Special message from ginger colton
My name is Ginger Colton and I'm a co-founder and Board member of Sunsar Maya. I wanted to answer one of the questions Jehan is most often asked, "How did Sunsar Maya get started?"
In 2011 I was in Kathmandu, working for a local NGO when I met Jehan. The two of us worked together during the day, and when we got home, we’d talk for hours about our love of Nepal, the children we were working with (our shared passion for children is what brought us both there), and our cravings for the desserts back home. We became fast (and life-long) friends, along with Santiago and James, who were working for the same NGO.
Over a lot of chai tea (and a few beers) the four of us talked about what we could do to support the communities we'd come to care so much about. Those conversations were the beginning of Sunsar Maya. I can still remember the day we finally came up with the name, which means "World of Love" in Nepali.
We started out providing scholarships to children living in some of the institutional homes we worked with. That first year, a small (but mighty) Sunsar Maya community made it possible for dozens of children to go to school! Over time, we realized a more holistic effort was needed, and in 2014 we launched the SuMa After-School program. It was the first program of its kind in Nepal, offering hands-on STEM learning, a daily meal, healthcare, and a lot of love to children who were lacking so much.
As the years have passed and this community has grown, many more milestones have followed. (Check out our timeline!)
I feel an incredible sense of gratitude to have been a part of Sunsar Maya’s beginning. And I am so proud of the way this community has come together to empower vulnerable women and children in Nepal to build pathways out of poverty.
I know personally the impact Sunsar Maya's programs have on the lives of women and children––impact that is only made possible with your support.
Thank you for being a part of the vision four friends had all those years ago, and for creating positive, lasting change.
With gratitude,
Ginger
P.S. Help the women and children of Sunsar Maya reach more milestones.
