Shining Stars School - giving children a future

This fundraising will go directly towards Shining Stars Childrens Home (SSCH).

SSCH provides stable, reliable and loving care, offering a family atmosphere that encourages positive growth and development with the view to the children becoming successful, compassionate adults who will be able to contribute positively to their community and country.

With the children growing fast thanks to a healthy diet, good living conditions and a whole lot of love, VSN announced its ‘Dreaming of New Home’ campaign to raise enough funds to purchase land and build a second home, a facility to provide a permanent, safe loving home for the children. On July 1st 2007 VSN purchased a 2,100Sqm plot of land in Badikhel SE of Kathmandu. In March 2008, SSCH was transferred to another rented home in Taukhel, in order to place the children into the same school they would attend once in their own home. On the 25th August 2010, after almost four years of planning and fundraising we finally moved our Shining Stars into their own, purpose built home, thus providing them with a home where they can take refuge from the world, feel safe, feel loved, be happy and grow healthily.

The home is environmentally sustainable, while respecting cultural considerations and incorporating traditional design elements. The two storey main building houses all the children and staff, a large common/play room and a puja/prayer room. The dining room, kitchen, office and visiting room are located in a separate building. Outside there is plenty of the space for the kids to play, a vegetable garden, fruit trees and chickens.

On 25th December 2015 we merged our first and smaller kid's home, Brighter Future Children's Home with Shining Stars

All bar two of the original SSCH children were trafficked into Kathmandu, during the height of the Maoist insurgency from the remote and backward region of Humla in the far north west of Nepal. They were brought to Kathmandu on the false promise of being kept safe and given an education. The children’s reality upon arriving in Kathmandu was neglect and abuse.

All our children have some family, but given the remote and backward nature of Humla, the decision was made upon consultation with their parents, to keep them in Kathmandu, provide them with an education and through this, hopefully help break the cycle of poverty by empowering them to stand on their own two feet. Our BFCH kids backgrounds are slightly different. Again the all have some family, often just a mother, although some have dropped out of touch. The one thing they all have in common is that they all come from difficult or deprived backgrounds.