My name is Samuel, 29 years old from France! I I first arrived in Nepal to volunteer with an organization that disappointed me deeply and led me to question the authenticity of some local organizations. I found myself at a little bar in Pottery Square one evening, having a beer to clear my head and make some hard decisions about whether or not I could stay in Nepal and with the organization I was placed with. That is when I met the Happy Kids Center team. There sat a big table of peoples, Nepali, Swiss, Americans... I overheard them speaking passionately about Happy Kids Center and I asked to join them to learn more about the organization. This reignited my excitement about volunteering in Nepal.
That year I volunteered with HKC for six months, helping the team launch the HKC Child Marriage Prevention Program, Kanya String of Hope. After returning to France, I couldn't stay away and returned less than a year later to spend more time at HKC. Which leads me to my favorite story:
Before meeting the HKC team, I had already known many fo the kids. I met them on the street where they begged me for money and rice for their families. On my second visit to Nepal I arrived, expecting to find the children either searching for recyclables in the trash on the street, or begging. I walked and walked all day, looking for them. They were no where to be found. Finally, I went down to the center at 4pm and I found them, in their fresh uniforms, walking home from school.
The children were done begging. They were clean, healthy, happy and confident. That is when I realized the impact of HKC and the way their lives were changed by our programs.
Six years later, Happy Kids Center is among the most important things in my life. The children and the impacts the programs have had on their lives inspire me.
I hope you will join me today in fundraising for HKC, so we can continue to do this important work, bringing children back to school, making sure they are happy and healthy so they can create the best futures for themselves possible.
