About Our Organization

The Challenge

How do you assist impoverished people in a way that enhances self-esteem, gives tangible hope, supports self-reliance, yet requires only a modest investment of funds and becomes self-sustainable? This is the challenge, and this is what Village Hope Partnership is all about.

Village Hope works on a small scale with villages in Nepal where there is existing community infrastructure and leaders who want to make a difference in ongoing practical ways for their neighbors. Village Hope’s Nepalese Operations Director partners with these leaders so that VHP can respond to the priorities that would make the biggest difference. When appropriate, we help initiate agreements that allow the return of benefits to the village, so they can re-gift the support to other local village communities. Projects focus on housing, santitation, food security, literacy, job skills, micro-loans, re-forestation, and job creation.

Where we are working

Village Hope Partnership is focused on rural areas of Nepal. Nepal has some of the most impoverished regions in the world, with over 4,000 villages scattered throughout the country. We have Nepalese staff and partners there who know the culture, challenges, and best ways to effectively engage communities. They follow up on all that is started to keep programs on track. Our vision is to reach 10% of these villages, knowing that the kind of projects we promote can be carried forward by the communities, further developing and bearing increasing benefits for entire regions for decades to come.

Don Gielow

VHP President

Don has a four-decade career background as an educator and administrator at the Sequoia Union High School District in Redwood City, California. Don started community development project work in Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico during a decade of summers when he was a teacher. He moved into administration in the school district and facilitated extensive bond-funded facility improvement projects as well. Don brought all this background to a new opportunity that arose in 2014, to make a difference in Nepal. It is his spark and vision, combined with a wonderful team of partners, that initiated the development of Village Hope Partnership.

Shanti Giri

Director of Operations, Nepal

Shanti is VHP’s Director of Operations in Nepal and provides key leadership in identifying villages that are interested in starting development projects. With her leadership skills and knowledge of the needs of villages in a wide variety of areas, she is the contact person for projects, visits villages throughout Nepal, and takes initiative in identifying areas where VHP could make a difference. In addition to her practical work and skills in coordination, project facilitation, and follow-up, Shanti’s passion for this work is beautiful and contagious. She embodies the vision and carries out the mission of giving hope and practical help to communities throughout Nepal.

VHP Friends and Partners

Since its initial stages in 2014/2015, Village Hope Partnership has collaborated with organizations, friends, volunteers, and Board Members. Organizational collaborations have been key at various points, with Eden Reforestation, Child Hope, and Heavenly Treasures.

Pictured is Frank VanderZwan, one of our Board Members who has traveled with Don Gielow many times to Nepal and has been a key presence and inspiration for the continued work of Village Hope. Also pictured is Silas Khadka of Child Hope, who played an important role in the initiation of Village Hope.

Additionally pictured is Dr. Paul Lindquist, who volunteered his medical expertise on one of our trips to Nepal. Our friends and collaborators continue to develop, and we are so grateful for the community of people who support VHP work in so many ways, together making a difference in Nepal.

Our Mission

To communicate and demonstrate God’s love to impoverished people through short-term projects which promote community stability, health, education and hope.

Who We Are

Village Hope Partnership is a non-profit organization founded in 2015. At that time, the VHP founders became aware of villages in Nepal that needed assistance and encouragement. Based on our belief in God’s love for the world, we responded, developing a humanitarian mission to fund a range of projects to improve rural communities in Nepal. We focus on short term projects with long term impact, includng projects in the areas of health, education, job development and reforestation. For us, it is vital to spread God’s word of hope with positive actions and meaningful impact.

Supporting villages in these ways, we encourage collaboration and leadership within the communities, as they create for themselves village committees (to determine what each village most needs). We wish to dignify these communities and suport them as they support each other. Our coordinator goes out to ensure our resources get delivered and achieve the agreed upon goals. Together, we have helped close to 400 villages with local projects, with the positive impact extending far beyond what we could have guessed when VHP began.