Funding Community Development in Oda, Nepal

Our Work in Nepal

The Pradiya Foundation’s current mission is to help uplift and empower the residents of Oda, a village on the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal. Our first step was to bring sustainable development to the community so that we can begin our work in earnest. We started by building five toilets for the villagers. We broke ground back in July 2022 on some construction projects in the village. Our plan was to build homes, a kitchen, a dining room, a space to practice yoga, gardens, and a place for our livestock to live so we can continue to carry out our mission of improving health, education, empowerment, and human rights.

Though we’ve been able to make amazing progress so far, construction hasn’t been without its challenges. Heavy rains during Nepal’s monsoon season made transporting materials more expensive than we'd anticipated and made the cost of construction in Oda skyrocket. With broken roads, everything had to be carried by the workers. Currently, we’re about $22,000 short of our fundraising needs for construction and are working on raising the rest of the money. We need the funding to finish construction, put the finishing touches on the buildings, pay for solar power, and furnish the spaces we’re building.

Any additional funding that goes above our goal will go towards purchasing farm animals that will provide the community with milk and eggs (not meat!) and towards construction costs for our next project – building a school for the underserved children in the area.

We’re also happy to share that we’ve started new initiatives with members of the community – we're providing care for five orphan girls, 4-7 years old, with five more joining the Pradiya family soon. Additionally, we're caring for nine women who are domestic violence survivors. We’ve been providing education, food, shelter, and healthcare for them all as well as giving the women opportunities to learn how to farm, weave cloth, do construction work, and teaching them entrepreneurship skills.

In March and April, we’re planning to invite friends of the foundation to Oda to visit the community and support our mission, but this can only happen once construction is complete. While we’re still in the planning stages for the trip, we’re planning on having opportunities for visitors to see the work we’re doing, learn from spiritual teachers, conscious yogis, musicians and kirtaniyas and more from every part of the world. Taste delicious food cooked by talented ayurvedic chefs, local Nepali cooks, volunteers in the community, and much more!

Where Your Funding Will Go

We’ve been lucky enough to have enough to begin construction, but we still need that additional funding to finish what we’ve started. Here’s a more thorough breakdown of what we have left to accomplish before we can officially open our doors and begin our work in earnest:

About the Pradiya Foundation

The Pradiya Foundation was born from a conviction to uplift marginalized people as they bring their own communities to life. We are an organization with the mission of empowering the people of India and Nepal to improve living conditions for people suffering from illness, poverty, discrimination and a lack of human rights.

Our organization seeks to provide people with tools to improve their lives in a sustainable way. Pradiya’s mission is inspired by the lived realities in India and Nepal– where education, employment opportunities, and healthcare are currently lacking significantly. The Pradiya Foundation vows to support people on their journey to create the changes they want to see in their own communities and within their own lives.

As an organization, we value human rights, health and nutrition, education, and empowerment. We also recognize that our goals cannot come at the cost of the environment around us, and we take our environmental impact into account with every decision we make. Construction can often have a huge impact on the environment, but we’ve worked to limit our impact by using natural materials and limiting our use of heavy machinery. We also have chosen to implement solar energy from the get-go so that we can have a green beginning and a green future.

Why Nepal?

Though our team is predominantly based in the United States and India, we believe that we have the opportunity– as well as the obligation– to make what difference we can in Nepal. Though the Pradiya Foundation’s founder, Oinak Singh, was born and raised in India, he has Nepali heritage. His parents fled during the Nepalese Civil War which lasted a decade, and once he was able to visit, he was appalled by what he saw. Many of the people he met lacked access to healthcare, basic hygiene, nutritious food, and clean water. Conditions were especially fraught in the mountains, where villages are difficult to access and provide aid to.

When our founder found out that his family-owned land in the area, he saw that he had a chance to put that land to use to uplift those who weren’t as lucky as he and his family. That opportunity, and our team’s drive to make a difference have blossomed into the work that we’re doing now.

Retreat Information

Once construction is complete, we’ll be hosting some of our global community members starting March through June. We're sharing this with the hope that after supporting our efforts in building a foundation for our work, you'll come to visit us for an unforgettable experience. There, you'll reclaim a sense of peace and purpose in our community in the Kalikot District of Nepal. During your stay with us, you’ll have the opportunity to practice yoga, explore the mountains on hikes, learn from spiritual leaders, and cook and eat locally-grown organic foods to reinvigorate your mind, body, and spirit. More importantly, be a part of our global conscious community.

We’re also looking to invite skilled individuals and volunteers on this retreat to work directly with our community so if you're interested, please reach out to us. Whether you’re a passionate yogi, a skilled constructor, an avid gardener, an enthusiastic teacher or have another set of skills you’d like to put to use, we want to work with you to create an experience that will be meaningful to you and allows you to work side by side with members of our community.

This fundraiser is being organized by our founder Oinak Singh, and Pradiya staff member Eleanor Ho. Born in India after his parents fled the Nepali Civil War, Oinak grew up at the Ramana’s Garden Children’s Home. The experiences he had there inspired him to pursue degrees in business and law, and develop the desire to give back which led to the creation of the Pradiya Foundation. Eleanor met Oinak while working on a film project at Ramana’s Garden. After graduating from Boston University and working for DREAM, a youth service nonprofit, she joined the foundation to assist with communications and operations as well as serve as a member of the board.