The Learning Shelter

The Nimsdai Foundation, working with our in country NGO Bignatharta Nepal is renovating and restoring a girls' hostel in Nepal.

For 44 years the Mahila Learning Shelter in the remote Humla District of northwestern Nepal, has stood as a rare sanctuary for education, equity, and hope. It has provided a safe educational haven for more than 900 girls from marginalised, impoverished, and geographically isolated communities.

Humla is one of Nepal’s most under-resourced districts, with minimal access to schools, healthcare and safe housing. Girls in this region, often at risk of early marriage, domestic labour, or gender-based violence, face immense challenges to completing even basic education. The Hostel currently houses 20 girls aged 6–17, offering them the opportunity to pursue learning in a safe and supportive environment, BUT it is under threat.

The situation at the hostel is now dire, without urgent repairs and restoration the building faces permeant closure. Without it, there will be no safe space for the girls to access education, and no alternatives in the area.

The building itself is dangerously deteriorated, the result of decades of environmental damage and lack of maintenance. Cracked foundations, inadequate insulation, and unstable walls pose an urgent threat to the safety of its residents. Without urgent intervention, this vital space risks permanent closure, and with it:

• Immediate Displacement: 20 current residents would be forced to return home, likely ending their formal education.
• Generational Setback: The loss of educational continuity would reinforce cycles of illiteracy and poverty, particularly among girls.
• Increased Vulnerability: Girls may face heightened risks of early marriage, labour exploitation, and gender-based violence.
• Community Stagnation: A reduced pool of educated girls limits social progress, healthcare access, and civic participation within these remote communities.

Investing in the rehabilitation of the Mahila Learning Shelter is more than a construction project, it is a direct intervention in the lives of the most vulnerable.

A spokeswoman for the Mahila Learning Shelter told the Nimsdai Foundation: “For nearly 45 years the Girls Hostel has been a vital safe space for the area’s girls. So many don’t have access to secondary education. If the girls Learning Shelter closes we would have to send 20 girls home straight away, likely meaning that is the end of their education.

Education allows children especially girls, to escape cycles of illiteracy and poverty; many girls face the risk of early marriage, being exploited through domestic labour and gender-based violence. That is why we must keep the girls Learning Shelter open; this is more than a building, it’s the promise of a better future for Nepal’s girls.”