Successful Marathon

I ran the Skagit Flats Marathon on September 9th and completed it in 4 hours 55 mins.  It was a very windy day and the sky seemed low with black clouds which made the race lonely at times as it was small in numbers.  The wind whipped up a lot of dust clouds to run through but I felt good throughout the race.   I raised over $4,328.20 with the running of this marathon so it made it all very worthwhile.
I would like to thank everyone who supported me and made this possible.  This amount of money goes towards the operating expenses of NEF.
Along with our other two fundraisers, the sale of fall bulbs and the garage sale, we have enough for the administration costs for this year.  This is a big relief to me.  Anything over this will go towards one of our school projects.

With medal and 2nd place in age div award

Singapore sponsors visit their Sponsored Child

Earlier this month sponsors, Daniel and Ronnie from Singapore, visited their sponsored child, Bilisha.
They only started sponsoring Bilisha last April but have been exchanging letters and were very anxious to meet her and her family.  Mann met them at the airport and took them to the family and her school.  Daniel and Ronnie enjoyed their visit with Bilisha and took her and her family out for dinner.  They also visited our office and Sima's small children's home.  Sima is Mann's wife.

Daniel tells me that they very much enjoyed the visit and sent these photos.  Thank you for being such great sponsors to Bilisha.

Marathon Fundraiser

I am training for the Salmon River Marathon in Idaho to raise funds for NEF.  The training is tough but has gone well but the fundraising has been slow.  Hopefully in the next month we can get some sponsors for this event.  If you would like to contribute please email me at nepeducation@gmail.com

Our bulb fundraiser raised $885.50.  Thanks to all who sold and bought bulbs.  I think this was a good result and that we should try it again next year.

The money from both these fundraisers will go towards our administration costs which have to be met if we are to keep the charity alive.  

Pabitra

Pabitra is our first handicapped child that we have sponsored.  She is five years old and has no arms other than a very short limb with one long finger.  She does everything very aptly with her feet.   She is in nursery class.  Her father left the country a couple of years ago and has not been heard from since so she lives with her mother who tries to make money from odd jobs.  One of our new sponsors from Singapore has kindly sponsored Pabitra and I am looking forward to meeting her in November.

Photo of Pabitra using her feet to write and hold a cup.

Garage Sale Success

Our annual NEF garage sale last Saturday was a success.  The weather was good, no rain, excellent volunteers, lots of articles for sale and good crowds.  We made $1,650.00 for NEF administration costs which will help to pay our expenses in Nepal in operating our charity.  Although this sale was smaller than previous years it was more manageable and less stressful and so we enjoyed it far more and were not exhausted afterward.  Thank you to all who volunteered and donated to this sale.

Annual Garage Sale

The garage sale this year is being held June 9, 2012 from 9 am to 3 pm at Ray's Furnishings and Antiques  on Duncan Street, next to the Duncan Garage.  This will be a smaller sale than in previous years as it had got too big too manage.  If you have any items to donate please bring to the sale location on Saturday or to my home in Maple Bay beforehand.  Please email me for my address or if you need any items picked up.
We hope to see you at the sale. 

Progress at Gunjara School

I have written here previously about the new roof for the Gunjara school.  It has now been completed and Chandra, who is working for NEF in Pokhara, has been checking weekly and he reports that they have done an excellent job and that now they are ready to start the painting of the classrooms.  We had decided on washable paint, which although more expensive, lasts so much longer.  Once the Painting is finished then the new desks can be moved in.

This project has been donated by our donors in Qatar, Carol and Keith and their friends.  The desks were donated by the Lauzon family in Duncan and a yoga class in Whistler, BC.  The books were also donated by the Lauzon family in Duncan.  These types of projects really make a difference to the lives of so many village children.