The Manakamana Fund

was started in 1990 by several Peace Corps volunteers who wanted to help a few of the girls they had taught in high school to go on to college. They named it after the popular wish-fulfilling goddess Manakamana Devi, whose temple in Gorkha is one of Nepal’s most important pilgrimage sites. Over the years the Fund has grown from 3 recipients to nearly 50 per year.

Geeta Manandhar, a language teacher and women’s activist, is the mainstay of the organization and does most of the administrative work. Pam Ross (who has lived in Nepal for more than 20 years) and Manohari Upadhyaya, a Nepali educator, are the other members of the committee.

Manakamana Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the US, with a 3-person board: Pam Ross, Janet Rockwell and Vicki Leeds. And the Manakamana Foundation is a registered non-profit organization in Nepal, so all donations are fully tax deductible. Our budget for the 2008-09 year was $20,000, raised through private donations and the sale of our English-Nepali-Tibetan photo calendar.