When floods struck Nepal, donors remembered the kindness they had experienced there years before.
In the days after the floods, donors to the Nepal Flood Relief Fund began sharing with us what had moved them to give. Their stories stuck with the GlobalGiving staff members who read them, and we wanted to share a few with you.
One donor remembered trekking through Nepal in 2001 with two friends who had served in the Peace Corps there two decades earlier.
Together, they created their own route, far from other trekkers. Along the way, his friends’ Nepali slowly came back to them, opening up conversations with lodge owners.
But what stayed with him was their generosity.
“They were uniformly kind and generous to us,” he shared. “I learned some profound life lessons in the experience, especially to appreciate the magnitude of our affluence in [our home] country, and to try and be generous in return.”
More than two decades later, the floods offered an unexpected opportunity to do just that.
Another donor had spent six weeks in Nepal in 2024 and recalled being met with “great kindness” everywhere they traveled. And another had visited earlier this year, where trekking guides cared for them when they became sick. Some of those guides had families living in regions affected by the floods.
“They were very kind to me and helped me when I was sick,” the donor shared. “I wanted to help as much as I could.”
For some donors, those experiences also shaped how they wanted to help.
One had spent nearly 20 years in ministry, including time working in Nepal.
“I became convinced that in most places—Nepal included—they didn’t need westerners coming in to tell them how to do things right or what their priorities should be,” he shared. “At most they usually just needed resources to do what their own people needed done.”
That was why he chose GlobalGiving: to funnel resources to local organizations.
Another donor came to a similar conclusion after hearing reports that one of the most useful things people could give was cash, allowing people already working in affected communities to respond to needs they understood firsthand.
“We searched for safe ways to give cash and learned of GlobalGiving,” they shared.
A trip can end, but what we carry home with us can last much longer. For these donors, the kindness they experienced in Nepal stayed with them across years and continents. When disaster struck, they found a way to return some of it.
GlobalGiving’s Nepal Flood Relief Fund brings together donations from people around the world and directs funding to vetted local organizations responding to the floods. These organizations are using flexible funding to meet urgent needs now and support communities through the longer work of recovery.
For these donors, returning the kindness they experienced in Nepal now becomes part of a much larger response. It helps PHASE Nepal deliver food, clean water, shelter, and hygiene supplies in remote Himalayan communities.
Janaki Women Awareness Society (JWAS) can provide essentials and plans for psychosocial and livelihood support.
Al Ehsan Charitable Foundation Nepal can offer food, water, shelter, medical assistance, and hygiene kits.
And the United Community Nepal can deliver emergency supplies and rebuild schools while planning temporary learning centers for children as recovery continues.
Together, their efforts are rebuilding what was lost and restoring lives in Nepal. But they can’t do it alone.
Featured Photo: A group of five women and three young children sit together on a woven mat in a rural, mountainous setting, gathered around a tray of food and vegetables. One woman holds up an illustrated nutrition chart. by PHASE NepalFind exactly what you're looking for in our Learn Library by searching for specific words or phrases related to the content you need.
