In 1999....

After being active for years in the social health sector in the Netherlands, Rene Veldt decided in 1997 that it was time for a change. He was eager to helping people at the other side of the world in contributing something constructive. After volunteer work in Ladakh he arrived in Nepal, where he helped building schools for the Vajra foundation. It was during this time that he met Ajay Pant, Ramesh Paudyal and Bharat Wasti, all three still dedicated members of SVN/Cross Borders till this day. The daily struggle of people in Nepal, especially children, left a deep impression on all of them and they decided to establish an organization for improving the living conditions of these people. Together with his youth friend Fred Valkering a board was formed and the deeds were written down. On the 18th of February 1999 the official founding of SVN was acknowledged. SVN can be freely translated as Fieldwork Foundation, this because its vision is that only actions can empowers words.

The strength of the organization is the fact that René Veldt and his team are present in Nepal during 10 months of the year to provide direct assistance and monitor the spending of the incoming fund. René travels back to the Netherlands once or twice a year to give lectures about the progress of the projects

 
In 2002...

The Mero Niwas children’s home was opened on the 15th of May, 2002. The house was the first official program run by SVN. Besides this, SVN had been supporting several initiatives in Nepal throughout the years, such as the Jyoti vocational training centre in Pokhara, managed by Child Welfare Scheme. Mero Niwas offered a new home to 15 children that were not longer supported by their parents, orphan or half orphan. The age range differed from the youngest of the house, Prabina Pariyar, only a few months old, till Dinanath, a boy aged 12 who was send to town by his mother in order to work. Only a small percentage of the children sent to the city end up finding work. The others are sentenced to a life on the streets, becoming glue sniffers, child prostitutes, house hold slaves or being trafficked to India. The children in Mero Niwas were provided shelter, food, medical care and education. The staffs were disadvantaged women, unable to provide themselves and their children suitable living conditions. Over the years, the home offered shelter to more than 30 children. Besides education and shelter, the focus was as well on the social development of the children, enabling them to provide the Nepalese society a social input in the future. In 2006, the Hamro Niwas project was closed down because the children could be incorporated in to the Hamro Gaun project.

In 2006...

The number of people and organizations that support SVN expanded steady. Many people who came to Nepal as a volunteer or on holiday, visited SVN and decided to promote the organization and her activities once they returned home. The growing number of people that started supporting SVN meant that the Hamro Gaun project became a realistic option. Besides this, SVN was enabled to started to support other local initiatives that were in line with its vision. There was a day care centre opened in Kathmandu and a vocational training project for women in the Terrai. Another day care centre followed and low caste women received training in Bharabise. In 2006, SVN reached its current size, where it is supporting 10 local NGOs. All programs implemented through these local partners have their focus on women and children development. Creating a sustainable livelihood for them in order to offer them

In 2009...

The SVN projects employ near to 100 people in Nepal, such as health workers, teachers, coordinators, etc. Next to this number of employees, there is the far bigger number of people that have benefited direct or indirectly from the SVN projects, were enabled to go to school, receive free health care, started their own business, etc. Whereas SVN started out being supported by a number of private donors, nowadays its projects are also secured through semi governmental agencies such as NCDO, Wild Geese and Impulsis. Beside this, the number of loyal private donors is still one of the main pillars of SVN’s funding. Over the years, SVN also became an established name in Nepal. At this point we are meeting governmental bodies to discuss their contribution to the projects on the long term. SVN also joined the Association for Ingo’s in Nepal (AIN). This platform is used by development organizations that are active in Nepal to discuss current issues, deal with dilemmas, share knowledge and know-how and form a common stand in the lobby towards the government. During all this, SVN remained SVN, a small team of dedicated people that put in long hours in creating awareness in the first world about the daily challenges that a lot of women and children have to put up with in Nepal and assisting local initiatives in dealing with those challenges.a future with prospects.