MONDAY 7th DECEMBER

Well again the children didn't attend school because of a holiday or possibly fear of the Maoists since nobody knew until the kids reached school. After a visit to the home we caught the bus across town to the markets to have matresses made for the children who didn't have them. We had five made and purchased ten new bed sheets. We also purchased a big bag of rice as they had run out the day before. Here we met Ramji Bastola, a businessman and owner of the shop where we bought the matresses. He is something of a big shot in Pokhara, member of Chamber of Commerce, Lions' Club Director, and he play shuttlecock every morning with the Chief of Police. He has three children all in the medical profession. He drove us back to the children's home in his new car. This was good as we would have struggled even fitting on the bus with our bundle of matresses and sack of rice. On the way to the markets the bus had been crammed like a tin of sardines, with people even sitting on each others laps.

Back at the home two Australian girls from Sydney came to visit for the afternoon. We all helped make momos for tea. This turned into a huge production line with much mirth as we tried to get ours the same shape as Joti's (Chandri's wife) but filling kept falling out the side. A blackout in the middle of the process added to the confusion, but with candle light we managed to feed everyone. After tea there was some impromptu singing. The four oldest girls stood out the front and danced and led the singing. They were terrific and really showed a confidence that wasn't there when they were just playing. The kids sung at the top of their lungs and all had a good time. Just before we left for the night the power came back on.