The Sahara Female Foundation, established in 2022, is run by women, for women.

Our mission is to ensure that every woman struggling with addiction and mental health challenges receives the treatment.

About the foundation

Just outside Kathmandu, in a small hillside village where the roads thin out and phone signal disappears, sits the Sahara Female Foundation. It’s a rehab centre for around seventy women recovering from addiction and mental-health crises. Some arrive through their families, others find the courage to bring themselves. All of them are looking for a way back to stability, dignity, and a future they can stand on.

The recovery activities are developed and led by Annie, the Rehab’s CEO, together with a dedicated team of volunteers - many of whom are former residents who are also on their recovery journey and now share their experience, strength and hope with each other.

Life at the Sahara Female Foundation focuses on healing through structure, therapy, and community. The women take part in daily activities such as cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry while also attending weekly counselling sessions, relaxation therapies with Tibetan singing bowls, therapeutic community groups, and 12-Step NA/AA-based meetings.

Conditions today

The reality on the ground is stark. Most of the women sleep in metal sheds with bunk beds. They share two toilets. There is no real shower block, just open washing areas with no privacy. Laundry is done on a muddy slope where clean clothes don’t stay clean for long. The kitchen relies on open flame, with barely enough space for the volume of meals needed each day. These conditions would be difficult anywhere; for women trying to rebuild their lives, often under pressure from families and carrying immense emotional weight, they make the path to recovery even harder.

The impact of our project

This project is raising funds to build the basics that every person in recovery deserves: private shower cubicles with hot running water, a safe and sturdy laundry area, and essential upgrades to the sanitary and living facilities. These improvements won’t just make the centre more functional. They’ll give the women something less tangible but just as vital – a sense of dignity, space, and humanity while they heal. For Wiki and Jovi, who know Annie and have seen her carry this centre on her back, the goal is simple: to support the women directly, teach new skills, and help create an environment where recovery isn’t just possible, but truly supported.

Your support will directly fund:

• Construction of 5 roofed rooms with shower cabins

• Installation of water tanks and heating systems

• Creation of a hand laundry station with a long washing sink

• Building clothes drying area

• Essential finishing and furnishing work

For more information about the Sahara Female Foundation, please go to their website: saharafemalefoundation.org