How is Nepal doing?

If you’ve ever been to Nepal you know how kind and friendly the Nepalese people are. You’ll also recall how struggling the economy is, yet how they so generously share what they have. If you haven’t been to Nepal yet, we hope this project sparks an interest in you and you put Nepal on your bucket list.

As beautiful as Nepal is, Kathmandu is one of the most polluted capital cities on the planet. But it isn't the people, government, or companies that are the biggest problem. The government of Nepal has taken all cars, trucks and buses over 20 years old off the road. It has also purchased 18 electric buses. Yet, the pollution is still dangerously high at many times throughout the year. 

What's the Problem?

We all know planting trees is the most effective way to combat air pollution, but how to plant more trees when the city is so crowded? There is little room for more trees at street level in this crowded city, so we are working with schools and civic organizations to make Kathmandu a rooftop forest. Just 15 trees will capture 1 ton of carbon each year.

So our Plan to Do Something about It?

We have a plan to plant 10,000 highly productive trees on rooftops. This many trees will capture 150,000 tons of carbon each year. Not only will this make the air and climate better in Kathmandu, but the polluted air continues up to the Himalayas and is damaging that sensitive ecosystem that is so important. The Himalayas provide water for over a billion people.

So, for your gift of one ‘foster tree’ (a donation of $20) you are helping a billion people. Talk about stretching the budget! Not only will your small gift help the people in Kathmandu, but it will help the animals that live in the Himalayas, like the red panda, snow leopard, yak and so many other creatures.

How does it work?

With your gift of $20 we provide a tree for a family in Kathmandu and plant it on their rooftop for them. The family also pays a small amount to participate, from $4-8.

We are using the typical model from the US whereby schools have the students sell things like candy or Christmas wrap to pay for field trips, uniforms, sports equipment, etc. Our awareness portion of this project will make the students participate in a program to help them learn the importance of trees and taking care of the environment. Then they will present the project to family and friends who have a home in Kathmandu asking them to have a tree planted on their rooftop. We have spoken with several principals of schools and they are all eager to participate in the project. We also did a marketing survey asking people about how eager they would be to support such an initiative. We got 100% enthusiasm.

As we look out our window overlooking Kathmandu we often see a haze filling the air. Children are developing asthma and such. Older people are having more and more health challenges, which is impacting the families' finances and shortening so many lives.

You may be wondering why the people, obviously homeowners, are unable to pay for something as inexpensive as a small tree. People here in the city earn from about $80 a month. This is actually what nurses earn, but several other occupations earn up to $500 a month, or $16 a day. The vast majority of the homes are local families who inherited the home.

Why can’t families plant their own trees?

Surprisingly, it isn’t easy for a family to plant a tree on their rooftop. It would likely be an all-day chore costing well over $20, more than a day's pay; in many cases a week's pay.

We need help to get the project started. We have selected trees that are hardy and known to clean the air better than most trees, such as the bay leaf tree. We are using trees that are already over 2-foot tall, not little saplings. We also need help due to needing to hire a little truck, a driver and one day-helper. They will only be able to plant 10-15 trees per day.

Some of the difficulties include the fact that homes do not have street addresses. The purchase invoice will have the approximate location and then the family will need to be contacted by phone. Often someone will come to the main road to escort the person.

Therefore, we have set this project up so the homeowner will pay a small amount so they feel empowered and will take care of the tree for our donor.

Our ‘Thank you’ gift for our donors. As an appreciation gift for each of our donors, we’ll send you a postcard from Nepal. We will have the family take a picture of all the family members around the tree and send it to us via Facebook. Then we will print it out as a postcard and will send it to you. Your small gift will go 100% to the actual purchase and delivery of the trees, T-shirts for the interns and students, a bicycle to be raffled and a laptop computer for the sponsoring school and small pay for our project manager. Our other expenses are financial, such as marketing and platform charges.

Who gets your money?

We have a small NGO, Kay Garnay for Nepal, and all funds go through this agency in cooperation with the Nepal government. We'll work to inspire Nepalese students to understand the value of trees and bring this understanding home to their parents. Each school’s tree planting project will be complete and audited independently, so we can simplify our disclosure. This means you will get a summary of how the project went at the school your money supported.

Thank you for your support.