Help for children and young people in Nepal
Voith supports the “Future for Nepal” association
Ever since the adoption of their Nepalese daughter in 2008, orphans in Nepal have been a cause close to Herwig Jantschik’s and Petra Pachner's hearts.
When the international financial crisis hit Nepal with full force in 2009, the orphanage in Kathmandu, where their daughter had lived, had to be closed due to lack of donations. In addition, the landlord died, and the heirs wanted to sell the house. Since the purchase price could not be paid, alternatives had to be created. Jantschik and Pachner committed themselves to building an orphanage 80 km away from Kathmandu for the 73 homeless children who used to live at the closed orphanage. Thus, the initiative "Voithians for Nepal" was launched. To provide additional support, Voith also donated woodworking machinery to help a local nonprofit, “Future for Nepal,” open a training workshop near the orphanage to teach the children skills as they become adults.
In 2015, a severe earthquake shook the region. Voith provided earthquake relief so that 6,000 students from the remote mountain schools in the Dhading district could be equipped with school supplies and uniforms. Voith helped to pack large tents, camp beds, food and former stainless-steel tableware from the Voith Gastronomy.
Since the reconstruction of the region, Voith and Voith employees have donated further funds and machines for the orphans. Today, orphans are still being cared for in an orphanage, for whom Voithians have also taken on sponsorships.
For the education of the children, there is now a woodworking and a metalworking workshop, a general and a vocational school, a hostel for the trainees and a small administration and seminar building. As part of the #VoithCares program, Voith donated money again in 2023 and 2024 for the building of a second woodworking workshop, where the construction of earthquake-resistant, half-timbered houses will be taught and practiced and in which a three-month carpentry training course has already taken place. All 14 Nepalese trainees successfully completed the course and obtained their certificates.
Welders are already being trained in the training workshop. In addition, a curriculum for training hydropower service technicians was developed and first offered in Nepal in 2022. There are also plans to train plumbers and electricians, and the first seminars for electricians have already started. In a train-the-trainer program, trainers employed in Nepal will receive further training at the Voith Training Center in Heidenheim, Germany.
There are many ways to get involved:
Those who want to get involved can donate time and know-how to provide volunteer technical training for the trainers in Nepal. The same applies to the general education school in Nepal right next to the training center. Volunteers can also donate time to teach the students English or German.
The “Future for Nepal” Association is happy to receive donations to implement all the upcoming projects.
Donation account:
Future for Nepal Ostwürttemberg e. V.
Kreissparkasse Ostalb
Germany
IBAN: DE19614500501000900642
BIC: OASPDE6AXXX