Asha Foundation For Humanity is a registered charity in Australia that brings hope and inspiration to underserved communities. We build engaging learning environments, sponsor educational programs, and support the health and well-being of children and their caretakers.
With more than a decade of success partnering with NGO’s to design high-impact, sustainable programs, we have a proven track record of converting donations into fast, tangible outcomes. We work directly with community members to identify their specific needs and concerns, and we have the utmost respect for their unique cultures, beliefs and traditions. As a foundation, we are dedicated to giving compassionate support, elevating people’s quality of life in lasting ways, and practicing true human kindness in action.
As a foundation, we are dedicated to giving compassionate support, elevating people’s quality of life in lasting ways, and practicing true human kindness in action.
TURNING FEAR INTO HOPE | How Dr. Sah and the ASHA Snakebite Awareness Program is Saving Lives in Nepal
In the mist-covered villages of surrounding
Katari, Nepal, where terraced fields cling to steep hillsides and children walk miles to reach schools without electricity, danger hides in the shadows. Here, venomous snakes - Common Kraits, Cobras, and Russell’s Vipers - slither through homes, fields, and even schoolyards. A single bite can mean death, especially when the nearest hospital is hours away by foot.
For years, snakebites have been a silent epidemic in eastern Nepal. Farmers, women fetching water, and children playing outside are all at risk. Many victims never make it to a hospital in time. Others rely on folk remedies - tourniquets, herbal poultices, even black stones - that often do more harm than good.
Dr. Sah and the Team That Brought Hope
When Dr. Sah, a dedicated physician with a deep understanding of Nepal’s snakebite crisis, approached the ’ASHA Foundation for Humanity’ with an idea, he knew the stakes. "Education," he said, "is the first line of defense."
With the generous support of Maurie and Vivien Stang, the ’ASHA Snakebite Awareness Program’ was born. Dr. Sah assembled a team of seven doctors and nurses, and together, they set out on a mission - to bring life-saving knowledge to the most remote corners of Katari.
Journey to the Schools Where No NGO Had Gone Before
The team traveled along narrow mountain trails, crossing rivers and climbing steep paths to reach nine different locations - some so isolated that no aid organization had ever visited before.
In dimly lit classrooms, they collectively gathered over 3,000 students. The children, wide-eyed and eager, listened as the doctors taught them:
- How to identify venomous snakes (the triangular head of a viper, the glossy black scales of a krait).
- What to do if bitten (stay calm, immobilize the limb, avoid tourniquets).
- Why rushing to a hospital is critical (delays mean death).
Even the local Nepali police joined the training, learning how to assist in emergencies.
The PT Machine | A Small Device That Could Save Hundreds
One of the most crucial contributions of the program was the Prothrombin Time (PT) machine, a blood-testing device ASHA donated to Dr. Sah’s hospital.
- It measures clotting time accurately, helping doctors confirm envenomation.
- It guides antivenom use - preventing waste in mild cases and ensuring urgent treatment in severe ones.
- It bridges the gap between rural clinics and advanced hospitals.
For Katari, this was revolutionary.
Months after the training, reports began trickling in, revealing the program's undeniable success - at least 10 snakebite cases had been handled correctly thanks to the skills learned, potentially saving 10 lives that might otherwise have been lost. Dr. Sah and Ishor Bajracharya, ASHA’s coordinator, know this is just the beginning.
But for now, in the hills of the Udayapur district, something profound has shifted. Children who once feared snakes now know how to protect themselves. Parents no longer rely on myths.
The ‘ASHA Snakebite Awareness Program’ is more than just education - it’s a lifeline. It’s proof that even in the most forgotten places, knowledge can mean the difference between life and death.
To Dr. Sah, Ishor, the Stang family, and every supporter: Your work is righteous merit-making in its purest form. And to the people of Katari - your resilience inspires us all.
#AshaFoundationForHumanity
Dr. Sah: www.facebook.com/share/1Cevdj4MoM/?mibextid=wwXIfr
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY | To All Who Nurture, In Every Form That Love Takes ❤️
This Mother’s Day, the villagers honor the divine nurturing energy that shapes them - whether from their birth mothers, grandmothers, aunties, or the universal mother spirit that holds us all. At ‘Ban Kang Culture Center’ sponsored by the ‘Asha Foundation For Humanity’, our students poured their hearts into creating beautiful, heartfelt messages for their mothers through art. These pieces are more than just drawings - they’re love, gratitude, and respect made visible.
In Isaan country, in northeastern Thailand, mothers are revered as the heart of the family, the keepers of tradition, and the embodiment of the earth goddess who nourishes all life. Even if their own mothers are no longer with them, they recognize that nurturing force in the women who raised them, fed them, and taught them strength.
One of the most moving traditions is the ritual of forgiveness. Here is when children (and even grown adults) respectfully kneel before their mothers, bow their heads, and ask for forgiveness for any wrongs of the past year. The mother then places her hands on their heads, blessing them with love and release. It’s a powerful reminder - to be held in a mother’s grace is to be healed.
Long before Mother’s Day, Isaan culture honored the feminine divine - earth, water, and the spirits of ancestral mothers. This deep respect lives on in how they care for their elders, and how they understand that all life begins with a mother’s strength.
For those who never had a mother’s love, this day can be tender. Yet, the belief is, the mother spirit exists in the auntie who fed you, the teacher who believed in you, the land that sustains you. Today, we honor all who nurture - including you, if you’ve been that light for someone else.
"No language can express the power, beauty, and heroism of a mother’s love." - Happy Mother’s Day, from all of us at BKCC.
THE JOY OF NOT RETIRING | Where Chaos Meets Purpose In Our Village Classroom
Five years ago, the pandemic stranded me in a small Thai village where I met Mai Wilachai - a woman gathering children under a mango tree with nothing but well-worn journals, a handful of colored pencils, and a love so strong it pulled those kids to her like a magnet. Some came wide-eyed and glowing with a light only children have - others arrived already carrying wounds from lives harder than any child should know. But Mai saw them all the same - speaking to their potential rather than their circumstances. That's when I understood what real teaching looks like - not resources or systems, but one heart refusing to let go. I remember standing there, watching her, and realizing retirement isn’t going to happen. Not like this.
Fast forward to today - over 70 kids pour into our Ban Kang Culture Center every Saturday and Sunday. What began as a simple Sala Thai pavilion, built with the help of Maurie, Vivien, and the ASHA Foundation, has transformed into a safe place for Isaan culture and learning. Kids weave between small clusters sitting cross-legged on the floor, coloring pens in hand as they draw the familiar - a swaying coconut tree, their family’s bamboo field, the neighbor’s buffalo. Others stand tall practicing Muay Thai stances, while nearby giggling groups sound out English words together. You can see the future leaders emerging - the ones who quietly pass out fresh paper to the little ones, who demonstrate traditional Isaan dance hand gestures for shy classmates.
But the truest moment comes at arrival - small hands press together in prayer-like wais as they greet me, their eyes bright with a joy that goes beyond language. Many come from homes where life is unforgiving, yet here, in this space we’ve built together, they relax. There’s no need for perfect words - just the exchange of smiles, the shared understanding that this place matters.
It’s chaotic. It’s overwhelming. It’s glorious.
These kids don’t know about politics or missiles or the weight of the world. They know monsoon rains, buffalo herds, and the scent of jasmine rice cooking over a fire. They sleep on floors, celebrate Buddhist festivals, and measure time by planting seasons.
It’s not easy. Feeding this many kids, keeping the lights on, finding supplies - it’s all held together by goodwill and the kindness of people who believed in this place before it even had walls. ASHA’s support has been the backbone of it all. And Mai Wilachai, still here, still teaching, still refusing to let these children be forgotten.
A monk once told me, "You don’t get to choose the life you’re given, only what you do with the days you have."
These days, I understand that better. Even on the hard mornings, even when the loneliness feels heavy, even when the heat makes everything feel impossible. Because this work, this messy, beautiful, exhausting work, is the best thing I’ve ever been part of.
ASHA Foundation for Humanity
🥰😇🙏🙏🙏