he finished his tenth grade, he volunteered to
teach science in the same school for three months as the teachers'
demand in rural Nepal usually exceeds the supply. During his tenure at
St. Xavier's and for one year immediately following graduation, he
volunteered to teach at a public high school outside Kathmandu Valley
and, at the same time, helped raise funds for under-privileged children
who couldn't afford medical services at Kanti Children's Hospital in
Kathmandu.
All these have continued to shape his vision. After he gets his degree,
he wants to return to Nepal and get involved in social services,
focusing on education and health. Youth for Nepal is his first step.
Bigyan Bista
Bigyan obtained his undergraduate degree from St. Peter’s College, NJ in 2007 with a double major in Biology and Mathematics. He has since been working at NYU Medical Center (NYU Cancer Institute) in midtown Manhattan as a research associate in cancer biology. He originally hails from Dhapasi, Kathmandu and he completed his schooling in Nepal from St. Xavier’s Campus.
The vision of YFN to get the Nepalese youth involved in volunteering and community organization struck Bigyan as novel and essential. Bigyan believes that the young generation needs to be the agent of change for a better Nepal and that they should assume the responsibility from early on. He feels proud to be part of this enthusiastic crowd at YFN to help young adults in Nepal realize their potential.
