Just a short post on some nice news I got as I came back from my weekend trip in rural Nepal. The Kathmandu Post, Nepal’s biggest newspaper, has published on of my photos in it’s sunday edition on page two.
A few days ago I read in the newspaper about a photo competition. It was titled “Find the photo journalist in you” and the theme was “Load Shedds”. (If you are a regular reader of my blog or follow my page on Facebook you know what the story is about. Kathmandu and the rest of Nepal suffers regular power cuts due to the fact that the electricity companies are unable to provide enough power for all. Please read my blog post “Helping orphanage children in Nepal” to find out more about this and other problems here in Nepal.) The newspaper was asking for this contest readers to submit photos of people suffering the load sheds, pictures of people in darkness, struggling with candles or petroleum lights and so on. During my stay here in the orphanage the one situation always impressing me most during the power cuts was to see the children doing their homework and evening devotional by candle light. While this might sound romantic you imagine that this is an awful circumstance if you are forced to this every day. So one day I took the photo you can see in the context of the newspapers article in the picture accompanying this post.

The Kathmandu Post contacted me yesterday to let me know that they will invite me next week to their offices to make an official celebration where I will get a prize as well. The pictures and an article about this celebration will be published the day after in the newspaper. So be prepared to read something more about me in Nepal’s biggest newspaper which is not only read in Nepal but throughout India as well. I am absolutely excited as you can imagine.

Please consider subscribing to my newsletter if you haven’t done so or like my page on Facebook. In my next blog post I will write about the authentic experience y had visiting Hatauda in rural Nepal, close to the boarder with India.

Keep up helping to make this world a better place.

Is it really only three weeks ago that I did arrived here in Nepal? Europe seams like a long time ago. I’m walking through the streets and the sights, the sounds and the scents feel already so familiar. Almost as I always had been here. But I have to admit that it wasn’t an easy start here for me. Even I have travelled a fair bit and I think of myself as a quite flexible person in terms of getting adapted to a new place or situation, it is a big difference to see some poor living conditions on TV or actually live them yourself. The first few days I had moments when I thought that some of the camping holidays I did felt like a five star luxury retreat compared to the conditions here in the orphanage. Anyway little by little I found my place here. And there is something else I do find here. I do start to appreciate again those little pleasures in life. At the beginning I was amazed of how exited the children got when the food was ready. Today I feel almost euphoric too when eating time is getting closer. And it doesn’t matter that it’s “only” rice again what will be on my plate. The two cups of tea I have, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, you won’t believe how great they taste. I even do like the hot water I drink during the day and think of it as something special. Not all of the people living here do get something warm every day in their stomachs. Gas is expensive and not always available. Nepal’s import is controlled mostly by India and they keep Nepal on a short leash. So many times there is a shortage of almost everything essential. Specially petrol, oil and gas. At the moment we are cooking on our last bottle of gas and it’s still not sure when and where we can get a new one. The other day I saw a line of cars and motorbikes of maybe 400 to 500 meters long. They all cued for petrol and a friend told me that only a few days ago himself he did cue for about six hours to get petrol for his motorbike. Despite all those problems the people here talk about them with a smile. “What else can we do” they say.

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Many things have been happening this past week. You might know that I have had a bad cold, just like many of us living here in the orphanage. This gave me the chance to experience a visit to a Nepali doctor. Of course do I have travel insurance and I could have gone to the excellent British Clinic here in Kathmandu, but as I only had some kind of an annoying cough I decided to take my chances and go local. The visit to the doctor itself was just like one would expect it from home. He took my blood pressure, pulse, checked the lungs, a few general questions and after a few minutes he gave me the medicine I had to take during the next three days. Only two things where slightly different than back home: Read the rest of this entry »

A bit more than a week I am now in Nepal. While I informed myself well about the situation of orphanages here in Nepal before I came here, the truth is that nothing ever written could prepare me for the real life happening here. I have been thinking a while on what to write in my first post from here as there is so many things I could talk about. I have decided to share with you a email I have sent to all those who made a donation in order to help my little project and the children in Nepal.

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In January I will travel to Nepal in order to volunteer in orphanages in the area of Kathmandu. The organisation I’ll be volunteering for is called VolNepal. Their labour consists of finding and organising resources for different NGO’s which are active throughout Nepal. VolNepal is working completely independently, meaning that they don’t get any donations from public institutions, governments and political or religious associations. This is how they ensure that they are able to help wherever it is necessary no matter of race or religion. Donations are used for medical care, research, outreach, women shelters and in orphanages which help to give street children the prospect of a better future.

If you know me personally you may be aware that for quiet some time now I do feel the urge to be actively involved in such a project. Finally I will be making it happen and soon I’ll be helping some children to get ready for school, prepare their breakfast, play with them, talk to them and over all hopefully be able to show them that their destiny matters to someone. I will also have the occasion, and task, to take photographs of this beautiful experience. The pictures I’ll be taking will then be used to visually support websites, press releases and flyers of VolNepal and the different NGO’s.

The objective of this appeal is to raise donations for VolNepal. Just as in many places as well in Nepal there are too many needs and too little resources. While the list of donations in kind is a long one it will be difficult to pack everything needed into my luggage. Anyway I’ll be attaching a list of the most needed things at the end of this letter. However I hope to collect a fair amount of monetary donations in order to support this project. Remember that every cent will make a difference. You can make your donation directly on the website of VolNepal or you can do it by clicking the donation button at the end of this post. Rest assured that every cent I do collect through my blog will go in its integrity towards VolNepal. In any circumstance I will not use these donations for my own expenses. My flight ticket, accommodation and meals on this trip I will be paying out of my own pocket. All those who are able to get in touch with me personally are of course welcome to make their donation in person. Send me a message if you would like to have some more information on VolNepal, their or my project.

Thank you so much for listening to my words. I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

P.S. Even if you are unable to make any donation you can still support this little project by sharing it with your friends.

What else is needed:

Library Books:

• Children’s books
• Dictionaries
• Comic books
• Science fiction
• Biography/Autobiography

Clothes:

• Small to medium boys
• Pants and shirts
• Summer and Winter

Sports Equipment:

• Bicycles
• Footballs and volleyballs
• Badminton rackets

Computer Equipment:

• Webcam
• Pen drives
• Movies & Music