Every school in Nepal, including government schools, expects a child to arrive with their own uniform, books, notebooks and pencils. In rural areas where families are already struggling to eat, that puts education last on the list.
Sickness in the family can have devastating financial consequences. As there is no National Health Service in Nepal, many will have to sell their land and home in order to pay for medical bills.
Nepal lies on a major fault and is subject to tremors and landslides. In 2015, violent earthquakes devastated Nepal, destroying thousands of homes and generating terrible landslides. Lives were lost, many families were displaced but the country, on the surface, recovered. Unless people can afford to build a costly reinforced concrete home, there is nowhere safe and more children than ever are being sold, abandoned or trafficked.