Kathmandu, Nepal

***APRIL 2015 EARTHQUAKE UPDATE!***
To help repair our Nepal home’s damage from the earthquake (and to see photos), click here.

Nepal’s St. Devi’s Academy

When Trips with a Mission built St. Devi’s Academy in 1999, there were only a handful of students. Over the years the building has grown from two to four stories, from one building to two. Today there are over 125 children who call St. Devi’s home and more than 400 total students attending our school.

St. Devi’s Academy has an interesting history. It began in a 3-sided cowshed with a corrugated tin roof, woven bamboo gates serving as the front wall and a dirt floor. In the summer the little classrooms were hot as an oven; in the winter it was very cold; during monsoons there were frequent school closures due to flooded, muddy rooms.

St. Devi’s was born to be a stalwart Christian example in a nation where Christianity is in its infancy. It safely shelters little girls who would have been sold into prostitution and forced to live a demeaning life of sexual slavery. It is also home to children who previously lived as outcasts in a leper colony. St. Devi’s warmly welcomes children from even the lowest caste. Oftentimes, children from higher castes won’t associate with low caste children, consequently forcing the low caste children from school.

Over the years hundreds of students have graduated from St. Devi’s Academy. Most of our sponsored children have pursued higher education, some have gone out into the workforce, and a few have gotten married after graduation. Currently we have many students studying at various colleges pursuing many different career paths.

St. Devi’s is a prime example of helping ‘the least of these’. All are treated equally. The axiom ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ is practiced daily.