Across the world....A special Moment Shared

When the day starts out here I never know whether I will encounter more sadness or have a special moment. Yesterday the latter happened. We left for Pokhara early in the morning and travelled 7 hours to the town of Dulaguada. It was a dismal place and made more so by the rain. It was nothing but dilapidated buildings and mud. We have three children sponsored here. After tea at Kamal's in-laws place we went to the school which surprisingly was not too bad. I visited class 8 where we had two children. There were 77 children in that class and the teacher told me that it is hard to teach that many. No unions, pensions or benefits here. Poor pay also.

We then went to Dolma's home. Dolma is 15 and lost her mother last year in a stone quarrey accident. Her father then left her and her brother is a street child but she does not know where. She has lived alone for most of the last year until recently a lady, Menu took her in to live with her. I gave Dolma an envelope from her sponsor. In it was a letter, card and two photos. I took the letter and read it to her with Kamal translating. The letter was beautiful, truly written from the heart. As I read I got a lump in my throat as it expressed love, praise and friendship. The letter was 3 pages long, there was a card with the sponsor's art work on the front and two photos. Dolma and three other women all listened in silence except for Dolma's emotional sniffing.

This letter also contained illustrations that Dolma could relate to. A young lady in Duncan touched the heart of a poor young woman in Nepal who has no family of her own and made her feel special and loved. In that dismal room, the sun came out as two young women were linked together and the world was a smaller place. Dolma placed the items back in the cellophane wrapper and I know they will be treasured items forever. Kamal said after that he was so touched and that in our work we need moments like these to keep us going. How true were his words. I asked Dolma if she would speak to her sponsor on film and she did so eagerly expressing her gratitude. I was only the messenger here, but I was truly priviledged to be there and to share that experience. My heartfelt thanks to the sponsor.