Help the Orphans of Bharatpur, Nepal

Namaste beautiful friends and family!

*Note to Australian and Malaysian bank account owners: Please read/scroll till the end for important information on donating!*

As some of you might know, I've been volunteering in an orphanage in Bharatpur, Nepal for the past two weeks. This lovely home was started by a family who fulfilled the wish of their late son/brother, who passed away in a motorbike accident.

The home was established in Kathmandu in 2008 and due to lack of funding, they moved south to the suburbs of Bharatpur in 2015 (after the earthquake) where land was more affordable. The childrens' home has 2 small rooms-one for the boys and one for girls, one bathroom, a kitchen and a common room where the children do their homework. There are 2 other buildings with basic rooms and one bathroom that accommodate the family and international volunteers. The family owns some farmland, 2 cows, 2 dogs and 3 chickens.

There are currently 8 incredible children living here-4 boys and 4 girls, aged 10-17. Most of them come from rural and disadvantaged backgrounds and do not have parents, a number of them have single parents and some were taken in after the 2015 Earthquake. The children attend a private English medium school that's an hour bus ride away, from Sunday's to Friday's. They leave home at 9am and return at 5pm everyday except Friday's where they come home at 2pm. They have Saturday's free.

The children usually wake up before 6am each morning to do their school homework or house chores (eg. preparing breakfast, sweeping, cleaning, gardening, milking the cow and taking her out to the fields, sorting rice and dal etc.). When they return from school, they do pretty much the same. When they're done with their school work they spend the extra time playing football, table tennis, practicing yoga or other leisure activities with us volunteers.

Nepali cuisine is mainly dal-bhat-tarkari (lentils, rice and vegetable curry), which is what the children have for breakfast and dinner everyday. Lunch is usually a light snack of flattened rice. They eat a meat dish once or twice a month. Majority of their rice and vegetables are organic and harvested from their own farm throughout the year. They love pizza and pasta but only get to have them or try new foods when international volunteers come and cook for the family.

Each and every single one of these lovely children are unique and intelligent. Extremely creative, hardworking and intuitive. They're proficient in English and they're fast learners. They love magic tricks, dancing and listening to Spanish songs. They especially love swimming as they can only afford to go to the public swimming pool once or twice a year when a volunteer sponsors the trip. They're also such kind beings and love to share the little of what they have with the volunteers.

It is currently summer time in Nepal and power cuts are frequent. The lights run on solar power and the children tend to do their homework in very bad lighting and hot conditions. As the common room is small, some of the children have to do their homework outside the house on a floor mat or on a bench.

These children have welcomed me into their home as a sister and I couldn't be more grateful for what they've taught me over the weeks. They fill my heart up more and more with each passing day and I dread the moment we have to say goodbye. With the time I have left with these children, I would love to give them as much as I can and this is where I would really appreciate the help of you lovely people.

As the family who runs the orphanage do not work or have any side business that generates income, they rely mainly on the contributions of volunteers (5 Euros per day) and extra donations to support the children and themselves, so every rupee counts. I'm here to raise funds solely for the beautiful children of this home. So here's a breakdown of where I would like to direct the donations:

Note: I've listed the estimate costs in Npr (Nepali Rupees)

1 USD=108 Npr

1 Australian Dollar=81 Npr

1 Ringgit Malaysia=27 Npr

1 Euro=127 Npr

1 GB Pound=146 Npr

- a trip to the swimming pool: Npr 300/child per entry; Npr 2000 for transportation to and from swimming venue
*Total: Npr 4400

- set of new clothes: Npr 1000/child
*Total: Npr 8000

- sports equipment: badminton set Npr 800; new table tennis set: Npr 600;
*Total: Npr 2400

- a stand fan: Npr 2500

- portable study lamps: Npr 1000

- school stationary (pens, pencil, erasers, notebooks): Npr 1000

- paint for house exterior and childrens' rooms: Npr 4500 for 5 litres

- additional donations will go towards picnics, ice cream and treats!

For more information on the orphanage, feel free to visit their webpage nepalvolunteershand.blogspot.com . I would also be more than happy to personally answer any questions you might have.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your contributions towards a better life for these children. Their smiles truly light up the world around them!

**Important note: This fundraising site has a 12% fee on funds raised via direct debit and credit card donations (which is a lot). And unfortunately, Malaysian PayPal account isn't supported. So if you have an Australian or Malaysian bank account and are happy to transfer your donations to me directly, please message me personally. Your contributions will still be updated on this site as an "offline donation" so we can all keep track on our target progress!

With love and good energy,

Leah :)