See the Power of Local Community People Working Together 

Madhav Bhandari, the founder of Community Service of Nepal, is a patriot.  

He has a deep appreciation of Nepal's panoramic beauty,  from the highest, most majestic mountains on Earth, to the undulating farmlands of the middle elevations, to the untamed jungles of the Ganges River plain. 

He is also proud of his country’s ancient heritage, its deep spirituality, and the 100+ cultural and language groups who all coexist in an area roughly the size of Colorado. 

The mountains of Nepal soar up twice as high as  Colorado's Rocky Mountains - straight above the jungle-covered southern plains. 

Madhav was born far from the busy streets of Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu, in a little village high up near the mountainous border between Nepal and Tibet.

His mother died when he was 13. She died at an early age because they were isolated, poor, and there were no hospitals or treatment facilities available. 

Many poor people in Nepal still die today because they can not get adequate medical treatment. After his mother passed away, Madhav and his siblings were scattered to relatives’ houses and orphanages. The family was broken up because of their extreme poverty. Madhav found himself suddenly plucked up from his village, the only home he had ever known, and sent to live with relatives in a village 8 hours away by car. 

It took young Madhav two full days to walk there by the only mountain trail. Life was extremely difficult for him then. He still does not like to talk about that time of his life today. 

He was not able to study well because of his poverty. 

But he did not let his unsatisfied hunger steal his ability to hope for something better. 

He will always be grateful to his grandmother, who sacrificed a great deal to help raise her young grandson. She was the one who brought him up and who taught him to value education. She was not an educated woman herself, but she made sure that Madhav always studied hard. 

He was also quite impressed with the good work done by an orphanage that took in his youngest brother. 

That organization and Madhav’s good scholarship, despite his continued poverty, made it possible for Madhav to attend university and earn his Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce.  That was when he was truly inspired to become a humanitarian. He had a dream that one day he would return to his mountains and help the needy people there. That dream helped him get through some very difficult times.

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As an adult, Madhav helped to build the community school near his hometown, and now he helps to keep it and another nearby school running. They always need paper, pencils, and books. He was able to arrange for a computer to be available to the students for a full year, before funding for that ran out. 

He also gives money to help the poor mountain people buy medicine. They often have no way to get something as small, yet necessary, as aspirin for a fever. With so little access to any medicine, the elderly particularaly suffer.  He has also arranged special medical camps through the school system, in which local and Western doctors and dentists come to the mountains and treat needy people of all ages at school events. 

He always remembers the many orphans who live in the backward places in Nepal. He has a special place in his heart for helping them because he lived through those same challenges himself. He works to bridge the distance between their current lifestyles and the modern world. 

Twenty-four years ago, Madhav became a Travel and Tour Agent in the city. He worked to introduce foreigners to the timeless beauty of Nepal. He also married a lovely woman named Sita, from eastern Nepal near the Indian border, and together they had two beautiful children,  a daughter, Akshata, and son, Aabhushan. As their father, Madhav gets deep satisfaction from providing them with a better life than the one he endured. His wife Sita works in government service and supports his dream of helping to create a better way of life for the Nepalese people.

“We are helping needy children and other people eat to stay alive,” Madhav explains, “and also in the areas of education, health, sanitation awareness p