Our StoryCWS was founded in Nepal (CWSN) in 1997 and in HK (CWSHK) in 2003 by Douglas Maclagan, who identified several core needs in Nepali children and mothers and fostered small projects to address those needs. CWSN is now an independent Nepalese organization and CWSHK continues to be guided by Douglas, working in Nepal through a handful of local grassroots partners.

Our Missionis to provide protection, education, health care and opportunities to disadvantaged children and their families.

Our MethodologyCWSHK works with partners rather than implementing projects ourselves because over time we have learnt that this is more cost effective, creates more lasting results, more sustainable solutions and reflects Douglas’ founding principles of ‘local people solving local problems.’

Dear friends,

Nepal was ripped apart in 2015. Hundreds of thousands of people lost everything they had worked for and 25th April changed their lives and their country forever. The 2 massive earthquakes in April and May and countless aftershocks devastated, paralyzed and traumatized Nepal. Natural disasters of this scale create knock-on effects that last for years, slowly etching its way into all corners of society from tourism, businesses, labour costs, materials costs, property prices to human trafficking, child labour, street children, exploitation, domestic violence, crime, education, urbanization and mental health issues. Nepal has been hit by all these problems, and to make matters worse, there is now an even bigger humanitarian crisis lurking; the fuel blockade at the border with India.

Since the Constitution was passed in September 2015 there have been protests along Nepal’s borders with India, instigated by the Madhesi ethnic group who feel unsatisfied with their representation in the Constitution. These protests have blocked fuel coming into the country from India, affecting businesses, schools, transport, food, hospitals and the rebuilding efforts. Having been through a 10 year civil war, a further 8 years of political instability and the 2 earthquakes many people in the cities feel this current blockade is the worst they have ever had to endure.

We remain hopeful that Nepal will get through this. Our visit to the villages after the earthquakes was heart breaking, villages as far as the eye could see, destroyed, gone forever. Yet what we saw in the people was quite the opposite; it was a picture of strength, of hope and of determination. There was sadness behind their strength but they refused to succumb to it and had chosen to invest their energy on helping each other, rebuilding their schools and homes. We met families who had lost everything but still took the time to talk to us, to make us tea and to ensure we had safe flat land to pitch our tents. In all that devastation there was more humanity, more beauty than we had ever seen.

In the darkness of 2015 we are determined to focus on all the light and hope made possible by your support and the strength of the Nepalese people. Please enjoy reading about all the great things we’ve done together this year and we look forward to doing more with your help in 2016.

Many thanks,Zein Williams, CEO

Board directors and teamDouglas Maclagan I Garrett Quigley I Gordon Oldham I Kathie Allderige I Lindsay Cooper I Zein Williams Avishek Rai I Darshan Shakya

Our response to the earthquakes

Over the past 5 years CWS has been working with a handful of effective grassroots partners strong in their field. We work in this way to empower local groups and communities, maximize resources, reduce risk and to set up teams skilled in one particular area, rather than 1 team trying to do everything.

Due to this working methodology we were well placed to effectively respond to the needs of earthquake victims. We were able to fund teams to focus on their own area of expertise and geographical location. This way we had skilled teams already set up to focus on health care, counselling, logistics, sourcing and communication with the government. We were determined to ensure all donations would go to effective immediate relief as well as long term development by allowing our network of local partners each to play to their strengths. In less than 2 weeks we had provided 28,000 people with health care, counseling, tents, tarps and food.

Our response was divided into 3 phases: -

Phase 1 – 26th April – 30th May – Provided emergency relief to last 3 months. And provided seeds for farming to ensure enough food after monsoon

Phase 2 – June & July - Built strong temporary schools and homes that would last the monsoon & for up to 1 year. Provided counseling and workshops to raise awareness about child trafficking.

Phase 3 - 2016 and beyond – to rebuild over 1,057 homes and 8 schools in 9 villages.

The rebuilding of homes will be carried out by the villagers themselves; something they are determined to do themselves. CWS will provide them with the skills and materials for them to do this and the areas of focus will be: -

• Community training in safe earthquake resilient construction techniques • A start up pack for the construction of each individual home • The set-up of small mini construction companies in each of the 9 villages using the techniques they have learned and being supervised by an on-the-ground skilled team we have in place. • Supporting the villagers’ access to a micro loan scheme/system • Facilitating the villagers to access their promised grants from the local Government authorities • Supporting the total reconstruction of the schools • Strong social mobilisation support to keep this community of several villages together and allow them to flourish with these new opportunities that are hopefully coming their way!

“We remain facilitators and supporters but the leaders and implementers of the project are the village community people themselves, and as such they must take the full responsibility and ownership of the project!” Douglas Maclagan

Our earthquake response at a glance

EDUCATION

Early ChildhoodEducation and Care

CWS, together with our local implementing partner CWSN, have been providing Early Childhood Development (ECD), education and care in rural villages for over 19 years. This was in fact our first ever focus – to reduce the horrifyingly high child mortality rates in rural villages and to provide parents with some support and child care while they worked the fields.

Having successfully completed 14 of our own centres the local Government invited CWSN to provide training to teachers and communities in 7 Districts to implement their own Early Years Education and Care Centres. This was a 3 year project that ended this year and included construction, training, skills transfer and monitoring.

Throughout the year a total of 400 children attended these centres, 31 local ECD facilitators and 8 Primary 1 teachers were trained.

Going forward our role will be to train local communities and Government bodies to run their own centres and to support Nepal’s goal of ensuring young children in villages have access to quality early years education and care.

Child Friendly SchoolsThis new project was designed to improve the Government education system in order to reduce the high level of dropouts, trafficking and exploitation of children. Our local implementing partner for this project is Right4Children, an NGO created to focus on protecting vulnerable children and educating the public about child rights. FNEL, a scout group in Luxembroug are funding 75% this project.

Universalizing primary education, one of the Millennium Development Goals, has been the top priority of Nepal’s government. Due to this greater emphasis and investment in primary education, a remarkable increase in the enrolment at primary level was reported, around 95% in 2011 as against 81% in 2001 (NPC & UNCT 2010). While this significant progress in enrolment is appreciable, questions have been raised about the compromised quality of education brought about by the increased enrolment rate and deteriorating learning environment. Many Government schools are crowded, poorly furnished, have inadequate resources, lack sanitary and toiletry facilities and other infrastructures and often have poorly trained teachers. This jeopardizes the quality in education and does not ensure the retention of the students. According to the Department of Education, almost 10% students drop out after the first year while more than half are out of the education system by the time they reach grade 10 (15-16 years old).

EDUCATION

This project will improve 40-48 Primary & Secondary schools over 4 years (10-12 schools a year) by improving school infrastructure (hardware e.g. toilets, water, classroom improvement/ re-build, etc), providing teacher training, facilitating the formation of Child Clubs, Parent Teacher Associations and empowering the community to better support the schools.

12 schools (1,100 students & 90 teachers) were selected during the year, teacher trainings were carried out and educational materials distributed. However, due to the earthquake and fuel crisis we were not able to begin the construction phase of the project this year but will begin 2016 raring to go!

Piggy backing this school project is a media project where school children are trained in Child Rights and journalism where they produce, develop and broadcast their own radio show, aiming to educate the general public about Child Rights. Not only does this raise awareness over the radio so to reduce child exploitation it also empowers and trains children with useful life skills.

EDUCATION

Art & Child Rights

Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) in HK has been supporting CWSHK and our local implementing partner Right4Children to integrate art into our projects in Nepal. In 2015 SAF provided a grant to enable children in Nepal to receive art lessons, enjoy art materials, take part in competitions and to be involved in an art exhibitions and art murals on public walls. The goal of this project is not only to provide children with art classes but also to give children a voice to educate the general public about child rights and to reduce child exploitation.

Art is not a focus in Nepal’s schools but is an extremely important part of learning, growing, exploring, confidence building, self-expression, relieving stress and more. Art creates freedom; something lacking in the education system in Nepal and we are grateful to be able to provide this to 500 children in 10 schools and 8 outreach centres for out-of-school children.

This project aims to break the cycle of poverty for families in Nepal. In partnership with Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts and Right4Children this project provides skilled training and employment opportunities to youth in Nepal. On average 27 young adults benefit each year but due to the earthquake this year we wanted to try support more youth and were able to expand the programme to help 31 youth.

Hospitality Training and employmentYouth are trained to become hotel employees, specifically cooks, waiters and housekeeping staff. Once they finish their training they are given the opportunity to work in hotels overseas. Those who decide to remain in Nepal often successfully secure jobs in respected hotels locally.

The end goal of the programme is to enable these disadvantaged young adults to establish themselves as the backbone of their families, to secure well paid and respectable jobs. Most beneficiaries send money home to support their sibling’s education, health bills and to rebuild their family homes.

EDUCATION

Case Study“I have been working as a Room Attendant in Mövenpick Jumeriah Beach Resort, Dubai for the last 3 years, thanks to R4C and Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts. This life-changing opportunity has had a lasting impact on my personal life as well as for my family. I have been able to build my self-esteem, improve my English language skills and develop professionally. I have also been able to support my family in many ways including my siblings’ education, building a new house for my family and health care services of my elderly parents. I am very happy that I was awarded Employee of the Year 2014 and I had the opportunity to go to Switzerland for a week’s tour. I feel very lucky and look forward to further growth and development in my future.” Radhika Gharti, 3rd Batch Housekeeping trainee

Asha Clinic

CWS, together with our local implementing partner CWSN, began this life saving project in 2000 to provide health care to children referred from our village Early Childhood Development Centres and hostel facilities for their accompanying families. As soon as Asha’s doors opened however, we quickly found our second target group; the ever growing street children population. Before long we expanded to a 3rd target group, young women in the city, providing them with pre and post natal care, education to care for their children and choices for family planning. Asha Health Care has become an essential project in the maternal and child health sectors and each year the team sees over 16,000 patients for health care delivery and over 20,000 patients for health education and awareness.

HEALTH CARE

In future Asha Clinic will become a Government Urban Clinic, health workers will be paid by the Government and our team will coordinate, train and manage the overall project. The Asha team will continue to carry out health care education because as of now the Government does not have the resources to focus on this.

The goal of Asha Clinic is to reduce child and maternal mortality and to provide adequate health care to street children and urban poor. When Asha began there was little else available in terms of free quality health care. However, Nepal has changed and the Government has now committed to providing free health care to all. It is still early days and implementation of this new government policy takes time. Asha is currently working hand in hand with the Government to provide free healthcare to all with the goal of handing over the curative elements of Asha by 2017.

KOPILA SAFE HOME

PROTECTION

This project is implemented by Kopila who are experts in the field of counselling and protection.

The Kopila Safe Home is a haven for women who have been suffering for too long. Kopila rescues woman from the street or from their homes in response to calls from the local police, authorities and the community. Every year around 45 women are rescued, many take months before they are ready to speak, most having been exploited by their family or community and in dire need of counselling, peace and love.

The Kopila Safe Home provides rescued women (and their young children) a place to sleep, eat, recover and relax for up to 12 months. When they are ready they are reintegrated with their family members (if appropriate) or provided with training so they can work and become independent.

We are proud of our Kopila Home staff for their dedication and patience. There are so many heart breaking stories here but there are also stories of triumph, perseverance and human strength. With some support and a lot of care, these women turn their lives around!

Anti-trafficking projectSince 2013 CWS has been working with Shakti Samuha to deliver a project that supports trafficking victims and prevents children and young people falling prey to trafficking. This important project is delivered in 3 high trafficking prone areas of Nepal – Kathmandu, Sindhupalchowk and Nuwakot. All these areas were badly hit by the earthquake and put a large strain on its services. However, one good thing is that it meant the team knew the area well and were able to get support out to these badly affected areas quickly. It also meant that ground staff were able to carry out vital anti trafficking workshops during these desperate times where family‘s fall prey to traffickers and are easily tricked due to their increased vulnerability.

PROTECTION

807 youngsters from 12-19 years old work hard to prevent even 1 girl from being exploited – they raise awareness about child rights, forms of exploitation, caste discrimination, child marriage, drug abuse, changing trends of human trafficking, methods for safe migration, definition of rape and its legal consequences etc.

77 brave women who have returned from trafficking belong to Survivor Groups where they receive various trainings, income generation programs and support. 638 children from the adolescent groups or those children of the survivor groups are given educational grants to ensure they stay in school and break the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation.

2,544 girls received counseling and information when they applied for their passports to go overseas for work opportunities. The Counselors ensured they had legit employment offers and asked various questions and provided important information. 38 of these girls returned home after the counseling.

Children rescued from corrupt orphanages

In 2014 CWS supported Sano Paila to look after 43 children and one young mother who were rescued from a corrupt orphanage in Kathmandu. To do this we set up a Transit Home and a team of counselors to track down the children’s family – all but 6 had parents and most were looking for them!

Once this Transit Home was set up local authorities asked us if we would be able to take in a further 20 children, rescued from another orphanage and from India. All these children were put into the temporary care of Sano Paila and huge efforts were placed on finding these children’s families.

All but 6 of the children have returned home. These 6 are placed in a small integrated unit, cared for by qualified people providing appropriate care. 2015 was focused on providing education to these children and monitoring those who had been reunified with their families; a top priority was to ensure these children were looked after and provided with proper care and education and not put to work or re-trafficked. These children all come from remote areas of Humla, Kallikot and Mugu which involve days of travel to reach there. It has been an extremely difficult and expensive process but one that we are dedicated to. We will continue to monitor these children for a further year. The 6 who have no family members will remain in Sano Paila’s care, funded by another international organization focused on deinstitutionalization and alternative care.

Please help us to educate the world about orphanages. Children belong with their families or communities and all efforts must be made to keep them together. If all options fail then orphanages should be explored as a last resort. Unfortunately, the ‘orphan business’, fueled by corrupt people looking to make money, desperate families and well-meaning donors has made it a first resort, placing countless children at risk of exploitation or unmet needs. Children need the love and care of a family or community.

PROTECTION

Star Children family homeAn alternative approach to institutional care

This family unit continues to provide a safe home for children affected by HIV. 10 children live at this home and the home is run as a family, they are each other’s brothers and sisters and family for life. The children now range from 7 to 18 years old. The eldest boy, who reached 18 this year, decided to live independently but is still cared for by Star Children. This wonderful family unit is an alternative to large institutional care. Children at Star Children are part of a family, they receive unconditional love and their emotional and educational needs are always prioritized.

PROTECTION

FINANCESOur income is wonderfully varied thanks to our dedicated and talented friends and supporters who work creatively and tirelessly for the betterment of the world. Parties, talks, sporting challenges, pro bono support, business skills and introductions - no matter how big or small - everything makes a difference to the work we do. Thank you!

- The cost of organising events (HK$189,638) has been deducted from the income because it was taken out to cover the costs incured while putting on the events.

13%

20%22%

1%5%

40%

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

Income in 2014 - 2015: HK$ 7,101,844

Grants Events Corporate Sports Schools Individuals

Notes:- We are fortunate to have a Board and donor base willing to cover HK costs therefore a donor may choose to provide a donation restricted for Nepal only and 100% of that donation will be sent to Nepal for direct programme costs.- There was surplus of HK$1,668,376 this year and 100% of this has been restricted to be used on the rebuilding of homes and schools in Nepal next year.

79%

10%

3%8%

Expenditure in 2014-2015: HK $5,433,468

Nepal projects Monitoring, evaluation & capacity building

Charity governance & fundraising Administration & Nepal travel

Fundraising is not easy in today’s economy but thanks to the wonderful community supporting our work we have been able to continue to provide life changing programmes to thousands in Nepal. At Nepal’s most trying hour so many of you reached out, opened your hearts, and gave so generously. THANK YOU!

Individuals We are grateful to the countless individuals and families who enable us to do so much in Nepal – thank you for your trust and support over the years!

SchoolsAustralian International School, Canadian International School, Carmel School Association, Chinese International School, Island School, Renaissance College, Sha Tin Collage and International Academy of Film and Television.

Corporations and FoundationsAon, Arisaig Partners, Baggagexs, Bliss Creations, Clifford Chance, DHC Hope Foundation, Hong Kong Disneyland, Dutch Chamber Of Commerce, HK Electric, Hong Kong Indian Women’s Club, KEE Club, K-Pocha, LKF Group, Namaste Kitchen, Ocean Park, Oldham, Lie & Nie, Pemberton Investments, PizzaExpress, San Miguel, Sense Of Touch, Shangri-La International Hotel Management Limited, Sovereign Art Foundation, Team Building Asia, The Asia Trust, The Flying Pan, The Gurkha Cemeteries Trust, The Indian Community Group, The Pavilions Resorts Limited, The Peninsula Hong Kong, The Rotary Club of Kowloon Golden Mile, The Swire Group Charitable Trust, The World Family Fund, Urban Discovery.

OUR COMMUNITY IN 2015

Events Anne Tsang of The Antithesis, Anthony and Jocelyn Sandstrom of ‘Hope for Nepal’ at KEE, Cecilian Singers, Friends of CWS in Singapore (Sherry, Lindsay, Suzanna and friends), Green Door Productions, Hands for Nepal, Hong Ng, Little Yogis, RISE – JIA Group, Marina Bullivant and the 14 amazing chefs who donated their time and skills, Sonya Yeung and the Lamma Fun Day Committee, The HK Charity Cup organized by Clifford Chance and Morgan Stanley at Chinese International School.

CHILD WELFARE SCHEMERoom 804

Causeway Bay Centre15-23 Sugar Street

Causeway BayHong Kong

Tel: (852) 2526 8810www.cwshk.org

Registered charity no. 865654

Written byZein Williams

Lay-out byZein WilliamsAvishek Rai

Darshan Shakya

Photography by:

Guna Gurung (Kopila Nepal)Ramesh/ Kabiraj (CWSN)

Anil Paudel/ Ramesh Khadka (R4C)Sarala Tamang (Shakti Samuha)

Brijlal Chaudhary (Sano Paila)