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East Meets West – Children’s Education Fund (EMW-CEF) was formed in 2024 under the leadership of Naraindra Prashad, a yoga instructor from Pickering, Ontario in Canada.
In 2019, Naraindra traveled to the yoga capital of the world in India to deepen his Karma Yoga practice. He witnessed first-hand how poverty, political instability and environmental disasters impact the lives of innocent children and their families in impoverished communities in India and later in Nepal.
Naraindra returned home to Pickering, Ontario vowing to make a difference. Life got busy; he started a non-profit organization, East Meets West Yog (EMWY) to respond to requests from his yoga students for virtual classes. But he continued to share his experiences with the plight of children he met in Nepal and India.
The EMWY community, as well as family, long-time friends and colleagues, began raising funds and hosting fundraising events to provide children and their families with basic human necessities, such as nutrition, shelter, shoes, clothing, school supplies and health care.
EMWY delivered support to students from the Khushi Charitable Society where 350 pairs of shoes were distributed in Rishikesh, India, in 2023.
In October 2024, EMWY donated sewing machines to thirteen vocational students who graduated from a one-year Stitching & Design Certificate program in Khushi. These young women can now start a sewing career from their homes while caring for their young children.
Meanwhile in Nepal, 200 students attending a government school received backpacks in October 2024.
Donations continue to pour in. It became clear that a new organization with a wider focus than EMWY was needed to respond to the philanthropic instinct to empower children and their families. As a result, a new sister organization, East Meets West – Children’s Education Fund (EMW-CEF), was formed in 2024. In February 2025, EMW-CEF received official charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency in Canada.
EMW-CEF’s focus is education. However, other essentials that make learning in the classroom even possible – like clothing, nutrition, shelter and health care – are also a priority. We are poised to make a difference.
EMW-CEF is headquartered in Pickering, east of Toronto, Ontario but its reach is global.
East Meets West – Children’s Education Fund (EMW-CEF) was inspired by the teachings of Karma Yoga under the leadership of Naraindra Prashad, a yoga teacher since 2010.
Copyright © 2025 East Meets West – Children’s Education Fund ® All Rights Reserved. Canada Revenue Agency, Charitable registration # 726899750 RR0001
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