Nivas

Since 2020, NIVAS has helped 26 families in Nuwakot build a better life. We’re now working directly with aid efforts on the ground. Every dollar you give goes to immediate aid and familes who’ve lost their homes or livelihoods - delivered by our team or our trusted partners.

Thank you for standing with Nepal.

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As Nepal faces yet another devastating disaster, we are staying connected with our partner families and communities in Nuwakot as we work to confirm everyone’s safety. We will continue to follow the situation and its impact on the communities we serve.

Our thoughts are with everyone affected.

Meet Ilavati and her grandmother, Kailashpati, homeowners from western Nepal.

For years, the family lived in a fragile thatched house where rain leaked through the roof during monsoon season, and fear of snakes and cold nights never left them. At 83, Kailashpati struggles to walk and hear due to age and illness, while the cost of medicine and daily survival placed constant pressure on the family.

After losing both her parents, Ilavati became a caregiver and provider at just fifteen years old. She left school during grade 8 to care for her grandmother and support the household through daily wage labor. Her younger brother also began working, and together they took on responsibilities far beyond their age.

Determined to create a safer future, they partnered with NIVAS and the Rural Women Development Center (RWDC) to build a safe, disaster-resilient home.

Today, the family no longer worries about rain entering their home or unsafe nights during the monsoon. For Kailashpati, the new home offers greater comfort and dignity. For Ilavati and her brother, it means one less burden to carry as they continue caring for their grandmother and finding their way forward.

For this family, a home is more than shelter, it is stability, security, and peace of mind during a difficult chapter of their lives.

It’s moments like these that stay with us.

At 67, Nirmala helped her neighbour put a roof over their home.

In 2024, she joined the NIVAS program with RWDC and built a safe home for herself and her four granddaughters.

Today, she carries that same spirit forward, supporting her community when it matters most. When women have a strong foundation, they don’t just build better lives for themselves, they help strengthen everyone around them.

"Engineering becomes meaningful when it improves someone's life." – Er. Ashik Chaudhary

Meet Ashik, engineer and technical officer with the Rural Women Development Centre (RWDC), our partner in western Nepal.

From the first site assessment to the final inspection, Ashik makes sure every home is disaster-resilient, structurally sound, and built to last. His role goes well beyond the drawings. He works directly with partner homeowners throughout construction, walking them through design decisions, sharing technical knowledge, and making sure every family understands the home they're building.

For Ashik, a structurally strong home means a stronger future for the family inside it. Watching a mother step into a finished home, knowing her children can sleep safely and grow with stability: that's what keeps him going.

Off-site, Ashik explores the hills and valleys of western Nepal on his motorbike. The same curious spirit that drives his work on site.

We're proud to work alongside Ashik, an engineer and adventurer, bringing expertise and joy to every build.

Meet Gibi, one of the newest homeowners in western Nepal.

For years, her nights were filled with fear rather than rest. A leaking roof, cracked walls, and the constant risk of intruders and wildlife made her crumbling home unsafe, but it was all she had.

Three years ago, Gibi lost her husband—and with him, her home, her place in his village, and the life she'd spent years building. She returned to her maternal village with nothing but her two children and the determination to start again.

She began doing labor work and cutting firewood to make ends meet. Yet when work was scarce, there were days she had to ask neighbors to feed her children.

Determined to create a better future for her family, Gibi partnered with NIVAS and the Rural Women Development Center (RWDC) to build a safe, disaster-resilient home.

Now, with a secure roof over her head, Gibi is focused on what comes next. Through community programs and livelihood support, she has started goat farming—building stability step by step.

"If my children can study, maybe they won't have to suffer like I did," she says. "I don't want to have to beg. I just want to live with dignity."

For Gibi, this home is more than shelter. It marks the end of survival and the beginning of a future she is building for her family on her own terms.

Meet Nirmala, a single mother of three and one of our newest homeowners in western Nepal.

Since her husband passed away three years ago, she has been supporting her family by traveling to other cities for daily wage labor.

The family had been living on a small, unregistered plot of land in a crumbling two-room house made of mud bricks. The deteriorating structure offered little protection, leaving Nirmala worried for her daughters’ safety when they were alone at night.

Health issues added to their struggles when her two eldest daughters were diagnosed with sickle cell anemia and since have required regular blood transfusions. Balancing their care while living in such difficult conditions was a constant challenge, so her youngest daughter went to live with an aunt - the only way the family could get by.

Determined that her family should finally live together safely, Nirmala partnered with NIVAS and Rural Women Development Center (RWDC) in 2025 to build a safe, disaster-resilient home.

“I have been looking forward to living together with all three of my daughters, and now it is finally happening,” she shares.

After years of uncertainty and separation, this new home offers more than physical protection to Nirmala and her daughters. It has created an opportunity to bring her family back together, providing a stable environment for her daughters as they grow.

“Impact cannot be delivered; it has to be co-created.” - Sushma Shrestha

Meet Sushma Shrestha, Country Director – Nepal, who sees beyond building homes to building the systems that make these homes possible.

At NIVAS, Sushma brings over a decade of experience across the development sector, with a focus on strategy, partnerships, and impact. She initially led efforts around fundraising and program development, and today plays a key role in strengthening how NIVAS operates at a systems level, building trust with government bodies, deepening partnerships, and expanding the reach and recognition of our work.

Beyond scale and strategy, she believes impact must be co-created with communities and partners, placing women at the center as decision-makers in their own lives.

For Sushma, housing is not just about shelter. It is about identity, dignity, and security, especially for single women and their children. Her focus is to ensure that our work goes beyond construction, strengthening agency, rights, and long-term resilience.

This belief is grounded in moments from the field, such as supporting a differently abled woman in Dang to secure land ownership after sustained engagement with her family and local government. What followed was not just the construction of a home, but a visible shift in confidence, stability, and possibility for her and her children.

Whether she’s advocating for land ownership, building partnerships across sectors, or shaping the future direction of NIVAS in Nepal, her approach remains grounded in one belief: sustainable change happens when women are seen, heard, and empowered to lead.

We’re proud to have her leadership guiding NIVAS in Nepal. Behind every home built is a network of support, and people like Sushma making it possible.

Meet Pramila. She's one of our newest homeowners in Dang, Western Nepal.

A daily-wage laborer and single mother, Pramila has been raising her daughters alone since her husband's passing eight years ago. Before that, the family ran a small grocery shop, but mounting debt has made sustaining that impossible. She closed the shop and began traveling for work.

For years, Pramila and her daughters lived in a small mud house with a leaking roof and damp walls. When a venomous snake entered their home one night while they slept on the floor, Pramila decided enough was enough.

Pramila believes those years of instability contributed to her eldest daughter's very early marriage. She was determined that wouldn't happen again.

In 2025, Pramila partnered with NIVAS and the Rural Women Development Center (RWDC) to build a safe, disaster-resilient home, giving her family a secure place to rebuild their lives.

With this stability, Pramila is now focused on her daughter’s future, knowing she can sleep, study, and dream in a home that offers safety and dignity.