Alicja Agnieszka Dys

I love hiking the mountains and I had an chance to do Everest Base Camp trekking in Nepal in 2018. During this journey I visited villages in the highest parts of the world, talked to mountain guides and observed life. Apart from enjoying magnificent views, meeting hard-working and humble Nepalese people and having adventure, I experienced some dissonance. I returned home with a sense of discord between my views on mountain tourism and the actual scenery. I promised myself one day to do something, just did not know what and how.

The opportunity came this year when I spotted an advertisement about Kapua project for Nepalese children. I scanned the description, walked through the website and my heart was captured. I wrote an ardent cover letter, filled in the form and danced with joy. After a few long weeks a message came: I’ve been selected together with other 13 volunteers from all over Finland.

I feel privileged to have an opportunity, with your help, to raise awareness and support the rights of children with disabilities. In Nepal, there is a strong stigma and shame associated with mental and physical disabilities, which is why families with impaired children do not apply for health services. Children’s hearing or vision are not routinely screened. Girls with disabilities are especially vulnerable.

The goal of the Kapua project is to raise awareness about sight and hearing condition and to help children with hearing and sight impairments between the age of 3 and 14 to be admitted to schools in the provinces of Bara and Parsa, southern part of the country. The partner of the Oma Kapua Nepal 2024 project is Lääkärin sosiaalinen vastuu ry (LSV).

I hope you will join me on this charity journey by contributing an amount that is suitable for you.

Ubuntu means: I am because we are.

Let’s make it our way: We Are:  aware,  powerful,  kind… so that They Can:  

• receive education,  
• see and hear, be seen, be heard,  
• become a valuable part of the society.

In March 2024 I will travel at my own expenses with the Kapua team to Nepal to visit the regions supported with the collected funds and to finalize the project.