[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25851]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING OLGA MURRAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 27, 2009

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Olga Murray of 
Sausalito, California, for her commitment to helping destitute children 
in one of the poorest countries of the world. In 1984, at the age of 
60, Ms. Murray founded the Nepal Youth Opportunity Foundation, NYOF, 
which assists thousands of children through programs operated by the 
Nepalese themselves.
  The mission of NYOF, which arose from Murray's vision, is to 
``transform the lives of impoverished Nepalese children by providing 
them with what should be every child's birthright--education, housing, 
medical care, and loving support.'' Inspired by these compelling words, 
NYOF's programs include homes for neglected and abandoned children, 
education programs and scholarships from grade school through graduate 
school, and even random acts of kindness.
  But Murray may be best known for her innovative Indentured Daughters 
program which frees young girls from servitude. Among Tharu farmers, 
families in poverty sell their girls as young as 6 years old to serve 
in bondage to higher-caste families around the country where they 
perform menial labor under difficult conditions and are sometimes 
beaten and forced into prostitution. Often, the parents believe their 
daughters will actually be better off. Although the practice is now 
illegal, the prohibition is not enforced.
  Murray's solution is to offer the parents a pig or goat in exchange 
for not selling their daughters as the animal is worth more if bred or 
butchered. She also pays the daughters' $100 per year school expenses 
and has funded construction of 36 classrooms to accommodate them. 
Murray has saved thousands of young girls this way and inspired 
Nepalese charities to follow her lead in saving even more.
  Murray is a prodigious fundraiser for NYOF, recognized as one of the 
most effective organizations of its kind. However, it is her personal 
passion and loving joy for her work and the people of Nepal that are 
the secret of her success. She has received numerous prestigious awards 
including Unsung Heroes of Compassion from the Dalai Lama, a medal from 
the King of Nepal, the Mannington Stand on a Better World Award, and 
the St. Vincent de Paul Society Frank Brennan Award for Outstanding 
Service to the Poor.
  Madam Speaker, I admire Ms. Murray's commitment to creating 
opportunities for the children of Nepal. The children of the world are 
our future, and we can be inspired by people like Olga to make this 
world a better place.

                          ____________________