(More than) halfway there

Most people that know me are aware of my general disdain for air travel. Comedians seem to find the humor in it. I usually find the misery (see: As a teen, sleeping on a cot at O'Hare in an office without a light switch and an airline attendant who treated jumbo jets as inspiration for snoring volume.

So, you can imagine my surprise at being pleased as punch with the first leg of our journey. I'm glad that international travel still seems to pay homage to the storied mythology of the likes of '60s-era PanAm. Amenities that made my 12-hour stint of sitting in a tube over the Pacific Ocean somewhat pleasant:

- Free refreshing towelette thingies.
- Free movies (WE WATCHED THREE).
- Food. Not "food." Food. Edible meals. With complimentary wine.
- Enough legroom for an entire femur or two.
- Complimentary beverage service every couple hours (not for $1.95 a pop, I'm looking at you, Frontier Airlines).

Anywho. Back onto a semi normal schedule, and off to Nepal in a couple hours!

-Carey

P.S. - see obligatory flying photos, and my home for twelve hours.

P.P.S. - I had a goal of not bringing a laptop on this trip, so all blogging and photo work is being done on a tablet. I'm proofing, but please forgive the typos and lower-resolution photos for now.

Chess Club for Blind/Visually-Impaired Students AND Deaf/Hearing-Impaired Students

Last week TRIFC and our in-country program partner NAWB (Nepal Association for the Welfare of the Blind) launched Chess Club in five Nepali Schools.  Three of the schools are for the Blind/Visually-Impaired (BVI) and two are schools for the Deaf/Hearing-Impaired.

This special chess set has all of the basic elements of the usual chess set, however it has some unique characteristics that allow the BVI to play.  The key differences are as follows:
• White pieces can be differentiated from the black pieces by a white ‘nib’ that is on top of every white piece.
• Each piece has a round ‘peg’ on the bottom of it that fits into the round hole in each square of the chessboard.
• Some of the chess pieces have a different shape from traditional ones.  For example, the knight looks a bit like the number “7”.
• All of the black squares on the chess board are raised about 1/8th of an inch to make it easy to identify positioning.

One of our goals is to help the students learn how to play chess using chess curriculum with teachers/tutors to help them learn.

How can learning chess do more than just allow students to play a fun and challenging game?

Chess helps students:
▪ Improve/increase critical thinking skills
▪ Advance math and reading skills
▪ Improve behavioral and social skills
▪ Increase self-esteem
▪ Grasp concepts quicker

TRIFC is proud to introduce this project to students with disabilities in Nepal.  If we are successful with our ‘pilot’ project we will provide this opportunity to other students with disabilities in other schools.  We also are hoping to have inter-disability tournaments where the Blind/Visually-Impaired students are able to play and interact with Deaf/Hearing-Impaired students.  Because of the obvious logistical issues it has always been a very difficult challenge to create the bonds of friendship and understanding between these two disabilities.  We hope to break through these barriers via chess club!

We will keep you informed of our progress with this exciting program.

-Rob Rose

NAWB Awarded "Most Outstanding" by Gov't of Nepal!

NAWB (Nepal Association for the Welfare of the Blind), our partner organization on many Blind/visually-impaired projects/programs just received the prestigious award of "Most Outstanding Social Service Organization" by the gov't of Nepal! Along with the award, NAWB received a cash prize of 100,000 Nepali Rupees. Congrats, NAWB....here's to many more successful projects and collaboration with TRIFC!

Helping Someone in Need...

Recently, we received a request for financial assistance for a young woman named Manumaya, who had fallen from the trees while cutting wood branches.  She had badly broken her neck and femur and needed multiple surgeries.  Thanks to our donors we were able to provide funding to help with the costs of the surgeries, as she comes from a very poor family in a remote village.  Although Manumaya is doing much better, she will still need six months of rehabilitation at a care center in Kathmandu.  Nepali Children’s Trust (NCT) and their supporters in the UK also contributed to Manumaya’s surgery and treatment. 

Impacting the lives of those in need is what drives us at TRIFC.  We appreciate our donors and supporters whose generosity makes this possible!

-Report by Rob Rose

TRIFC Dinner 2013

A beautiful venue at Escala in the heart of downtown Seattle, delicious food from our friends and family at Service Excellence, and our wonderful supporters combined to make this year's annual dinner event an amazing experience! A heartfelt thank-you goes out to all who attended this year and helping support our work in Nepal - without you, what we do simply wouldn't be possible.

UPDATE: We raised over $15,000 this year, thanks to all of our supporters! Thanks again!

For more photos, please check out our photo gallery on Facebook.

What I did on my summer vacation!

"Hi my name is Anushka and I represent the Rose International Fund for Children. The organization supports children and adults with disabilities. These embroidered cards are made by women with deafness in Nepal.

Each card I sell provides them an opportunity to earn a living and support our programs in Nepal.

They cost $3.00 each or 4 cards for $10.00

How many would you like to buy?"

Anushka Varma is 11 years old and with her Mom, Anshu have been knocking on doors around their neighborhood in Renton and spreading the idea that a simple purchase of a handmade card by a woman with deafness can make a big difference in someone's life specially when they are living with a disability in a country that has very  limited to no social service support at all. 

They began selling as soon as school was out in June! By July, she had raised $250.00 and this is going into the fund for sponsoring a little girl named Shreejana entering kindergarten.  Shreejana is developmentally challenged and lives with her parents in Banepa, Nepal.

Well done Anushka! All the best as you enter 5th grade at Apollo Elementary!

If you are interested in community hours, starts selling embroidered cards made by TRIFC Deaf Women's Cooperative!

TRIFC's New Partner Strengthens Education Program for Girls with Disabilities

It’s Official! The Bo M Karlsson Foundation and TRIC.org are partners in the program for providing higher education for girls with disabilities beginning 2014.

In Nepal, where less than 3% of women go on to college, higher education opportunities for disabled women are nearly nonexistent. The Bo M. Karlsson Foundation is working to change that! 

Starting in 2014, BMKF will offer higher education scholarships specifically for Nepali women with disabilities.

To date, BMKF has supported four students with disabilities — including two of our current scholarship recipients — and we have tremendous respect for their strength, courage, and achievements. These remarkable young women are passionate about their academic and professional goals, determined to serve as role models for other women with disabilities, and committed to making a difference in their communities. 

With the BMKF's 10-year anniversary fast approaching, we are excited to announce our new partnership with The Rose International Fund for Children (TRIFC), a wonderful Northwest organization dedicated to helping disabled children in Nepal. 

"We’re thrilled to join forces with The Rose International Fund,” says BMKF board vice-president Marilyn Mitchell. 

“This partnership helps advance our mission of helping one individual at a time to change her life through higher education, and we’re eager to help Nepali women with disabilities to pursue vibrant, empowered lives. We deeply appreciate your ongoing support as we move in this exciting, new direction!"

WHAT CHANGES TO EXPECT FROM OUR NEW PARTNERSHIP

• This year, with your generous support, BMKF awarded scholarships to 21 remarkable young women in Nepal. We will continue to support all of our 2013 BMKF scholars who remain in good academic standing by renewing their scholarships until they have completed their academic programs. 

• Beginning in 2014, BMKF scholarships will be specifically awarded to Nepali women with disabilities, and we will partner with TRIFC to identify and select scholarship candidates — and to coordinate and support our BMKF scholars throughout their programs.

The Bo M Karlsson Foundation