Khagendra
New Life Centre

A home that survives
against the odds.

The Khagendra New Life Centre has been operating in Kathmandu since 1983. It cares for people with severe physical and mental disabilities — cerebral palsy, polio, spinal cord injuries, genetic conditions — many of them from impoverished families with no capacity to provide the specialised daily care their children need. Admission has always been based on one criterion: need. Not wealth. Not connections. Need.

In 2003, the Ryder Cheshire Foundation, which had been a major funding pillar for the centre, withdrew its support. The home was left to survive on its own — through sponsorships, fundraising, volunteer labour, and the extraordinary will of the people who run it. They have survived. Every year since 2003, they have survived. But the margins are narrow and the needs are constant.

When the lights go out

Nepal's power infrastructure is unreliable. For most Nepalis, a power cut is an inconvenience. For a residential home caring for people with severe disabilities — people who depend on powered equipment, consistent lighting for medical care, stable environments for their wellbeing — a power outage is a crisis. The home was experiencing regular, disruptive cuts that affected the quality of care residents received, day after day.

We funded the installation of solar panels. The power cuts ended. Consistent energy arrived. Care quality improved. That was the intervention: solar panels and the knowledge that the lights will stay on. Unglamorous. Permanent. Exactly the kind of thing donors don't usually fund, and that makes all the difference.

Saraswoti and Kumari

Beyond the solar project, we funded multi-year personal sponsorships for two women: Saraswoti and Kumari. Both have mental disabilities. Both were abandoned. Both needed not just shelter but long-term, dedicated, consistent support — the kind of support that says "you matter to someone specific, not just to a programme."

That's what a sponsorship provides. A named person, a consistent relationship, a commitment that doesn't disappear when a funding cycle ends. Visit the centre at khagendranewlife.com.