The Unatti Foundation is hosting a holiday handicraft sale from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, December 3-4, at the Santa Monica home of Mai Lai Breech, 1100 Georgina Ave. The nonprofit foundation takes a three-pronged approach to its mission of providing opportunity for the underprivileged and underserved in the heart of Bhaktapur, Nepal. ’When I started this organization 12 years ago, I was a single woman from Los Angeles on a spiritual journey,’ says founder Stephanie Waisler Rubin. ‘I never expected to fall in love with the children of Nepal and never imagined that starting small’with the sponsorship of five young girls’would only be the beginning. The Unatti Foundation has grown to now include 18 girls, three housemothers, three employed teachers, an art and music center, and a steady stream of employment for women in the community creating goods for our handicraft program. ‘We are literally changing the landscape of an entire community’nourishing their children and giving families the opportunity to provide for themselves.’ The girls, who range in age from 3 to 18 years old, come from many different cities and backgrounds. With foundation support and funding, they attend good schools in the village and receive 24-hour care. Chief Executive Officer Rubin holds administrative responsibility for financial and business planning, as well as the design and management of Unatti’s programs. She is a mother of two, an art educator at the Brentwood Art Center, and a professional portrait and special events photographer.
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