Dr. Lauren Yanks teaches Nepalese children in a tent school. Source: Dr. Lauren Yanks

While many students struggle to look outside the “Marist bubble,” the newly chartered Blue Butterfly Club aims to expand students’ worldview by educating them about the lives of underprivileged women and children living in Nepal.

The club is a campus extension of the Blue Butterfly Foundation, established by Dr. Lauren Yanks, a professor of philosophy and communications at Marist College. Dr. Yanks spent several years in Nepal providing essential resources including housing, nutritious food and access to high-quality education.

After losing her daughter, Zoe, in a tragic accident, Dr. Yanks founded the Blue Butterfly Foundation, with a mission to help children in need in Zoe’s honor. The foundation focuses on assisting Nepalese children who were rescued from horrifying conditions of human trafficking.

“I began running creative writing programs with the girls, and if they couldn't read, I led drama workshops,” Dr. Yanks explained. “I fell in love with so many of those children. I returned to Nepal and started opening schools, especially for girls, and worked so hard to make sure that every girl had the right to an education.”

The Blue Butterfly Foundation only grew from there, ranging from fundraising for the Nepalese community after a devastating earthquake to helping women make and sell handmade clothing to support their families.

During the fall semester, Dr. Yanks approached Rachel Silverman ‘24 and Anusha Vaidyanathan ‘24 with the idea of starting a chapter of the foundation on the Marist campus. After working from the ground up for months, the Blue Butterfly Club was officially chartered by the Student Government Association on Feb. 9.

“As a club, we want to make it our responsibility to teach [students] about the global issues that are happening all around the world,” Vaidyanathan, the Vice President of the club, said.

Silverman and Vaidyanathan have been working with Dr. Yanks on one of Blue Butterfly’s latest projects – getting five endangered kids out of Nepal and into college in the United States. So far, they’ve successfully moved two boys, Sanjay and Kamlesh, and are working tirelessly to get the other three to safety.

Now acting as the president of the club, Silverman hopes to hold an event where the five Nepalese youths can share their stories with the Marist community and empower them to get involved in the foundation’s mission.

“It’s going to be hard to hear the stories,” Silverman said. But she hopes the survivors will show how activism can change lives for the better when people come together with a common passion and goal.

The Blue Butterfly Club is also assisting the foundation with its Project Heart Orphanage initiative. The foundation is raising funds to build an orphanage in Nepal to house children who lost their parents to Covid-19. By providing a safe place for the children to live, young Nepalese kids are less likely to get caught up in the horrifying business of human trafficking that many living in poverty are subjected to.

According to Silverman, the Nepalese government has pledged to match half of the donations raised to build the orphanage.

Though the Blue Butterfly Club focuses on global concerns, they also intend to ground the issues to the local community by teaching students how poverty and human trafficking affect people in New York and Poughkeepsie.

One of their more local initiatives, based in Queens, teaches Nepalese women English and educates them about human trafficking, domestic violence and their human rights. The project also aims to empower these women to advocate for themselves to create better lives for their families.

Though the Blue Butterfly Club is still new to campus, their passion and activism has created a clear path to leave a lasting legacy at Marist.

The Blue Butterfly Club Bursts the 'Marist Bubble'

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