Kailash Man was born out of a shared restlessness between Oriol Ribas and the alpinist Manel de la Mata about what they could do to return part of what they had received from theHimalaya. A quarter of a century later, that impulse is an educational home on the outskirts of Kathmandu that accompanies children from disadvantaged areas of the Nepalwith education as the central axis.
How does it all start?
Manel de la Mata and I used to climb together and we always said that, after everything the Himalayas had given us, we should do something. In the area you could see very clearly that the big concern of many families, especially in more rural areas, was the school. If children do not study, they are condemned to repeat the lives of their parents. In Kathmandu I found an organization that was already helping seven children and contacted them.
From seven children it goes to a much larger structure.
First we arrived for a fortnight and rented a first house. But twice we found ourselves doubling the rent after putting money into it. With 35 or 40 children this was unsustainable. We bought land on the outskirts of Kathmandu and built our own facilities. In 2007 we made the first buildings and, years later, when they were too small, we built two more.
Who is Kailash Home for?
To children from remote areas who, due to poverty, because their father or mother is missing or because they do not have a school in good condition, would find it very difficult to study. Over time we’ve learned that it’s not just about helping more. Now we prioritize quality. We try to get them in around the age of five or six, before they start school, and they are provided with a tutor so that they can achieve some basic skills and then they can follow the course normally.
How do families and children experience the moment of leaving home and going to Kailash Home?
There is everything. There are families who are having a hard time, but they also know that they are giving them an opportunity that the village would not have. A good education can change their lives. In some cases, we have even been asked. And it happens to children too: some miss their parents a lot, especially at first, but then they see that they have time to study, play, make music and have a life that they would hardly have in their place of origin. In other cases, on the other hand, there are very difficult family situations and you think: “How lucky that that child is here.”
“If children do not study, they are condemned to repeat the lives of their parents”
What do they find there, apart from a place to learn?
They also have the opportunity to learn to play instruments, play sports and do all kinds of cultural activities. Our main goal is for them to feel that we are all family there.
How is a project like this managed from Andorra?
With a lot of presence and control. The Nepalese side takes the center there, but we are way above the management, budget, targets and recruitments of prime importance. We have contact several times a week with the director in Kathmandu, I go there between two and four times a year and the project director from Andorra also goes there often. On the other hand, the American part of the project, headed by Micheline Kramer, is more in charge of fundraising.
“There are very hard situations and you think: ‘how lucky that child is here'”
They also work with a sponsorship system. How is it managed?
The godfather contributes approximately $2,000 a year, which is used to cover the child’s schooling and maintenance. One of the things we offer is that there are no middlemen: the money comes to us and goes directly to the project. I am a sponsor myself and we monitor very closely how resources are spent and how each child is doing.
They have also been professionalizing the internal operation.
yes We have been introducing processes that we would take for granted here, but which are not as standardized in Nepal, such as the selection of positions based on skills, setting objectives, reviewing results or securing staff. I realized that the workers did not have health insurance and we looked for a formula to cover them.
What size is it now?
We don’t want to go beyond about 90 children because physically we can’t fit more. In total, I estimate that about 200 have gone through the project and about eighty have already left. We have about twenty workers.
The Rasuwa floods have once again put the project in the face of an emergency.
yes We have four young people who are linked to the center who have lost everything. We have ensured that these boys and their families have their basic needs covered for the coming months and that they can continue studying. And this year, instead of the four children we planned to take in, we will take ten: six additional places will be for children from Rasuwa affected by the catastrophe.
Why are they focusing aid on this?
What we know how to do is education. If a catastrophe leaves a child without a home, without resources and at risk of leaving school, here we can act and maintain this support for years.
After 25 years, what do you value most?
See what ends up happening with the kids. There are those who work, who have gone to other countries… It makes us happy to see how education changes lives and, above all, to see that something that started very small has become a family.
