The education challenge in Nepal

30% of the Nepalese population does not know how to read or write, even though primary education is free and compulsory for children aged six to eleven. Only half of the children in Nepal go to school.

The quality of public schools is bad and private schools are too expensive for many families. This is one of the reasons why children that do go to school often drop out early.

Cunina aims to provide sustainable education in the capital Kathmandu, Phaplu and in the villages of the underprivileged Sankhuwasabha-district, which are Khandbari, Sekha, Num, Hattiya and Chepuwa. This means that we start teaching children the English language in kindergarten and offer them an entire learning program so that they will be able to earn a good living at the end of their education.

We cooperate with partner schools by supporting students through Cunina child sponsorships. We also build our own schools, from kindergartens to secondary schools, for Cunina godchildren.

After secondary school, the students can continue their education in one of our skill centers, which focus on bottleneck jobs in Nepal. Bottleneck jobs are jobs for which there are hardly any qualified candidates. 

For the time being, we are offering a medical assistant training at the skill center in Khandbari in Sankhuwasabha. In 2017, we also want to introduce an ecological agricultural and hospitality training. The students of these trainings will do their internship at the Green Village, which is currently being constructed.

At this moment, we are building a skill center, where students can take part in a much-needed IT-training, in Kathmandu.

This will give the young people of Nepal the chance to stand on their own feet and create their own future.

Fact sheet of Nepal

  • Active since 1996
  • Active in 7 locations
  • 1,328 active child sponsorships
  • 2,238 individual godchildren in total
  • 36 completed projects
  • 3 ongoing projects
  • €1,181,393 already spent
  • NGO Cunina Nepal founded on 21 August 2001

Cunina in Nepal

In 1993, the late Louis Germeys took part in the Limburg Dhaulagiri-expedition as a doctor. He was deeply touched by the poverty in Nepal. When he returned home, he was determined to help the Nepalese people. He focused on Khandbari, a city in the east of Nepal. At first he collected funds and medical materials for a hospital. A couple of years later, Sophie, the founder of Cunina, met Louis and decided to help the Nepalese population in a more structured way with the support of Cunina.

In 1997, Cunina started their very first child sponsorships in Nepal and we have really moved mountains since then! The poverty in Nepal is shocking and the children that live in the countryside and in the metropolis have very few opportunities. A lot of Nepalese people leave the countryside and move to the capital Kathmandu to look for their happiness, but most of the time they come back empty-handed. There are no jobs in the big city and a lot of poor people that live in Kathmandu end up in the slums, without any prospect of income or education.

In order to fight the rural exodus and provide children in isolated regions with the opportunity to go to school, Cunina invests in education through child sponsorships by building schools in inhospitable areas and providing training for bottleneck jobs.

Cunina projects in Nepal

Cunina has been operating in Nepal since 1997 and particularly focuses on the development of the region situated on the mountainsides of the Makalu. We have already built two boarding schools, which we completely manage ourselves. Here you can read more about the other projects that we have realized in Nepal.

Corporate Social Responsibility with Cunina

Cooperating with Cunina as a company or an organization has to be something enjoyable. We will do whatever we can to help you figure out how Cunina fits your organization. Show us that you are interested in helping to make the world a better place together with Cunina and we can sit down at the table for an informal talk.