Monday, October 29, 2007

Krishna


This is a story of a young boy with an entreprenual spirit. He has been sponsored for a couple of years. Last spring he decided he did not need a new school uniform and asked if he could have the money instead which would have been about $20. My friend Ram who was looking after this for me agreed. Krishna then took the money and bought vegetables to sell on the street. He goes at 5am to get them and sells till 8am when he goes to school. He goes back after school to sell them again. This has been his routine since the spring and he has now saved $100. Most married women in Nepal wear a piece of gold jewelley, it is their custom. As his mother did not have any he bought her a piece from his money. He also bought a bike for 400 rupees and sold it for 500. He now wants to open a bank account to save his money for his future education but in Nepal you have to be 18 to do this and he is only 14. He is doing well in school also and reads and writes English now.

We liked this story as we know he will do well and has used our help in a different way but with a good result.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Back home in Canada











Arrived home two days ago after a few days with my mother in England.




It was a very successful trip to Nepal with lots accomplished. The new roof for the Tamangs, a store for Jagat, first college student enrolled, equipment for two poor schools, lots of children visited, some new matches and our first sponsor from New Zealand and I think Australia also.




Our children are doing so very well in school, two children standing first in the class and another second.




For those of you who remember the lady with the bad burns in the spring I am happy to say she is doing so very well now. When she saw me she came running with a big smile. She was so much happier and her gratitude was so evident.




We have some new plans of helping a poor school with more equipment. We are going to pick some schools and decided which is the most commited to working with us in this regard. The principal and teachers have to be dedicated to helping the students and in some government schools they are not. Certainly the Hattiban school will be one to be considered. We will use donation money for this.



The tea shop started in the spring is doing very well. With extra money that the sponsors sent her she bought a fridge for the shop so she could sell cold drinks and keep milk. I thought this was a great idea as it helps the business which supports the family.




I want to thank the Beauty Salon in Ontario for their donation which did so much with help for a poor family, school equipment, medical and some toward the roof. Thanks, of course to all sponsors. I have letters and photos for a lot of you which I will get out as fast as I can. Also thank you to an inspirational internet company called Eggplantinspiration.com. They sell cards and other products and a percentage of the price goes to a charity of choice. Ours is on the list and we have received money from them. Please check them out.

Photos are of the tea shop, Jagat's shop and our first college student Nauchhen and Mrs. Jalari (with the burns) looking so much better.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Visit to the Hospital

This morning I went to visit a man in the Bir Hospital. For those of you who were reading my blog the last time I was here you will remember the two little girls, Shirjhana and Samjhana who were living by themselves because their mother was in a mental hospital. The father had gone to work in dubai. Six months ago he developed meningitis and has been in hospital ever since. He was finally transferred back to Nepal three days ago. I have known this family for three years and they asked me to visit. The father is unable to speak or move much at all. There is nothing much they can do for him other than physiotherapy. They asked him if he knew me and he nodded his head. The mother is quite mentally ill and they do not like her at the hospital as she cries so much. The two little girls sit with him from 7am till 5pm. Two sad little faces gazing into his eyes and holding his hand. This was such a good little family, they were very poor but both parents worked, and now it has been shattered. Neither parent will ever work again and now they are having to pay to keep him in the hospital at least until he can eat by mouth and how they will look after him at home I do not know. The girls are doing really well in school but now they have this huge burden at 12 and 13 years old. I had a donation of $100 for medical costs and I gave it them.
The Bir Hospital is a horrible place. I don't think anyone in the Western World would complain about their medical care if they saw this place. I was there nearly an hour and did not even see a nurse, the family seems to care for the patient. There was a dead body in the bed next to Vishnu who I was visiting. It had been there for three hours. It is not much better than a cow shed. My friend said to me as we left and they were finally sliding this dead man into a van "What is Life"?. It sure does not count for much here.
It has been a sad year for us here in Nepal and also some changes. We leave for Delhi tomorrow afternoon and to London the day after. I have visited a lot of families and children but not all of them as there just has not been the time. More photos here when I return and I can download them easier. I have quite a lot of letters and many photos that I will get out to the sponsors as soon as possible.
On a personal note Bob, Grant and I have opened a little grocery shop for Jagat and his wife. The was our own money and money from Grant that he raised and not from the fund. It was something we wanted to do for a couple of years now. they are so excited and happy with it. It has given them a sense of purpose.
More on return to Canada

Monday, October 15, 2007

Our first College Student

Nauchhen is our first college student and we are very proud of her. She was referred to me a year and a half ago as she was so poor. Her two brothers look after her. She was going to quit school because of lack of funds. After we supported in her studies she went on to get an excellent mark in her school leaving certificate. I met with her and her brother and was touched by their gratitude and her dedication to her studies. Many thanks to her sponsor for her support. Nauchhen is an excellent student and individual and so worthwhile. Hopefully we have many more like her in the future.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Hattiban




Here is the photo of the new house roof. Not only did they put a new roof on but also made a new second floor plus a new porch roof. All for the price of $480.00. Not only were the family very happy with this but the whole village was so thankful that we had helped this family.


We also took balls and books to the village school. In the photo the children are playing with the new football. This was a very worthwhile project and we feel very pleased with the work done here.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Photos






Sumitra in her class.



The BK family who we helped with a donation



This is all the computer will allow me to download. A bit frustrating but such is the cyber world in Nepal.

Good work in Pokhara

Yesterday we went and visited the two schools where we have students in Pokhara. We took a football, volleyball and net to the government school and visited with the Principal at the private school. We took a man we met in the mountains with us. He is from New Zealand. He toured the school with us and visited families. He sponsored a little girl named Mankumari who followed him around everywhere holding his hand. This is our first sponsor from New Zealand, in fact from the Southern Hemisphere. With a donation from a beauty salon in Ontario we were able to help ManKumari's family with some rent and food. The father has left this mother with four little girls to care for and she has very little income from spinning wool.
I took some photos of another four children who the school brought to us as they are very poor. All our children here, 19 in all, were doing well.
Back in Kathmandu now after a long hot bus ride. Now my days will be full finishing up all I have to do before we leave.
The Tamang's house roof is finished and I am told that it looks really good and I am looking forward to seeing it this week.
We also have our first student in college. Her name is Nauhhen and she did extremely well in her school leaving exam and received a 92 in science. We are really proud of her. With our help she improved so much in the last two years and is now hoping to go into nursing.
Tomorrow I will try and put some photos up here. It can be slow and difficult. I want to share with you some of what I see.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Back from the Mountains

We have just returned to Pokhara from a wonderful four days in the mountains. It has been a rest. The weather was extremely hot and mostly we had cloudless skies. The mountain people are friendly and charming and the children delightful.
Tomorrow it is back to working with the families here and seeing the children. We are taking some sports equipment to the school and are using a donation to help a mother with four girls whose husband has left her. More on that tomorrow.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Pokhara

Arrived in Pokhara yesterday after a very tiring journey. It was extremely hot and after 6 hours on the bus we got off to visit 4 children in a town 25 kms from Pokhara. We visited dolma, Rubin, Puspa and Prishka here. Then took a broken down old car the rest of the way. today we visited all our children here, 15 in all. this area is really challenging as everyone is so poor and all close together. We are followed around and with so many in need in is hard to know who to help and it becomes frustrating as there is never enough to go round. We are a small ripple in a very large pond here. But the children we have helped are doing well. When we stop in a family's room for tea so many people pile in and the heat becomes unbearable.
Tomorrow we are going into the mountains for three days rest and then I will return to where we were today to finish off what we have to do here. I was given a donation for a poor family and I have picked a poor woman with four girls whose husband has left her because she did not bear him a son. She lives in a tin shack and after considering so many families I have picked her. So next week I will pay some rent and buy groceries for her.
the lady who was so badly burned last time I was here looked so much better today and she seemed happy.
Now I will go and shower all this sweat away from the oppressive heat and get some sleep.