Dear friends,
This year has been a steady progress and development in our various projects in Nepal. It is heartening to see the blossoming of the people involved and to be a witness to the growth of the grass roots projects we have helped to initiate. Unfortunately the political situation has been unsettled which has meant the basic infrastructure development of the country continues to be in stagnation - all the more reason for our healthy input!
We are happy to announce that we have a practical addition to our accounting and legal structure with a Hands-with-Hands charity in the Netherlands since February, and, by end of 2009 we will also have one in Germany – both will compliment our Austria base and our Nepal based HwH registration. We are also exploring a partnership with a USA charity to facilitate more easily funds from USA to projects in Nepal. Our
website is also currently undergoing some changes and we will send out a ‘news flash’ when we have it up and running! For now the old website still remains our contact point.
Coen Völker is now our dedicated volunteer coordinator (thanks Coen!) and can be reached directly at:
coen@handswithhands.netTo all of you who have contributed either by donations, sponsorships, fundraising, volunteering, giving of your time and energy – a big, big, thank you! With all our ‘hands together’ it does make a difference – to many peoples lives. Most importantly, to the individuals we have helped, it is wonderful to witness their recognition of being able to help themselves and their own communities.
Here below is a short summary of the various projects and their progress:
Self-Sustaining Orphan Children Homes:
Nandumaya - Ramesh and Sarala have continued their dedicated hard work and have made an additional building upstairs from the girls rooms so that there is larger accommodation as the children are growing and needing a bit more space! Ramesh’s first year of chicken farming has gone well and with the help of Coen Völker and friends from Holland he has embarked now on stage two of the chicken farming plan. With some welcome donations additional solar panels for solar and electricity have been a great help to the home!
Annapurna – Sarada has continued her passion for the sewing project, the business to compliment the children home. She has developed a solid local community based outlet for clothing and step by step is looking to also increase skill level to make items for the tourism industry. Right now some small bags are on sale in Pokhara lakeside at Babu’s Travel De Society branch! Additionally the children have all had excellent reports for their first year in the private school and the headmaster personally commented on their progress. Thanks to volunteer support a dedicated study room and after school tutor have been provided which has helped their progress. Sarada has also been busy establishing a bigger local produce business of vegetables, milk, honey and eggs within the local community.
Harka – Laxmi and Ramesh have been working hard with building the new kitchen and building up the goat farm – all made possible by the donations from both volunteers and Europe friends. The new goat farm we hope will provide additional income for the home and give them more stability.
Bhaktapur – Riya has been very busy with building the new animal shelter – a sturdy one as the area is known to still have tigers in the woods! Recently she has purchased Buffalo, goats and chickens – so now we have the primary produce well under way. Currently she is planning to upgrade the toilet facility as the current one keeps blocking and contributing to unhealthy environment. Also donations have contributed to solar electricity for the home – a necessity in times when the power by the main line is only available 4 hours of the day! The children have begun this school year at the nearby private school; thankfully the school has helped by providing the bus all the way to the home to pick them up each day.
Itihari – Pabitra is our most recent home president and has been working hard establishing the new home in Itihari. This is our most remote home and if you truly want an out of the ordinary visit to Nepal come and volunteer! Currently Pabitra is busy with building an animal shelter and new bathroom/toilet for the home, which we hope to have completed in September/October when she can then safely house the Buffalo and goats.
Talamarang – we are happy to announce that Neel, our Nepali friend who coordinated the improvements to the Talamarang School, has taken our concept of Self-sustaining children home and is applying it in the Talamarang village. With the help of some dedicated friends (Ireland & USA) they have begun the start up of this home. More news to come!
Ongoing help required – we have several
children looking for sponsorship for the education, (see our
sponsorship page). Plus, we always have ‘next-step’ projects requiring funding, if you feel to contribute, please be in touch! And, volunteers are always welcome to add to the children’s experience and education (see our
volunteer page for further details).
Micro-credit (MC) program We have had tremendous developments in the microcredit program – both the rural
MC in the Chitwan district and the urban
MC in Kathmandu. This year we have been focused on the development of infrastructure and longer-term plans so that we can continue the outreach of the microcredit. To find out more directly about both you can view our dedicated website
http://www.omnuscco.com.
It was particularly heartening for me to witness one of the women from our very first MC group who now has her own weaving business and is employing up to eight other people from the village! With a small starting loan, encouragement and training, lives are being transformed and hardships eased. There is still a long way to go to bring these possibilities to many more people, and, we do need lots of support! There is a variety of way to be help with micro-credit (donations, loans, skills training, market openings etc) and if you wish to be involved further please be in touch!
Water Well project Our first water well has been a great success – and although a large landowner temporarily threatened it, the good news the local community still has access! The second well is almost complete – the wet season has slowed progress however the basic work has been finished. It has made an observable difference in the community and personally I have found it one of the most heart warming to witness the changes – especially for the women and girls who generally have the role of water carrying!
Elder person’s Home & Community Library in Agargakachi Through our friend Dipendra’s wide network of friends we found ourselves in the District of Agargakachi in late 2008, off the tourist tracks and a very long and bumpy ride into middle Nepal! We were welcomed and proudly shown their community projects – one being their local Library, the other an Elder person’s home. Both have been initiated by the local community and funded primarily by local people. Their way of taking care of Elder people deeply touched all of us who made this trip – the respect and heartfullness. We were asked to help them build a toilet and bathroom with solar hot water – which we have gladly helped with.
Additionally we offered to collect good quality English books for their Library, which we decided after discussions to collect money for books and buy them in Nepal – which will both stimulate the local book economy plus save on excessive postage, so you can send in a donation for a book or a Euro coin or two to the following collections points:
Collection points:
Germany:
Kira Kay
Neumann Str 132
13189 Berlin
Austria:
Rafael Ebner
Zemlinskygasse 73
A-1230 Wien
Switzerland:
Claudia van Acken
Obere Weidstrasse 13
Ch- 8820 Wädenswil
Netherlands:
Coen Völker
Van Oldenbarneveltstraat 44
Nijmegen 6512 AZ
Upcoming Events 9 – 9 – 09
‘The Sound of One Hand Clapping’ in Berlin, GermanyA night of poetry, music and comic theatre as a dedicated fundraising event for Hands-with-Hands. Begins 20.00 hr, Passionskirche Marheinekeplatz 1?, 10961 Berlin
(for more information contact Dagmar:
dag-maria@web.de)
1- 4 - 10-09 ‘Coming together in Dance, music, silence, I to we’
in Besse, Germany. Benefiting Hands-with-Hands projects
michael-fuss.de/besseII.htm(Lebendigkeit in Begegnung mit Energie, Stille, Offenheit, Tanz, Musik und Berührung. Vom ICH zum WIR- entspannende Tage in Besse bei Kassel Donnerstag 1. Oktober - Sonntag 4. Oktober 2009)
March 2010
Trekking in Nepal – if you wish a holiday with a difference come and join a trek and visit some of the projects in Nepal!
More details contact Kira:
kira@handswithhands.netThank you for taking the time to read our news and be connected. With help and support I hope that we can make these newsletters more frequent to give you heartening news!
Kira Kay and the HandswithHands Team ….
