Sunday, April 29, 2012

Polio Drops of Life!

Dear TRIFC & Rotary Friends,

We have had so many remarkable experiences on this trip it's difficult to pick one to write about! Eric Postle and Brittany Barker (and the other Rotarian volunteers from other clubs) have been super volunteers pitching in wherever needed.

The other day we took 32 children with disability camping overnight with tents, songs, games and plenty of music and dancing! I'll share more about that experience in another post but this time I wanted to share something very close to every Rotarians heart....giving the drops of life to insure that no child anywhere in the world need ever suffer from the crippling disease of polio.

Our group participated in Nepal's national polio immunization day and walked throughout the old town of Dhulikhel handing out leaflets and visiting two stations of volunteer women who were giving the drops and putting the 'purple-pinkie' die on each child's little finger to indicate they had received their immunization.

It was such a moving experience to actually participate in this annual event and to see how involved the local Rotarians and Rotaractors are in the campaign. Dhulikhel Rotary President Ashok Shrestha led the way with his Rotary/Rotaract team close behind! Eric, Brittany and I all gave the polio immunization drops to waiting children....it was so moving to look into these children's eyes and know that they will be safe from polio forever! That is a great feeling indeed and Rotary is the organization that is getting it done! Yours in Rotary,
-Rob.

The Picnic Spot


The Group headed north to Dhulikel stopping first at Bhaktapur, the City of Devotees, the 2nd of the 3 palaces we were going to visit. It is the most preserved of the palace grounds and restoration has been going on for the last 4-5 years. I wish that the guardians of Kathmandu and Patan Durbar Square would undertake a similar project. We had a fun time looking at the temples and shopping for a few souvenirs plus lunch at the Nyatapola Restaurant right beside the Nyatapola Temple ( 5 story pagoda style temple build by the great Mala King).
This was only a precursor to the wonderful weekend we were going to have at Dhulikel.

The grand plan this year was to take all the children at DNC plus the college students camping on the grounds at Picnic Point, an open area in the heart of Dhulikel. Everest Tours was going to set up tents and prepare the meals to be served at a covered area nearby. Rotaractors were going to arrange for games and music to be piped in. As you know, our DNC parties are never ever complete without dancing!

Donna Eggan also had a special treat for the children! She cut out and brought with her fleece material cut up and ready for making “sit-upons” by knotting the cut up edges a ½ inch apart. We added a square  ¾ foam in between 2 pieces to add cushion and softness as well.  The entire pillow was 10” x 10” when done. This provided a nice interaction between the younger kids and the volunteers, especially when it got pretty hot to run around the park.

Another surprise fun treat was that Doug Kyes brought face paint and started adding beautiful face art on the children. Doug and Sonja Kyes are one of many sponsors and they were with the group that visited in 2008 and have been a loyal supporter all these years. They will get to spend some time with their sponsored kids, (they have 2) when they visit with us in Pokhara for 2 days.  There was such a long line of kids that petty soon Pushkar, DNC’s resident artist started face painting as well. The pictures tell the entire story.
But the best part is that the children had a blast and for the Volunteers, well … the day with the children hit the right spot!










Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Day 1/2 Photos

Table Tennis Comes to DHC

TRIFC is proud to have been able to purchase two table tennis boards for organizations in Nepal.  One of them is pictured here....children with disability at DHC center are now able to get some great exercise as well as have fun at the same time!  Table tennis is excellent physical therapy for children with disability and I could tell right away that many of them had some great skills!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Memorial for Bujana...

Last week there was an emotional memorial service at the Disabled Newlife Center (DNC) for Bujana who passed away at the age of 13. This was an opportunity for all of the children to say goodbye to their cherished friend, as the cremation ceremony I wrote about earlier took place very quickly after she passed away and most were not in attendance. Eyes filled with sadness, remembrances, words of inspiration and encouragement. I also spoke to the group about how Bujana lives on within our memory. This is true of all that have passed before us, isn't it?

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Spinal Injury Rehab Center Program

Recently, I attended the 10th Anniversary Program for the Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Center (SIRC).  I came to the event with my good Rotary friend- Padam Lal Maharjan and his wife, Kalpana.  Also along for the day was Ms. Sharada Adhikari who works for the Helen Keller Foundation here in Kathmandu.  She is another talented, remarkable woman with blindness.

There were many people with disability in attendance and many wheelchairs with engaged onlookers there to celebrate the wonderful work this center has provided over the past 10 years.  We parked in a big field nearby the center and stepped out of the car amidst numerous goats and chickens!  The center is close to the highway, yet it still seems quite rural as you drive up the hill for a couple of minutes.

When we entered the courtyard I was so surprised to see our friend and sponsored person with disability, Rakesh Gwachha.  Rakesh has a condition called 'brittle bone disease'; his bones are too weak to support his body and he sits about two feet tall.  He was smiling ear-to-ear when he spotted me....I pulled him out of line and wheeled him down to be with me during the program.

Also in attendance were numerous classic Volkswagen Beetles!  They were part of an international road rally to raise money for SIRC.  I've attached a nice photo of Rakesh sitting in the driver's seat of one of them.  One of my Rotary friends- Prabhu Bhandary was kind enough to let Rakesh have that experience.

One of the USA/Nepal Disability Awareness Campaign's Rotary Matching Grant projects involves this center where they have trained people with disability to assemble 100 wheelchairs for disability.  That project is with the Rotary Club of Itahari and Rotary Club of Pokhara Fishtail.  The main international partner is the Rotary Club of Renton.  

Remarkable work done by a remarkable organization benefitting people with disability!

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Distinguished Guests

Rakesh at the wheel!

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Rakesh and Rob!

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Prabhu Bhandari and his Beetle!

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Rakesh and Sharada

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Disabled New Life Center

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A very sad story. This child's parents are alcoholic and used this child as a beggar to earn money. To increase earnings they burned half his face and burned off his ear.
They also mutilated one hand, both legs and one foot. An Australian woman found him dancing naked on the street for money. She rescued him and brought him to the Disabled New Life Cemter where he has has several surgeries and is scheduled for more! It was amazing to see him smiling and laughing playing with other children in spite of his horrendous past. The miracle of love and the resilience of the human spirit should never be discounted.

Monday, April 9, 2012

We've reached our fundraising goal!

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Namaste Friends!

I am happy to report that we have reached our fundraising goal of $5400 to help fund school tuition and expenses for the kids at DHC New Life Center just in time for the new school year! DHC New Life Center is a new home for disabled and disadvantaged children in Nepal that we've been working with over the last year. I have had the honor of volunteering with most these children back in 2006 when they were at another home. Thank-you to all of you who donated so generously via TRIFC and our partner, Jolkona, to help these wonderful teens!!

With utmost gratitude,
Jackie

Monday, April 2, 2012

An Unexpected Loss in Nepal...

Bujana has died. A little girl from one of the organizations we have helped through Bellevue Rotary and through my own non-profit has passed away at the age of 13....her suffering has ended, but her memory is embedded within the many who knew her and loved her. Bujana suffered from a severely twisted spine which kept her from growing straight and tall. Instead she was bent and short. Her spirit, however was straight, strong and indomitable.... just yesterday she had talked with Shanti (DNC's house-mother) about her studies and returning to DNC (Disabled Newlife Center) where she has lived for the past two years, awaiting an operation on her spine.

I visited Bujana in the hospital ICU the day before yesterday. She held my hand and even smiled when I told her I intended to keep the blue ICU hospital gown as it matched my eye color. She had appeared to be improving but the doctor told us after our visit that her prognosis wasn't good. Blood was pooling in one side of her heart and not pumping properly to the other side so it wasn't being properly oxygenated. She had been on a ventilator, improved a bit, then took a turn for the worse today and passed away this afternoon.

Her brother had arrived about a week earlier when Bujana was originally admitted to the hospital and her father, a poor farmer from a distant Nepali village arrived shortly after she passed away. His body was bent as well, not as severely as Bujana but you could tell that this condition must have been an inherited trait. The Nepali Board members of DNC were present as were our donor friends, Fran and Michael from the UK and my Nepali Rotary partner and close friend, RR Pandey. I paid one last visit after she had passed away and she looked at peace after 13 years of struggling with this debilitating condition. Monumental struggles, questions unanswered, a life unfulfilled. In my humble opinion, ours is not to question... but to live our lives with purpose, direction and passion.

What happened after Bujana's death was an extraordinary experience. Within about an hour after her father had arrived, an ambulance was summoned and her body was taken to Pashupatinath Temple where bodies of the departed are prepared for cremation and purification of the ashes in the holy Bagmati river. Shanti (house-mother) and I went to the nearby stalls to purchase the ritual flowers and incense that are laid on and around the body as it set on a bed of wood in preparation for cremation. After we returned to the place where the body was laid at the edge of the river, Bujana's father took lighted incense and walked his aged, bent body around Bujana three times. Then the wood was set ablaze and the fire engulfed the body. It was visceral, surreal event. Some might find this ritual difficult or offensive. I found it spiritual and entrancing....I was there in the moment, experiencing the after effects of death, the inevitable result of life. I had been to Pashupatinath many times over the years, always observing from across the river, present but apart from the actual event. I never imagined that one day I would be on the other side, taking in the pungent smell of the marigold malla (lei) that I had laid on the body, hearing the crackling fire raging in front of me, consuming the remains of my friend and hearing the soft mooing of the cow standing on the other side of the river- calling, calling, calling... Bujana gave much to many people. Inspiration, courage and wisdom are her gifts. Like all children with critical illness who have left us too soon, they teach us lessons to live our lives by. Bujana has died and I am sorry to send this news but as you are all my friends I wanted to share this experience with you.

Sincerely,
-Rob.