Nepal: Olga's Girls
The Nepali government will give $1.6 million for the education of the former kamlari girls, or indentured servants.
Olga Murray of Sausalito, Calif., has dedicated her life to helping the children of Nepal, and her nonprofit, the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation, is hoping to abolish the kamlari tradition.
Olga Murray is fighting for the abolition of the kamlari, or the indentured servants in Nepal.
For the past two decades, Sausalito's Olga Murray has worked to free Nepal's domestic slaves, or kamlaris. The girls are sold by their families to work in the homes of strangers.
Anita Chaudhary, 18, speaks as if all emotion has been kicked out of her. She stares into the distance, her voice is barely a whisper, and her shoulders are slumped forward in defeat.
A henna co-op by Friends of Needy Children is saving Nepali girls from indentured servitude.
In Nepal, kamlaris are house slaves, some as young as five, who work for higher caste families, cooking, cleaning and babysitting.
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Meredith May is a reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle, writing in-depth narratives, breaking news and investigative stories that focus on philanthropy and social change. Since she was...
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Carlos Avila Gonzalez joined The San Francisco Chronicle in 1997 and has become a leader in the photography department's shift to multimedia reporting. A native of the San Francisco Bay...