YYY Foundation

A brief history

YYY Foundation is a UK registered charity established by Sarah and Sera Gurung in October 2015 in the wake of two major earthquakes in Nepal. YYY works to advance education and to help prevent and relieve poverty in Nepal. In its first 5 years, the charity raised more than £100,000, and provided funds to support the rebuilding of 10 schools in Nepal, mainly in Sindapulchowk, an area badly affected by the earthquakes. It also provided support in other ways to communities at times of particular stress. It built a Community Centre in the remote area of Hagam. Since 2020 the charity has adapted its focus onto 2 areas of work which it believes can make the biggest difference to the more remote communities it wants to help:

Provision of Women's Health services, mainly to girls attending schools

Provision of IT equipment, resources and teacher training.

For these communities, the provision of education and resources to help girls manage their menstruation, and effective IT facilities and training to schools, can be life changing for young people and fundamental to the communities’ long-term prospects and sustainability.

Read About Completed Projects

Teamwork

YYY Foundation is run by 4 Trustees. Alongside founders Sera and Sarah Gurung are media expert Helen Keen and financial authority Phil Rouse. The Trustees have concentrated all the charity’s fundraising activities in the UK to date. The Foundation has very little administrative or other costs, and almost all funds raised are used for charitable activities. In Nepal, the charity works with three partners to deliver its work:

Mahendra Thapa, a long-time friend of the Gurungs with whom they worked 25 years ago as river guides in Nepal. Mahendra is a successful businessman, who has run his own NGO in Nepal for many years. Mahendra provides local support and resources for assessing and delivering projects, and is completely trusted by the Trustees.

Days 4 Girls, an international NGO with representation in Nepal, providing Women’s Health training, education and resources.

Edutech Nepal Foundation, an NGO run by New Zealand entrepreneur Mike Chisholm, which has delivered outstanding IT facilities to more than 200 schools in Nepal

Founder

Sera Gurung

I was born and grew up in Armala, a village overlooking Pokhara in Nepal. Much of my early childhood was spent running around barefoot and attending the village school. Later I was educated at St Francis in Luknow before going to college in London. Working for Himalayan River Exploration, I spent several years travelling around Nepal before moving to the UK and setting up Baba Boutique, a Nepalese clothing and handicraft business. In 2003 I set up Yak Yeti Yak a Nepalese restaurant in Bath, with my wife. My heritage is deeply embedded in the business and I am pleased to still be active in helping the Armala community.

Founder

Sarah Gurung

I grew up in the Midlands, North Wales and Guernsey, my childhood was spent playing on the farm next door and at the seaside where I spent long summers with my Grandmother. Hardly surprising that I developed a love of travel, it was my love of travel that first took me to Nepal where I was lucky enough to find work at Tiger Mountain and Himalayan River Exploration. I met Sera in 1992 and together with our children we try to return to Nepal at least twice a year. We set up the Foundation in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquakes when visitors to our restaurant wanted to pledge donations to help.

Trustee

Phil Rouse

I spent six weeks in Nepal in 1990 and have retained a strong interest in the country ever since. My family and I have been regular visitors to Yak Yeti Yak restaurant in Bath over the last 20 years, so I was delighted to get involved in setting up YYY Foundation as a charity with the Gurungs in 2015. My background in finance places me well to look after the financial and administrative aspects of the charity. I am also working with the Pituitary Foundation, another charity based in Bristol.

Trustee

Helen Keen

I have known the Gurungs for over 20 years and I have always found their commitment to the Nepalese communities both at home in Bath and in the country of Sera's birth inspirational. When disaster struck in 2015, I was keen to offer any help and support I could. Constructing a website has enabled me to use my day job skills and bring YYY Foundation into the public domain. I was delighted to join as a trustee at the beginning of 2016 and paid my first visit to Nepal in early 2017, nearly two years on from the earthquakes. While much rebuilding has been achieved, there is still a vast amount yet to do, not least for schools in remote regions, many of which are still cut off from aid.

Small donations, huge differences

£10 buys a pack for a girl to continue her education

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