Mountaineer Climbs and Supports an NEF Project

A mountaineer from Dubai, named Julian "Jules" Phillips, has just finished a climb in Nepal.  For this climb he asked for sponsors so that he could raise money for a project through NEF.  He is presently living and working in Dubai but used to live in Qatar and is friends through rugby with Carol and Keith who visit us in Nepal every year.  On their recommendation he decided to use the money he was raising to help the Pumbi Bhumdi school finish their construction of the new classrooms.  He is in the process of collecting the money he was pledged which totals $10,000 US.

This is a wonderful gesture on his part and is a lasting contribution and legacy.  The village school at Pumbi Bhumdi benefits poor, low caste children and will be a model school and with this donation the construction will soon be completed.  We have helped this school grow over the years and have seen its improvement year by year.

Thank you Jules for a wonderful and lasting contribution to the children of Pumbi Bhumdi.

Jules' Nepal Experience 

Well after 3 years of planning the climb is over and it all seems like a million years ago as so much has happened in the last 20 days.

It started off badly as the approach to Singu Chuli was blocked due to heavy snows and this year nobody has been successful in even getting to the base camp let alone climb it, so after five days we agreed to abandon the attempt and find a new summit to attack.  I have never been so wet, cold and down right miserable as I was for those five days, so lesson learnt:  check the weather and realistically this mountain can only be climbed by a large group because of the dangers of the glacier route to get to the base of the climb.

As we had already lost five days we flew to the Kumber Valley with the aim of climbing to Ama Dhablam base camp and then on to the Island Peak Summit at 6150 m.  On Friday morning at 8 am, after 7 hours climbing from advance base camp we summited to a beautiful, if cold morning and attached are two photos of our success.

Now started the 5 day extraction trek to Lukla airport which I was not looking forward to but had no choice as it was the only way out.  That is until a friendly helicopter pilot agreed to fly me back to Kathmandu as part of his cargo shipment from Everest Base camp.  The best news/trip I have had in ages as it meant that I was back in Kathmandu and a shower in 90 minutes instead of 5 days.

All in all a great trip and I am very happy to have summited without any altitude sickness and associated illness and whilst not the difficulty of Singu Chuli it did pose some massive problems of its own for us to overcome and thankfully we did.

My own note is that Jules involved a good cause into his mission and that must have brought him good luck or better still Good Karma.  Also called Karma Yoga.

Dwight School Interact Club Donation

Today I was presented with a cheque for NEF from the Interact Club at Dwight International School Canada.  It was the graduation ceremony for the grade 12 graduates.  This group of young people in the Interact Club raised $3000 for a poor school in Nepal and will provide the school with a basic library and science lab.  The school has 250 children from nursery to class 8 and does not have any facilities for a science program and no books.  The science teacher is teaching science to 8 classes with no practical equipment.  The school has a storage room which is being divided and made into a science lab and a library with a partition down the middle.  The school has an all female teaching contingent and Principal, a rarity in Nepal.  The students and teachers are very excited about this donation and the opportunity to have this facility.  I am so touched that the students from Dwight reached out to help the students in this school in Nakhipot, Nepal.  Young people helping other young people half a world away, what could be better.
Many, many thanks Interact Club, you touched my heart and gave the students of Mahalaxmi School a facility that will give them a better education.  Very well done!!  I will post photos of the completed project as soon as it is finished.

The Presentation with members of the Interact Club

The students at Mahalaxmi School

The proposed science lab and library

Mahalaxmi School

The Staff and Principal in pink

Umesh a Lot Better

Umesh has had his check up at the hospital and the doctor says he is 80% better.  He will have to be careful with what he eats, he needs plenty of vegetable and fibre.  He is back at school and very keen to pick up where he left off and make up for the time he has lost.

Puspa

Puspa has been sponsored by NEF for about nine years.  She has just graduated as a teacher and has a teaching position at a private school.  Her family lost their home and all their belongings in a landslide in their mountain village about ten years ago.  NEF helped by sponsoring Puspa, her sister Priska and brother Rubin to go to school.
Puspa is our first student to become a teacher and we are very proud of her.  Her sponsor lives in Costa Rica and she said this:
I can't even tell you how this whole beautiful happy thing makes me feel, to have been lucky enough to be able to help her (with so little money), and that help making such a huge difference in her life. What a gift to me. All thanks to NEF.

Hopefully Puspa is the first of many to graduate to a profession, we hope so. 

Puspa now

Puspa as a Student

Umesh Has Had His Surgery

Umesh had his surgery last weekend and he spent one night in the hospital and was then sent home.  He has to come back in one week for a check up and hopefully he will be recovered and pain free.
He is anxious to get back to school.  We managed to get the surgery a little cheaper so there was money left for some extra vegetables and fruit and transportation for him by taxi home from the hospital.  He lives a long way from the hospital.  He also asked for some extra school books and I think there will be some money left for those.
We are so grateful to the two donors who paid for this.  It will make a huge difference to Umesh's life.
Thank you.

Umesh with the doctor just before the surgery.

Update on Umesh

I am very happy to say that we have the money for Umesh's surgery as outlined down further on this blog.  They have been to the hospital twice now and are waiting for the surgery.  It is suppose to take place on either Sunday or Monday.  Umesh is so HAPPY.  He keeps phoning Mann to thank him and tells him that he will work very hard in school once he is well again.  Many thanks to the two donors who are paying for the surgery.  This story reminds me of Pradip's also outlined below and who I have written about many times.  Hopefully Umesh goes on to have the same success.  I will update here after the surgery.

I am now on my way home from Nepal. I am writing this in Hong Kong. As usual it was very sad to say goodbye. I love these people.
It has been both a difficult trip and a rewarding one. The first three weeks weeks were difficult owing to my high stress level. For the last two years people have been questioning my age and asking what I am going to do about planning for the charity after I am gone. I had never thought I was old before. But this has been wearing me down. In Nepal they honour my age. After spending time at the retreat with Dr. Chintamani I realized I had to let this go. His words to me before I left were "you are going to live for thirty years, you are fit, you walk fast and your mother is still fit at 90 and you have to live for today. Besides no one is jumping up saying they want to take NEF over. I have a wealth of experience working in Nepal, I understand and love the people, I know the customs and some of the language. My age gives me wisdom and a compassion that I would not have had at a younger age. I want to state that I have no intention of giving up NEF. So please to the doubters out there remember this "tomorrow is promised to no one". When I do pass on I will have helped countless people to a better life and I cannot ask for more than that. My thanks to those who helped me through this difficult transition especially Dr. Chintamani and my dear and faithful Mann who put up with my irritability and tears and without him NEF would not run. Also to his wife Sima who waits on me hand and foot and of course to my husband Bob whose understanding and support I could not do without. I move on to a new chapter in a positive frame of mind and I will dedicate my life to NEF for as long as possible. Photo of Mann and Sima.