Pressies for the children

These are just some of the stuff I have purchased for the children.With more donations coming in, I have decided to buy more of the pencil sets (displayed at the front ) , for both boys and girls, thinking ahead about the new children whom we hope to sponsor in the coming weeks.

However, I do think that it is totally inappropriate to take photos of the various types of biscuits, chocolates , jelly babies and dolly mixtures etc which are safely tucked away in the suitcase. So one just has to imagine.... Yum yum........

On a serious note, I have received donations amount to £290 (cash) and £70 (cheques ) so far with promise of more to come. A very big ' Thank you' to you all, my warm and generous friends and relatives, from the bottom of my heart. I have spent £157 ( with full receipts ) to date. I am not going near any stationary shops any longer, for fear of buying more stuff. I keep telling myself ' Enough is enough '. The money will be better spent once Uma and I have met up with the children and their families in Kathmandu.

Uma and I have been thinking and talking about how we are going to support these new children. They range from 4 years to 12 years of age. The main difference between these new children and Uma's is that they are all living at home with either a father or mother, some with both who are not working.

Originally they come from different parts of Nepal, majority are from improvished and remote mountain villages.They are now all residing in Kathmandu, in order to have the opportunities of a formal education.They all attend state schools, unlike Uma's lot.Therefore I would guess that they do not speak any English . What we plan to do is to visit them individually in their homes, and make an assessment of the must haves. For example, we would like to see a table of sorts in the home so that they are able to study and do their home work with ease. This is set against the background of the Nepali people sitting and eating on the floor as part of their normal living.

The other thing Uma and I have discussed is the feasibility of starting a basic English class for these children.Uma will explore with the current English teacher whether she , or some one she knows can undertake to teach basic English to these kids . Uma can use her orphanage as the place for these new children to learn, say twice a week. Uma is very keen on the idea. What we need to do now is to include this as part of our discussion with the families when we meet them. I have every confidence that they will be in favour when they realise the potential of what it could mean for their children's future, and their career prospects.

So far, I have secured 7 sponsors. And I am literally scrapping the bottom of the barrel, so to speak. Believe it or not, I am running out of people to ask. I accept that I might not be able to achieve even 10 new sponsors. However, there may be ways we can help most of the children if we were to pool and share out the new sponsorship money. I just have to wait and see, fingers crossed. With Uma's help, we just might do it...........