Our Trek into the Mountains

I have returned from a week in the mountains which has been wonderful in spite of bad weather, everything from snow, rain and hail. We did have some sun for a few days. A trip to Nepal does not seem complete without some time spent in the mountains as they are the essence of Nepal. The mountains, villages, animals and very friendly people are second to none. Long days of trekking is akin to meditation and clears the mind. I also trekked into a village where I visited a school six years ago. It was this school that gave me the inspiration to start the work that I am now doing. I wanted to see it again. I was happy to see that it was much improved from when I was last there. It seems every donation that they have had has been put to good use. They had made improvement all round and were continuing with such things as glass windows, science lab and a secondary school program since a little girl died while making the three hour walk back and forth to get higher education.

We also spent more time working in Pokhara. This is very rewarding. Great news to report. We were able to pay the medical debt of the lady who was so badly burned through a donation specified for this. It will be one of the highlights of the trip as the gratitude of the family and the organization where the money was owed was overwhelming. Now the family can get on with recovery.

I have left Bob in Pokhara for a couple of days as he is helping two grandmothers who have been left to look after their grandchildren. One lady was sleeping on the stone floor without even a mattress with her granddaugther. We have bought her a bed and mattress and now Bob is getting a bit more furniture for both of them. He wanted to do this as his donation. We also want to get some medical advice for a little boy who is crossed eyed so Bob will enquire about this.

I left half my heart in Pokhara and will leave the other half here when I leave next week. I have a lot left to do this week before I leave as there always seems to be things left to do and people to visit.

Holy Day in Nepal

Yesterday was Holy Day a festival which involves colour and water. Small bags of water with coloured dye in them are thrown from roof tops at people below. The water bags actually went on for two days before the festival. Yesterday though it was much worse and colour was also thrown and rubbed in your face and clothes. A lot of people just stay indoors. It is quite a sight to see. Kevin had fun having water fights with the kids at the shelter.

Today we bought a gas stove for the woman in the tiny room and she was really pleased with this. We were going to paint her room but she said if this happened she would be thrown out as then the landlord could re-rent it for more money. The walls and ceiling are black from the kerosene.

The Tamang family's mother has returned which is great news. We saw her there a couple of days ago. Tomorrow we are returning to Hattiban to see some children. Hope to go back to Pokhara on Wednesday although there are some rumblings about more strikes.

A day at the Zoo..... from Kamal

Kevin tooked zoo all the children the children was very happy. Projul also went us he don't want to keep that Madal at home . The children played many funny things and they looked many animals. Tomorrow is Festival colures. Festivel children will play each other with cloures and cloures water with balunes. Anyway see you all the best and have good luck. God bless to you. Here are pictures of children at Zoo with Kevin.

Kevin a big hit amongst the children at shelter.

Everything going well with Kevin. He has gone to see the temples with Kamal today. Yesterday he spent the day at the shelter and in the afternoon we went for a long walk through the fields around here. The sun was warm and reflecting the yellow of the mustard fields and it was all very beautiful. It gave Kevin a taste of the Nepali countryside.

Tonight he is going to stay in my room here and I will stay in his at the hotel. He loves spending time here and he will spend another night here on Friday. He is great with the children and wishes he could talk their language. He is enjoying riding on the back of the motorbike with Kamal. Tomorrow we are going to take him to the village of Hattiban where we have several children sponsored. It is a typical Nepali village so good for him to see.

Another sponsor with enjoyable visit with children

Kevin from Calgary arrived yesterday and today I took him to two schools which we toured. I took him to two families homes and to the SBCH shelter. He said so many times today that he is overwhelmed. He wanted to take the local bus which we did and I took him through old Kathmandu. He loves the children and played games with them at the orphanage. I was so happy to see him taking everything in and appreciating all that he saw. He thought Kamal was amazing and was impressed at how good he is with the children. He was so surprised at how much the children enjoyed seeing him and wants to spend a whole day playing with them when they are off school. It is gratifying being able to show someone from Canada all that we do here. Tomorrow we are going to see his sponsored child and her school.

This next photo is of a man selling fish that I picked up on my morning run saying what I thought was "Peace" and I said peace back but what he really was saying was "feech, feech" (fish, fish) I took him home with me and we bought a big feech which he then cut up and scaled for us. The children were very excited and thanked me for the fish. I was surprised at this, as in the west would children thank you for bringing home the dinner? It was a touching moment. There are so many of these cherished moments here.


This photo on left is of Moti. Moti is a wonderful young woman who helps us in Pokhara, and who does a lot of volunteer work for us. She supervises the children, helps with studies and keeps us updated on how they are doing. She also helps us pick the most needy children. She told me she always wanted to help poor children but financially cannot but through us she is able to fulfill her wish. Her help in invaluable.

Other's who help at the orphanage are of course Kamal and Samjhana shown here with their baby Milan, Jagat who is long time friend of Susan and who has helped her from the very start of the sponsoring and then we have Sima, another wonderful young lady who does very good and hard work at the orphange. She does cooking, cleaning, and spends time teaching the children with their home work.

We did buy the two sewing machines for our sewing classes and we have a teacher who will be teaching two hours per day for 6 days a week. She is only charging 1500 per month about $25. We are starting with Uma, Saku and Mina. I think this will really be a good thing. Now we have to get some fabric and supplies. Lara is sending some sewing supplies with Bob. I used her money for the machines and she is really pleased about that. Another 6 weeks to go and lots of work to accomplish to get the sewing class project off the ground before I get back in April. Namaste everyone.

Pokhara visit very rewarding.

Pokhara was a very rewarding time for us although very busy and long days. We are working in a very poor area like a refugee camp for poor people from villages. There were many sad cases here. The lady who was supposed to have been burned from cooking actually tried to kill herself by burning herself to death. Fortunately her husband awoke and saved her. We sponsored her little girl and bought them a two burner gas stove. Another little girl we sponsored her father was drunk and arrested by the Moaists some months ago and has not been seen since. We had long discussions here about who we should help.

A young lady named Moti helps us here. She told me she wanted to help poor children but could not afford to herself but by helping us she is fulfilling her wish. One boy aged 12 we met at the school had no school uniform or shoes. He was the only child in school without a uniform. He made himself known to us than then followed us for two days. We asked him into Moti's home and asked about his life. He had no parents and stayed with a man who was dumb and this is where he got his only meal of the day. He had recently returned to school and we told him if he would continue to go to school we would buy him his uniform which we did. To see this boy getting his new shoes was quite something. He was anxious as to when his uniform would be ready. We phoned last night and he will pick it up today. I am going to return to Pokhara again before I leave to see these children again and to see Sunil in his uniform.

Kamal and I both found this boy to be quite special and his persistance paid off. Susmita who I told you about recently had a very bad skin problem on her arms and legs. We gave the mother money to go to a doctor which she did the next day and she now is being treated with medication and returns to the doctor in a couple of weeks. Her mother was very concerned about this and now hopefully the problem will be cured.

A bright shining child's face stands out in a crowd of many

We are till in Pokhara today and have had two very full days so far here. The community we are working in is very poor. A lovely girl named Moti is working for us here and doing a good job. The Principal of the private school also very good and he just took us all out for supper.

A Little Girl named Sasmita

Sometimes a child shines in a crowd and this was the case with Sasmita. I was at the government school looking for one or two little girls. There were many children crowded around us but one little girl stood out from the rest. My eyes kept coming back to her. She was very poor, in ragged clothes, dirty and her shoes were broken, but her face was bright and alive. The children did not know what I was doing but I am sure Sasmita did. She is only 5 or 6 but very bright. I took her aside and we asked her about her family and then I asked the teacher about her. I was told she was a bright student but had no notebooks as her mother could not afford them. Her father left the mother to marry another woman and Sasmita has one older brother. She eagerly took us to her home to meet her mother. I was going to sponsor her for government school but changed my mind and gave her one of the private school sponsors.

When we told her we were going to put her into private school she giggled with delight. We borrowed a motorbike and took her shopping for school uniform, shoes etc. I also bought her a barbie type doll for 20 rupees. She put that in her bag and when she got home it was the first thing she pulled out and her smile lit up her face. This little girl must have good karma and that attracted her today to having her future changed. Something made her stand out today and she made me feel awfully good.

Another little girl we sponsored was in private school but her father could no longer keep her there as his wife has suffered very bad burns when her clothes caught on fire while cooking with kerosene. She came home from hospital today after many months and we went to visit her. She took off her clothes to her waist and showed us her exensive burns. I thought..... is it not enough to be so poor and then to suffer this also. She could only move very slowly. They lived in a tiny room that the father kept very neat and clean. The father worked in a stone quarry. They now have a large loan to pay the medical bills. I thought maybe tomorrow we would have a day off but I know Kamal wants to go back and make sure Sasmita gets her uniform picked up.