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April 2007 Newsletter

Hello all,

I apologise for the long gap between newsletters; since the last one there have been some changes at the Talbot Centre, Akshya no longer works for the charity; however, my son Craig, who came for a visit in September, extended his stay in order to help me run the Centre and has provided much needed support. For a while we didn’t have a cook and some days Craig and I were cooking dal bhat at 5am (the smell of curry so early in the morning is not my favourite thing!) Fortunately December saw the arrival of our house parents; Jaya & Ganga; a married couple who live in, do the cooking and take care of the children. Our wonderful housekeeper; Suschilla, is still with us, along with Schilla the tutor who comes in every evening to help the children with homework/study, when there’s no homework she tells them great stories ( not that I can understand them but the children sit enthralled so they must be good ! ). You may recall that in June; at the request of the Nepali Child Welfare Board, we rescued 24 children who had been brought to Kathmandu by a disreputable Nepali organisation. The children came from Humla, a poverty stricken mountainous region in the far west of Nepal, their families were told that for a one off payment, up to 20000 rupees ( approx £180 ) the child would be enrolled in a private boarding school in Kathmandu where they would receive a good education and be well cared for. (Families borrowed money; which will take years to repay, in the hope of a better future for their child). However; the children were found living & sleeping in one room, with no beds or bedding, in a house that can only be described as a hovel. The only food the children had eaten for 2 months was beaten rice; given to them at the government school they attended, and vegetables begged from local shops. One of the 9 year old boys had to cook for all the children; he told us that when he didn’t do it one evening, he was beaten and kicked to the ground by the adults in charge. All the younger ones were suffering from malnutrition; almost all of them had scabies and some a serious streptocochyl infection, causing dreadful open sores on their scalps and other parts of the body. Fifteen of the children have since been reunited with their families and returned home, it was sad to see them leave but rewarding to know that they were in a much healthier condition than when they arrived at the TC. November saw the arrival of Christine Brewer; a wonderful volunteer from Ireland, the children spent many happy hours with her learning to make paper flowers, Xmas decorations and all sorts of art and craft projects. Christine stayed for 3 months, she runs an organic farm in Ireland and before she left she planted up a vegetable garden for us, the children help with weeding and watering.

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Our wonderful vegetable patch!
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Christmas was a fun time, my daughter Rachel came for 2 weeks and had organised the donation and delivery of 16 boxes of clothing/footwear etc from GAP, thank you Rachel. Christine, Rachel & I spent Xmas Eve wrapping 22 presents made up from donated goods received throughout the year and toys/games/books bought by Christine, Rachel and the TC. Christine bought us the closest thing she could find to our traditional Xmas tree which the children decorated with the paper snowflakes and other items they had made. On Xmas day the children were given their presents by Mummy Xmas (aka: Christine dressed in Santa outfit), Rajesh aged 12, said ‘I don’t know who Father Xmas is but I like him and he’s a good God’. This was the children’s first experience of Christmas; they were a bit awestruck although very excited at receiving presents for the first time. We didn’t have a traditional ‘turkey & trimmings’ dinner but the children had a treat of chicken curry with their dal bhat and were given crackers at the table, they had to be shown what to do with them though !! The miserable Scrooges at Nepal electric Co. cut the power just before dinner so it had to be eaten by candlelight.
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Mother Christmas Christine, opening presents, and dinner by candlelight!
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Phaedra; a trustee of the charity and my son’s long-suffering girlfriend, visited for 2 weeks in January. During her stay we took the children on a visit to the zoo, they enjoyed seeing all the animals and had a great time on the boating lake with Phaedra, Craig & Christine going in a boat with each group. We held a sports day and all the children had fun taking part in the wheelbarrow race, 3 legged race, egg & spoon etc., Ananda, aged 9, was so fast and just hilarious to watch in the sack race and the concentration on 5 year old Ishors face; trying to keep his egg on the spoon, was priceless. Quite a lot of blatant cheating went on which added to the fun, the day ended with a dinner of hotdogs, potato and rice salad, fruit and bottles of coca cola to drink.
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A trip around the lake at the zoo!
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The winter was extremely cold and with no insulation or heating in the house it was often warmer outside. We had to install a gas boiler in the children’s shower and buy gas heaters for the children’s lounge and the office/lounge upstairs, plus extra blankets had to be purchased for the children. The constant power cuts added to the ‘fun’; having to boil water outside in the freezing cold, and sometimes rain, to fill hot water bottles or make a cup of tea, (I refer to it as ‘extreme camping’)! In February we had to have a new roof put on the kitchen and dining room as the previous one was leaking like a sieve.

Everyone had a great time on Holi festival day in February; this is the day when young and old alike throw coloured powder and water at anyone in sight, we were all soaked by the end of the day. The staff also joined in the fun, I ambushed Jaya the housefather with a bucket of water from the roof; he was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps armed with the hosepipe, so as George Bush would say, I made ‘a pre-emptive strike’.
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Fun with water and paint on Holi Festival Day!
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Of the 16 children remaining at the TC, six of them should be returning to their families in Humla over the next few months. We are enrolling the ‘permanent children’ into private school at the start of the new school year on 15th April, the others are going to move to another local government school that has a higher standard of education and hygiene than their previous school. We are still looking for child sponsors; if you know anyone that may be interested please refer them to our website for information.

The TC house is proving inadequate for our needs and a ‘purpose built’ children’s hostel; just across the road from us, has come up for sale. The hostel has 3 large dormitories, a huge study room, play/games rooms and rooms for volunteers; it even has a small newly built swimming pool which the children would absolutely love. However; it would cost approx £100,000, a lot of money I know but it would house a minimum of 100 children, we wouldn’t take more than another 30 children during 2007/8 (well I’d try not to!) but it would mean we’d have room for more children in the future. Any ideas on how to raise £100 K in a very short time? Let us know!!!

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Hostel dormitories, play area, and swimming pool.
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Well to quote Warner Bro’s: ‘That’s all folks’, very best wishes to everyone, thanks for all the support you give and love from all the children at the TC.
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Thank you everyone, Phaedra with the gang, and our youngest: Mingma 2½ years!
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Back in the UK, we will be raising awareness and selling Nepali goods at the following events;

30th June - 1st July: Gold Hill Fair, Shaftesbury, Dorset
10th June: Wimborne Folk Festival, Wimborne, Dorset
14th - 15th July: Martyr’s Fair, Tolpuddle, Dorset

Please feel free to come and visit us at any of these events. We are still looking for volunteers to assist with the running of the stall at these and other forthcoming events, if you have a couple of hours to spare, why not come and join us?

You can email us at -

Or to contact us by post:

In Nepal:

PO Box 8975

EPC 2791

Kathmandu

Nepal

In the UK:                                                                        

Phaedra Palfrey
Flat 25 Bethany House
St. Clement's Gardens
Bournemouth
BH1 4ED
Tel 01202 392776

All Talbot Centre Newsletters

February 2006	April 2006	May 2006	June 2006	April 2007	May-July 2007
Aug-Nov 2007	February 2009	March 2009	April 2009