Thank you for the Funds received

I want to thank everyone who has sent in their fees for 2010. At this point in December we have received twice as many payments as at this time last year. This makes my job so much easier. For those who have not sent theirs in yet this is okay as you have until January 15th or post dated cheques are fine.
Load shedding is in full effect in Nepal which means they only have electric power for a few hours per day so contact with them is more difficult but I hear two to three times per week and everything and all children are fine.
I am returning to Nepal on February 25th so as usual I will take letters and small gifts but they must be received at my house no later than a week before I leave. Packing is a big job!
Please remember NEF if you are getting rid of stuff as we need it for our Garage Sale in May.
Just phone if you have anything 250-746-8936.

I am trying to get a newsletter out before Christmas but will wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year here in case I am late with the newsletter. I would like to say how much we appreciate each and everyone of you because without you none of these children and women would be getting the help and education that they so desperately need.

Seasons Greetings

Great News for the Chimkhola School Project

Nearly two years ago I made the trek up to the Chimkhola Village and was saddened to see the lack of facilities at the school. They had a sufficient building but little else. No library, science lab or equipment, no teaching aids, toilets were in very bad condition with no water etc.
I presented this to the Duncan Daybreak Rotary Club and the Duncan noon time Rotary Club and I am very happy to report that they have raised the following funds:

Rotary Club Duncan Daybreak - $ 4,300 US
inlud. a contribution from the mid island group of 17 clubs - $ 1000 US
Rotary Club Duncan noontime - $ 9000 US
Rotary District 5020 1:1 matching grant - $13,300 US
Rotary Pokhara - $100 US

Total - $26,700 US

In March 8 to 10 Rotarians from the local clubs are making the trip to Nepal and up to the village to see the project first hand. NEF is the cooperating organizing with the Rotary Clubs here and in Nepal. We wish to thank them for the hard the work they have put into raising these funds. I am excited that they will see the school and the village and meet the Pokhara Rotary Club who will be responsible for implementing the improvements. I know it will be a memorable trip for them. I will report here later on the project and the trip to the village.

Re: Payment Renewals

I am sorry but I forgot to put my address etc. for payments.

Please make out cheque to Nepal Education Fund and send to me at:

Susan Marshall
6718 Beaumont Ave.
Duncan, BC
Canada
V9L 5X8

For overseas sponsors you can send an international money order and from the US a cheque works. For those in England I do have a bank account in the UK that money can be deposited in and if you wish that info please contact me.

Back Home

We arrived home a few days ago after a very long journey from Delhi. It has taken quite a few days to be able to do anything as I was also sick. Anyway I am now feeling better.

I had a successful sale of Nepali crafts on Saturday and it was nice to see so many sponsors who dropped by to see me. I am at the Chemainus Fire Hall this Saturday.

I have been hearing from Mann in Nepal almost daily since returning home. He has just successfully renewed the charity with the Social Welfare Council which has to be done every year. It is a lot of work. He has also been to Pokhara and set up the science lab at the school and as you can see by the photos it is looking good and has made a lot of students happy.

I am in the process of sending a lot of letters out. I saw about 60 of the children and all of the women. Our new literacy class is at 30 which is more than I wanted but it is hard to turn the women away. There are many more waiting to start.

We found that India looked much more prosperous than Nepal. It was much cleaner and there were not as many beggars on the streets. Even down in Old Delhi we just did not see the same kind of poverty. I know it is there but it is so much more obvious in Nepal.

A reminder that fees are due now and the deadline is January 15th. $80 for Government school and $300 for private. Women are $60 for six months. Please remember to address the envelope to me and not NEF as we had cheques stolen from the mail last year. The cheque though is made out to NEF.

Leaving Nepal

Tomorrow we leave Nepal for India. As always we are very sad to leave Nepal and our wonderful family here and all our friends and children.
I have letters for all the sponsors of the women in the literacy program. They were all written in Nepali so Mann and Sima have translated them all for you. I think they are very special and I am sure all the sponsors will be pleased with them. They are very happy to be able to write them to you and that is the gift you have given them and what better gift could that be.
There are a lot of letters from the children also but we did not get to visit every child in this short time but we have seen at least half of them.
We have done a great deal in two weeks. The science project is well on its way. The principal phoned this morning to say that the tables and stools are ready and Mann is going to Pokhara in a few days to take the three big boxes of science equipment to them.
We have a begininer class of new women and the other class continues adding English language. A total of 45 women students. We have had to turn a lot away again. They just keep coming to the school wanting to learn. It is hard to turn them away.
The children are doing well, we have lost a couple of teenaged boys but otherwise our results are excellent.
I will not be touch again now until I get back to Canada on November 18th. As soon as I get back I will get all photos and letters out to everyone.
Thanks again for making our work here possible. This charity is very successful and we are helping to change lives and give a lot of hope which means so much.

Today's photos: At the top is Santi and below her home. Her father is a blacksmith working in front of their home and her mother is blind and turns the wheel all day to make air for the bellows to keep the fire going. This family is extremely poor as you can see by the photo. Above left is the science equipment we bought today for the Simpani school. This took several hours today and in fact Mann is still on his way home with it as he waited to get it all packaged up. A grade 12 student who happened to be there helped us pick suitable posters and extra things that the school did not have on the list. This is an excellent project made possible by the Dohar Wooden Spooner's Rugby Club. Mann is looking forward to getting this all set up at the school. Above right is Apekshaya with her sponsor's gift and as you can see she is very happy with this. To the left is Sabritri, one of our blind students who we visited today. She is an excellent student who won a scholarship this year. She is charming, polite and always so happy to see us. She is waiting for me to visit her home in the village one day. I really love this young woman.

Visiting Children in Kathmandu

We have been back in Kathmandu now 3 days and have visited quite a few children. It is very different here from Pokhara. Our children are very spread out and it is much more difficult. I have also been shopping for Nepali handicrafts to bring home for the charity.
I have delivered all gifts and cards etc. The children really enjoy them. I saw Pradip and Parmila this morning, they were among the first ten children that we ever sponsored. They were quite small then and now are young adults.
We find Kathmandu so much more chaotic and noisy than Pokhara. There it is so much more peaceful. I have also been continuing with language classes and gradually I am able to converse more. Tomorrow we are going shopping for science equipment for the Pokhara school.
The day after we left Simpani 16 women came to the school there to see me. They wanted me to start a literacy program a little way away in a very poor river community. We will think about this for the spring.
We have three days left here before leaving for India.