Leaving Nepal

As usual when it is time to leave Nepal it is sad to say goodbye to so many friends, children, dogs and of course our Nepali family of Mann and Sima and their children and Jagat, Puspa and their children.

It has been a very busy trip with five different sponsors visiting and all the activities we have attended such as Kristi school and Phumbi Bumdi school etc.  Friends and sponsors Lori, Jay and Madelynn have been with us most of the time and they have thoroughly enjoyed their visit and seen things that they have never experienced before.

Things change in Kathmandu but not really for the better and the poverty never seems to improve.  I find myself wanting to help everywhere but know that this is not possible and have to keep my vision  of educating women and children in focus as this I feel is the only way to a better future and the best value for money.  Visiting some of our teenage students was very satisfying as I have seen them come so far and blossom.  Mann continues to do an excellent job in managing the charity and looking after sponsors when they visit.  Jagat still helps monitor children when he is not working as a trekking guide.  Chandra, who was working for us in Pokhara is now living in Kathmandu.  Unfortunately the shop he and his wife had he lost as the rent doubled and they could not afford it.  So I have asked him to work for us in Kathmandu and help Mann as he is becoming over worked.  Hopefully this will relieve Mann and the three can work well together.

NEF has been very lucky in having honest staff all these years and I can assure you that all your money goes to the cause.  I hear about other charities in Nepal that have financial and staff problems and feel so blessed with the success of NEF.  There are always small problems with some families as nothing is 100 percent but we deal with these as they come along but I can honestly say our track record with the children is extremely high.  I have seen many of them grow up into successful young men and women and this is very satisfying.  Likewise the schools we have assisted have helped hundreds of children have a better learning environment and education.

I look forward to returning to Nepal in March when I will visit all the children and schools.  Hopefully we will have another dental program at that time as well.  I matched three new children on this trip for the new school year in April.  We have five government children waiting for sponsors.

The photos below we're of the dog Tihar festival.  Madelynn and Mann with puppies and Lori with her mother and sister's sponsored children Prakash and Rabina.

I will post more photos here when I get home on the weekend as I am having problems downloading them.

Tihar

Madelynn with two puppies at KAT

These last three days that we are in Nepal is the festival of Tihar or Dipawali.  It is the festival of light and there is colour and light everywhere.  Strands of marigolds are everywhere and mandalas are made outside every door way and candles placed around them and on each step to the house.  There is lots of music and dancing in the streets and it is great to part of it.  Yesterday we celebrated the dog day or Kurkur Tihar here.  It is the blessing of dogs and we went to the KAT centre to be part of it.  KAT is the Kathmandu Animal Treatment centre.  Photos below.
Today we visited SBCH home which I used to be part of and where I used to stay.  The children here have grown up a lot and it is such a pleasure to be with them again even for a short while.  Tonight they came to our home and danced for us.  For this they get money, rice and food.  They go from house  to house doing this as is the custom.
I will have to add the photos tomorrow as at night there is not enough power to download them.

Bipana

Bipana is 16 years old and recently married.  In Nepali culture girls are often married off at this age.  She lives with her husband's family as is the tradition here.  This an extremely poor family of ten members.  Bipana finished class 10 and wanted to go to college so her husband sold a very old TV they had to pay for the admission fee.  He could not pay the monthly fee so she had to drop out.  They had nothing else to sell.  She is desperate to go to college and it is the only hope for this family.  If she gets an education it will be a good example for the younger children in this family and hopefully then she can get a job.  I felt very sorry for her and told her I would try to get her a sponsor and her face lit up.  The cost for her would be $300 for this year as the admission fee is paid and next year $350.

Bipana is now sponsored.

Back in Kathmandu

Today we took the bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu which takes 7 hours.  It is a long rough ride with much to look at along the way.  the ride only costs about 8 dollars, very cheap.  We had a busy but enjoyable time in Pokhara.  Visiting Daumaya in the hospital was upsetting but I am happy to say she has been discharged today.  The condition of the hospital was very distressing.  We certainly are so lucky in Canada and other Western countries to have the high quality medical care and hospitals that we have and free.   A doctor approached me and asked if we could provide some beds which they desperately need.  The bedside table that Daumaya had was all covered in rust so they need those also.  There are so many needs in this country so we have to stick to our agenda of education and schools as best we can although it is easy to want to help in other areas.
We have seen a lot of children but not all of them as this is the time of the two big festivals, Dashain and Tihar so many families are away in their villages visiting relatives so it makes it difficult to visit a lot of people.  Our projects in Kristi, Gunjara and Phumbi Bumdi are progressing well.  Lori and Jay who are here with us are really having an enjoyable and interesting trip.  They have also been very generous to the families that they are sponsoring and by providing for our ladies' literacy picnic.
This week we have more children to visit and as it is Tihar we are going to take part in the Feeding the Street Dog Day which happens on the Kurkur Tihar Day.  [Dog Day].  On this day dogs are blessed and given Tikas on their heads and flower Malas hung around their necks.  The animal treatment centre KAT has planned to feed the street dogs this day and we are looking forward to taking part.
I now have picked up a cold so am going to bed early.  As I lay on my bed it sounds as if a hundred dogs are barking and that continues all night.  Thank goodness for ear plugs but I take them out in the early morning as I love to hear the roosters.

Picnic Photos

Literacy Ladies

Today I saw a lot of my literacy ladies and as usual they were delightful and so grateful.  How I love these ladies.  Yesterday we held a picnic for them and some of the children.  We could not include all the children as there were just too many.  As it was we had over 70 people on one bus!  The ladies prepared all the vegetables and chickens.  Lori and Jay enjoyed helping with this.  We had rice and lentils which is dhal baht, takari, which is curried vegetables, samosas, tea and oranges.  the oranges being local as they grow here.  We played games and danced.  How the ladies love to dance.  We left at 9 and left for home just after 3 on the crowded school bus.  We had the picnic by the river at Dhampus.  On my first trip to Nepal in 2001 we finished our trek here, so much has transpired since then.  Lori and Jay paid for the picnic so our thanks go to them and they totally enjoyed the experience.

Today I took photos and matched some new ladies or ones that want to come back into the program.  One new lady had badly deformed hands from being burned.  She was extremely poor and asked us to sponsor her nine year old son who has never been to school.  I do not have a sponsor for him right now but said I would try for the future.  She has no husband as he left after she was burned so she works in the river at the quarry earning a small amount of money.  I was surprised when she came to the literacy classroom but she said she wanted to be part of it.  So I matched her with a new sponsor I had.

So after being loaded up with flowers I said my goodbyes till next time and feeling totally satisfied with a job well done I left.  This literacy program brings so much joy to the women and in turn to me.
I am having trouble uploading photos so will try tomorrow.

Construction at Kristi School

Two girls at Phumbi Bumdi in red shirts donated from Qatar

Photos

Mother and her child

Painting at Phumbi Bumdi