Three years ago, Mahendra BK was a 12-year-old boy living on the streets in Pokhara, a mid-sized Nepalese town with a population of around 200,000. His mother died when he was still an infant and then his alcoholic father died of tuberculosis when Mahendra was only eight. Mahendra then went on to live together with his sister and grandmother for about a year. But they lived in extreme poverty and, at the age of nine, he left them to live on his own. He soon ended up in the capital city, Kathmandu, where he was living a high-risk life on the street, scraping-by, collecting rubbish and selling it for petty cash to recycling factories.

Mahendra's early life story is all too common among children in Nepal where, according to the local non-governmental organisation CWIN (Child Workers in Nepal) an estimated 5,000 young children live on the streets without a family.

But Mahendra BK [a two-letter family name is common in Nepal)]was lucky. Today, he is one of just over 20 boys in the Sahara Football Academy in Pokhara. 'Sahara', the Nepalese word for 'support', is a social welfare organisation that provides street children with lodging, food, education and something to do: play football.

Mahendra is the goalkeeper in the Sahara team, and he explains that joining the Sahara Football Academy has changed his life and given him a hope for the future.

Life on the run
"When I was living on the street, I was sleeping under empty rice sacks in many different places. The police used to come around and chase me away. So I was really happy to come to Sahara. Here, we practise football every day and I hope that one day I will be good enough to become an international footballer, like Oliver Kahn, my favourite player," he said.

Of course, not every one of the 20 boys will be able to make a living by playing football.

"I think that perhaps five of the boys we have with us here possess the talent to go on to play in the Nepalese A division and on the national team in the future," Keshab Bahadur Thapa says. Thapa, the General Secretary of Sahara, continues: "Even if they go on to play professional football, they can't expect to become rich that way. There isn't very much money in Nepalese football right now, but it is slowly getting better."

That is why the club also tries to provide vocational training for the boys when they turn 16-years-old. After that age, the Sahara club helps them to establish their own life outside the academy.

"Firstly, we try to place them in other football clubs where they will receive a small salary, but we also give them training as mechanics, electricians, plumbers, carpenters and such," explained Thapa.

While the Sahara Club was established as a regular football club in 1998 by members of the local community, the idea for social work and the combined orphanage and football academy developed later.

In 2004 it was made a reality, largely through the inspiration and fundraising of Nepali expatriates such as Navin Gurung who lives in the UK. Gurung explained: "I was already involved in organising sports events in the UK. One day a friend told me about the activities of the Sahara Club and I was really touched. From there the connection started. Now many of my personal friends, Nepalese acquaintances and business connections have all assisted me in organising various fundraising programs to support the valuable work that Sahara is doing."

As well as funds raised abroad, the Sahara Club also receives some support from the local business community in Pokhara and through ticket sales at the tournaments they arrange every year.

A cry for help
Of course, the Sahara Club isn't the only home for orphans and street children in Nepal. Indeed, there are many such homes. But the quality of these orphanages varies a lot and they often lack proper management.

Spokesperson of UNICEF in Nepal, Rosanne Vega, says: "Since there is no proper monitoring of orphanages, the quality and conditions for the children vary a lot. Almost anybody can start an orphanage here, including people completely lacking experience in this field."

Indeed, it is common that street children go and stay in an orphanage for a while, but then run away and end up on the street again, since the conditions in some of the orphanages are even worse than living rough.

Rajesh Thakuri, aged 11, is one of the many street children in Kathmandu. He was staying in an orphanage for a while, but ran away because, as he says: "They didn't like me. They hated me there." He now sleeps on the street and begs money for food outside a hospital.

Needless to say, living on the street carries a lot of problems and risks for children. Desperately needing money, they can easily become victims of abuse and exploitation, start a career in crime or enrol in hazardous work such as collecting passengers for overcrowded buses, where the children literally have to hang outside on the side of the vehicles as they drive through the city's chaotic traffic.

Glue sniffing, alcohol and drug abuse are other common risks among street children, who see it as the only escape from the tension of their various problems. Sexual exploitation also takes place, but the extent of the problem is not very well known. One report from the ILO indicates that it could be as much as one third of all street children who have, in one way or another, been exploited in a sexual manner, allegedly most often by tourists and street gang leaders.

With the list of problems continuing, lacking education, untreated diseases, poor emotional and psychological environment and so on, the street children's chances in life do not look good unless they get some help from a well-managed organisation like the Sahara Academy. The lack of comprehensive government assistance often leads to criticism of this very poor country.

Back in Pokhara, several of the 12 staff members express, with some pride, that in the three years since the academy started, not one child has run away.

Sahara life suits the children
Among the other boys in Sahara, there is the 12-year-old Sunil Kendel and the brothers Dhanraj and Robin Pun, 13 and 15 years-old respectively. Sunil ran away from his dysfunctional family when he was eight years old and the Pun brothers were orphaned after their father died in the army and their mother died of cancer.

They all enjoy their life in Sahara. Their schedule is busy everyday because as one of the assistant trainers, 21-year-old Indra explains: "We try to keep them busy so that they stay out of trouble".

Their programme in the academy usually starts at five o'clock in the morning when they get up and get a little snack before taking the five-minute walk to the local stadium, where they have two hours of football training. Then back to the hostel for breakfast and it is time for school.

When school is finished in the afternoon, they again practise football for an hour or two before doing their homework. The two assistant trainers in Sahara also work as tutors and help the boys with their homework. In the evening, after dinner, they sometimes watch English Premier League football on TV, wash their clothes or play a little bit in the garden across the street. They don't really have any toys, so they just play with whatever they can find, as is normal for Nepalese children. For instance, a long tree root works fine as a jumping rope. And they also have the footballs that they can have fun and play around with. And about once a month, they play friendly matches against some of the local school teams.

Although the dormitory at Sahara is crowded and the facilities a bit rudimentary, there is little else that the boys really need here. They get good food and warm beds, form strong friendships and there is always an adult around to help them with their problems.

Only the goalkeeper, Mahendra, expresses a little wish: "I would like to have a pair of goalkeeper's gloves for the winter football training," he said.