Where I am at now...

i have been trying to raise enough funds to get all of the children into a private school. i don't mean a school with a fancy pool, computer labs and state of the art gym. i don't even mean a school where they have music or art class. i have simply been trying to arrange them an education at a school where the teachers can read and write in Nepali and have basic teaching skills.

So far i haven't been able to achieve this goal... i'm about $1000 away from them all being able to go to school for a year. Everyone keeps telling me that i should be proud of the money i have raised for them so far but i know nearly getting them into school doesn't help anyone. It doesn't make it easier when our website broke, paypal froze our account and i had to spend a small fortune to register a business name in order to open a bank account.

I keep telling myself not to focus on the problems, just think how good it will be to see them all off to a good school. So after you read this cross your fingers for me. I need all the good thoughts and luck I can muster.

And if you are looking for an international volunteer placement check out the website. All the fees go to supporting the children and it is a locally run organisation. Volunteer in Nepal.

Finally up!

The website is finally up and running!!!! A huge thank you to Banjo Smyth who created such a great page and put up with all our questions. He has worked really hard to make sure we have the best page possible. THANKS BANJO.

We are very excited because it is now possible to make donations and apply for volunteer placements directly with us. Click here to look at the new site.

Sponsors...

Some good news for three of the children. Volunteers, Ron and John are providing sponsorships for Ruth, Hemalal and Raju. They will now be able to attend private school, starting in April. Hopefully there will be funds to send the other children to private school soon.

Private lessons!

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was trying to find a private teacher for the children. They desperately needed help with their homework, many of them were failing their classes.

I am glad to report a private teacher has been found and he started last week. I was only there for two days worth of lessons but the children responded well. They even seemed quiet excited and enjoyed the attention.

The teacher costs 3500NR a month (about $55.50).

A couple of people have mentioned they would like to provide some kind of sponsorship for the children or to make a donation towards the cost of the teacher. If any one is interested the website will be prepared soon and it will have a donation facility or you can contact me on amandaclareshore at hotmail dot com

Lastly, I have set up a blog for the home as part of the website. There isn't much on there yet but hopefully they will be able to keep us updated with news from the children. Go here to have a sneak peek.

I miss Nepal

I have only been home 24 hours and i am already searching for visa options and a job so i can return. I miss the children, i miss my new city Pokhara, and i miss my friends. I am having the worst case of reverse homesickness.

The last few days in Nepal my new mates really turned it up a notch and showed me all the places they had been too lazy to take me to before. I went to the zoo, a million temples, great restaurants and bars. I took so many photos...

I am too sad to write about it just yet. I have lots of news about the children and the website so if anyone is still reading, give me a day or two and i'll post some more.

YOU HAVE TO LAUGH

You have to laugh.....and the Nepalese people do constantly. I guess its a way of making the serious not so serious. There were some things that happened to us that made us laugh. Here are a few......

                                                     
When visiting Melbourne I would go for a walk for two to three hours and then ring up and get some to pick me up. Had no idea where I was and would just tell them the cross street. So when I went to Nepal everyone said "don't go walking 'cause there is nobody to come and pick you up". The first morning I awoke early and told Amanda I was going down stairs to have a look. She said "OK but don't go anywhere....you will get lost". I watched everyone going past the motel door, but then I thought if I just follow this street in a straight line for a little way and then turn around and come back.....so I can't possibly get lost. So I walked down to the river where the road turned. Then I turned around and walked back. Well soon I was ..... well let's say I didn't recognise anything. But I turned around and backtracked again and soon realised that streets were coming in at a sharp angle and the road I had been following was not very straight. I had been distracted by some cows moving down the street and had followed the wrong road. Eventually found my way back.



Our motel in Kathmandu was pretty basic, but OK. There was hot water.......one day.....or so someone said. And the sheets had been changed.......at some stage. But depends what you are used to. It was the motel the organisation put us up in because it was cheap. Two Israeli girls (won't mention their names) who had just completed their military service, found the motel not to their liking. However they didn't want to offend anyone so each night, for three nights, they crept out and went to a fancy motel where they paid big money. And in the morning they would get up early and sneak back in before anyone was awake. No wonder we thought of them as the princesses.




On safari there was a heavy mist as we drifted along the river. As we reached the shore and prepared for our walk through the jungle we were given a briefing about being absolutely quiet and what to do if a bear or a rhino heard us and charged. So it was tense moving through the jungle in single file stopping every now and then to listen. There had been rhino attacks recently so things were tense and we were doing our best to make as little noise as possible. Everything was very still and their was an eiree silence. I couldn't help a chuckle though when everytime we moved I could hear this noise. The woman from Russia had worn courdoroy jeans. Everytime she took a step there was that rubbing sound courderoy makes.



                                        

The tourist buses stop two or three times whenever you travel for a couple of hours. Usually at a place where you can buy lunch, even if you just had it two hours previously. On the way to Chitwan with Amanda, Tess and Maya we stopped at one roadside resturant. The bush near the dinning tables had eggs stuck onto the top of it. Probably customers had stuck their egg shells on the bush and someone thought it was funny so left them there. Amanda and I were looking at it when Tess walked up. We told her it was an egg tree.......... they mustn't get out much in Israel!


On our elephant safari we were busy taking pictures of the people on the other elephants all around us. And they were taking pictures of us. But we had none of us. So when the elephant that was near us all the time came even closer we swapped cameras with them so that we could have pictures of ourselves on our camera. However as soon as we swapped the other elephant took off into the scrub at a great speed. Liz's good camera that we borrowed was way out of site and here all we had to show was a little box brownie. But when we found rhinos all of the elephants came to see and we could swap back. Although I had said to the fellow take lots of pictures there were only two or three on it. They feature elephant back-sides and a deer hiding in the foliage.

When staying at the monastery we decided to go into the city to do some shopping. Kunga Lama sent one of the monks with us as a guide. However in town Luca, the German girl became sick. The group split up and Luca, Helen and the monk went back to the monastery early. Amanda and I stayed in town to visit the orphanage. We returned late at night to the monastery with Tess and Maya. So late that the gate of the monastery was locked. Lama Kunga himself came down to open the gate. He looked at the group, then looked again. "Where's my monk?" he said. He continued to quizz us on where his missing monk was. And when we explained .....well he just didn't seeem to understand english. The Israeli girls were getting worried that we weren't going to get in and would be stuck in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. However the Lama couldn't keep up his act and a big grin appeared on his face. His monk had returned hours ago. This was just his little joke.

Raju and the hospital

I had my first and hopefully last trip to a Nepalese hospital today. It turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax in the end.

I was having tea with Maya and Milan when Tess came running down the street carrying Raju, one of the children from the home. He had a huge gash across his temple, the beginnings of a huge lump and was even less responsive then usual. Even with all the blood and three foreign women poking at him, he wasn't crying – maybe that should have tipped us off that he was fine.

I was decided someone should take him to the hospital. Promod, Raju and I jumped on a motorcycle. When we arrived all Raju wanted to talk about was how hungry he was. I felt like an over protective mum. It turned out to be just a bad cut and a bit of a lump

Tess has a crash

Tess and Maya rented push bikes today. Tess got hit by a motorcycle going 90km/h. The man riding the bike didn't even stop to see if she was OK. She wasn't wearing a helmet so it is very lucky she wasn't more seriously hurt.

A broken arm and a slight loss of contentiousness later and now they have decided to skip their trip to India and return to Israel early.

St Mary's School Visit the home and bring more scarves and hats

Water Shortage

For reasons that have not really been explained to me, there is no longer any water at the home. I thought the house was on rain water but I was told the shortage was due to a broken pipe during roadworks... I am almost positive I am not getting the full story.

Maybe the bill wasn't paid or maybe the pipe was broken by one of the children, whatever happened the result is a ten minute walk to collect water from a mountain stream, twice a day. Laundry days are worse.

Yesterday we spent 7 hours sitting on cold rocks doing laundry by hand. The children also had one of their rare showers which involved soaping yourself under your clothes and having a bucket of freezing mountain water splashed over you.

THE TIBETAN REFUGEE CAMP in pictures

Next to the monastery there is a Tibetan village. Many Tibetans came here as refugees because of the Chinese presence in their country. They have been here for a number of years and have grown into a village. Some houses are still just barely shanties while others are now in brick. One of the monks from the monastery kindly showed us around. The monks relate to the Tibetan culture.  (The young monk was from the monastery we were working at but showed us around the Tibetan village)

As a history teacher walking through this village (no that's not me in the picture, nor the one below)I could really get a sense of what a medieval village was like, particularly with the sheep and goats wandering through the narrow, twisting streets
   
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There were many children in the village. Maybe there appeared more because at the times we were visiting the parents were away earning a living in the town or farming.

These are some of the buildings people live in. They seem to be made from whatever material was available at the time. This included corrugated iron, branches, mud brick and hessian.

  
There is a school here. It is not very large. They hold a district soccer tournament here. But the ground is so rough. You can see evidence of volunteers being here years ago with fading murals and slogans on walls.
  
There is also another monastery within the village. It is reasonably large, with a colourful temple inside.

  
This area is where the men and women who stay in the village during the day set up stalls selling crafts to any tourists who happen by. They are very persistent but will haggle and we often got some good bargains here.

This picture was taken in the monastery kitchen. It shows the cook making Tibetan butter tea. Very salty in taste. I much prefer the sweet tea or marsala tea even though they put so much sugar in it.

THE VOLUNTEERS in pictures

In our time in Nepal we have met many fantastic people giving their time at the Children's home or the monastery. We have been amazed at their generosity with both time and money. Some travelled there as volunteers, others were there as tourists but when they heard about different programs they too volunteered or came to help. Here are some pictures of many who we have met.

Sheila was a Canadian lady who had been to Nepal on an all female trek. We met her the first night and she showed us around Kathmandu.


















Sara comes from Melbourne. She is there with the same organisation as we are but worked at a different children's home in Pokhara. (Sara is second from the left)








































Ashleigh and Jon-Luc were tourists who took time out and stayed at the Children's Home. He was a nurse born in Canada but who now lives in the US. She was from the US.























































Claudia was was a tourist from Germany. She was travelling for 12 months without catching a plane. She had travelled across Russia to Mongolia. From Tibet she was going to India and then to south-east Asia. She spent many hours at the children's home.












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This is one of the two Australian boys from near Canberra. They were treking in Nepal but spent a couple of days playing with the children.

























Adam and Jen were both originally from the same place in Tasmania. Adam is now studying in Melbourne, while Jen is studying in France. They were treking in Nepal but spent a lot of time with the kids and after each tek came back to visit. They helped complete a lot of projects at the home.

Luca was from Germany. She had been at the monastery for three months. Helen came from the US and will be staying at the monastery for the next three months.



Dan was from the US. He spent about 3 months in Nepal. He worked at a forrestry camp, a school, a monastery and then the orphanage. He had a great video of the Maoist march in Kathmandu. While here he had a suit made ready for a wedding he was attending in Texas on the way home.











































Tess and Maya were the two people we probably spent the most time with. They are from Israel and had just completed their army service before coming on this trip. They were doing volunteer work work at the orphanage. After this they would be travelling to India.



































Ronne Welleman and Eva Sureya are the two medical students from Holland. They had already worked for a considerable time at a Children's Home in Pokhara but came to the monastery to work in the clinic and even made time to visit our orphanage.















A Swiss couple who visited the orphanage. They volunteered to work at a different orphanage just out of Pokhara.
The Aussies, Jude Antcliff and Jono Holland, who built the chicken coop and entertained the children with a barbeque. And Jade Holland(Australian) and Kristen McCormack (US) who made damper and candle lantens for the kids. What a terrific effort.


Manu (from Peru) and Miriam (from Russia) helped us enjoy our time at Chitwan. We met them again in Pokhara, and I met them again in Kathmandu on my last day.

Jean from Korea I met while out on a long walk in the countryside. She spent about a week at the Children's Home and then extended her stay in Nepal by about a month to spend time at the monastery.




These two visited the home for two days. Manos is from Slovakia and Skye is from Singapore. Skye bought pillows for the children before she left.


Three Nepalese boys began visiting the orphanage with us. Two of them grew up in an orphanage themselves. The children at the home really enjoyed having them there and it is hoped they will continue to visit as they will be good role models for the kids.

This is one half of a Swiss couple who have come to do volunteer work at the monastery. These were the last volunteers to arrive while I was there.


Three more Aussies. These three were visiting Pokhara as tourists. We did a few tourist things together...like climbing Sarangkot. Steve came and helped me finishing the chicken coop, including breaking up wooden crates and carrying the wood up to the home. They were great company.