Laguna Beach Nonprofit with roots in Nepal reflects on success amid COVID-19

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Rabindra Sitaula is a volunteer advocate representing R Star Foundation of Laguna Beach. He supported Nepali villagers’ desire to see a critical road built. Courtesy of Rosalind Russell

R Star Foundation, a Laguna Beach-based nonprofit that supports programs in rural Nepal, is celebrating the completion of a major Nepali road project after more than two years of advocacy.

Rabindra Sitaula, a volunteer advocate representing R Star to promote the betterment of rural Nepali communities, attended numerous meetings to share what the nonprofit has done and how the Nepali government needs to do more in partnership with non-governmental organizations, said Rosalind Russell, founder and CEO of R Star Foundation.

The road’s construction makes travel easier over what used to be dusty, sometimes muddy, rut-riddled, and narrow sections of roads to numerous villages, Russell said.

“Bus rides for the villagers are much more comfortable rather than being bounced and joggled for an hour or longer on the previous inadequate road, breathing in dust and otherwise having a challenging trip,” Russell wrote in an email.

The project was possible through the national government kicking in some international relief funds provided after the 2015 earthquake, which devastated the Kavrepalanchok District that’s home to many villages supported by R Star.

R Star is also hard at work assembling 1,000 personal pad solution kits that will be shipped to Nepal via volunteer couriers. The nonprofit continues to marshal volunteers to hand sew sanitary pads for women and girls living in rural Nepal.

“We are incredibly grateful we are able to continue with mighty and needed projects during COVID-19,” Russell wrote in an email. “We are feeling blessed, so are those we serve in Nepal feeling blessed… and it is all because of you, our supporters, followers, donors, and incredible volunteers.”

For more information, contact the R Star Foundation at 949-497-4911 or email [email protected].

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