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May-July 2007 Newsletter
May:
May began with a new addition to the TC family; I’d gone to a meeting at Social Welfare Council and came home with Prabakhar aged 9, his mother was unable to support him after her husband deserted the family. It never ceases to amaze me; watching a child leave their parent/guardian, they just walk away, holding my hand and never look back. In one way it’s very sad; yet wonderful that the child can just ‘move on’, it’s as though they completely blank out their previous life and we find it very difficult to get any of the children to talk about their pasts or families. I was concerned that; as the others have been together for over a year, Prabakhar would find it difficult to fit in but he was accepted as one of the gang straight away.
Mingma, Prabakhar, Hari & Yubaraj
Christine Brewer from Ireland; who volunteered at the TC early this year, sent a parcel of gifts and photos for the children and money which I used to buy three bicycles. The kids were thrilled with them; although the endless question: ‘Me am bicycle play?’, drove me crazy, I’ve tried to get them to say ‘Can I play with the bicycle’ but their English is about as good as my Nepali, so what can I say, or as the Nepali’s would put it: ‘Ke garne’ (What to do?).
Hari, Netra, Mithun, Adan & Meuche try out the new bikes
First Aid:
Our neighbour; Neema, a retired nursing sister, gave a demonstration and talk on first aid to the staff and children. Being half an hour’s drive from the nearest hospital; and the ‘ambulance service’ a bit hit-and-miss, I think it’s vital that we all know some first aid. With seventeen children in the house; anything could happen, although that’s something best not to dwell on I find!
June:
The children watched a DVD taken in September ’06; of them dancing and wearing face paints at a party, given for the Trustees and committee members visiting the TC, and the ‘fun sports day’ we held in January ’07, they loved it, especially seeing their friends who have left the TC since the films were taken. I was amazed at how much they’ve all grown, you tend not to notice when you see them every day.
Despairing of the way the children were treating their books, I started a ‘library’, every Saturday they choose a new book, if they damage it (or leave it where someone else can) then they don’t get a another book for a week. It’s great to see how they’re taking much better care of them now; including school books, and they really look forward to ‘library day’.
The stabiliser wheels have been broken off the medium and small bikes so now one of the kids has to hold the bike while another pedals; wobbling all over the place, especially Meuche as he’s so small. He’s seven years old and suffers from a growth deficiency; but he has gained around 4kg and grown 2 and a half inches since coming to the TC, we’ll make a giant of him yet!!
June/July:
Our ‘baby’ Mingma upset me when he told me: “Mummy’s music no nice”, but “Downstairs music nice”; the kids listen to Nepali folk music and Ming loves dancing to it. Still; he redeemed himself a few days later when he informed me that he likes a bit of Usher and he likes Pink Floyd, because: “music go Dum! Dum! Dum!” he’s priceless. I’m sure Pink Floyd would be ecstatic to hear that; ‘Mingma Sherpa aged almost 3 of Nepal’, has such a high opinion of their musical talent!
Devendra displaced a bone in his foot and had soft tissue damage; caused when he fell while climbing in the lounge (boys will be boys). It was put in a soft plaster cast for 4 weeks but Dev got bored with it after 3 and smashed it off, he had to have it re-plastered and kept on for another 4 weeks.
Devendra looking as if ‘butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth’
I have a sneaky suspicion he planned it that way so he could carry on going to school by bus while the others had to walk, I reckon he had a good laugh at them when it rained ! Which by the way it has done a lot, it being monsoon season; I get tired of mopping up in the lounge and passage upstairs where the rainwater pours under the doors. Plus with all the rain there’s been hardly any sun, which means it’s been back to cold showers as solar panels are no good without sun. The kids don’t mind cold showers but I certainly don’t like them, no matter how warm the weather is. I was hoping for a miracle so we could afford to move to a better house; but as the lease is due for renewal here, and the ‘miracle’ hasn’t materialised, it looks like we’ll be stuck here for another winter at least. Yet another thing best not to dwell on!
‘War’ broke out at the park up the road when irate residents of 3 local villages clashed with police & army while protesting against the injunction the‘Godawarians’ had taken out to stop them using Godawari’s water. The people from Godawari were forced to concede; the other villagers having threatened to block the road further down, stopping us from getting into town. (And they would too; burning tyres the lot, any excuse for a demonstration here). A couple of days later the ‘triumphant warriors’ staged a victory march, complete with a band, and as they came past the TC I was stood sorting veg on the roof terrace, I had a cabbage in each hand and joked to Dawa that I should throw them at the crowd for ‘stealing’ our water!
Dawa; who was working here as a child care assistant, decided to leave us to go to college full time, but a young man who helped out last year has come to take his place. The kids love ‘Bhim dai’, he’s a very talented artist having just completed a BA in fine arts; in his spare time (not that there’s much of that here) he does political cartoons for the daily newspapers. We now have a child psychologist coming to see the children every Saturday for 2 hours, hopefully she will help them with any emotional/behavioural problems they may have. End of term exams start next week so the children are busy studying for them, I’ve noticed that their English has improved over the last few weeks, has my Nepali? Chaina (No)!
Heaven is….Cadburys chocolate from the UK, sent to me for my birthday by Phaedra our trustee/secretary, you can get Cadburys here but it’s not the same, they put something in it to stop it melting and it totally changes the taste/texture. Phae also sent me Cheddar cheese so I can make cauliflower cheese or pasta with some grated on top, aah the simple pleasures of life…….After eating dal bhat every night for the last 12 months (well; apart from the 2 weeks spent in the UK in March) having some ‘real food’ will be great, have to ration it though, ‘cos when it’s gone…………
Bye from all at the TC in Nepal and a huge thanks for your support.
News from the UK:
Back in the UK, we are pleased to announce that we now have sponsors for all the original children, we are now endeavouring to find more for the others, thus ensuring a good education and future for all the children. As the children do not know when their birthdays are we thought it would be nice to give them their sponsor’s birthday so each child will have a special day and a special connection with their sponsor. Our Sponsorship Co-ordinator; Helen Tate, will be happy to speak with anyone who would be interested in sponsoring a child.
Although the weather has been very poor this summer, the Talbot Centre has attended several outdoor fairs; including the Martyr’s Fair in Tolpuddle, Gold Hill Fair in Shaftesbury, and Wimborne Folk Festival amongst others.
A big thank – you to Matt Harcourt, Dave Palfrey, Pam Meredith, Hayley Collis & Ian, Marianne and Chris Thatcher and Patricia Kinsley, all of whom battled with the elements and gave their time to assist ‘manning’ the stall.
Matt Harcourt (who volunteered at The Talbot Centre in September 2006)
Helping out at Tolpuddle Martyr’s Fair.
We hope to hold a street collection in Bournemouth on Sunday 23rd December and would be very grateful if anyone can spare a couple of hours to come and assist.
Another huge thank – you; to the Junior School pupils of The High School of Glasgow and especially to one of their pupils Calum Dunn. Calum gave a talk to the school to raise awareness about The Talbot Centre and the school held a ‘Dress-As-You-Please-Day. They raised a huge £570.03 for The Talbot Centre which we hope to put towards purchasing a mini-bus. The children of The Talbot Centre have written letters to Calum, they thought he was very brave to speak in front of his school about us.
As always, we are still looking for people to come on-board and join ‘The Friends of the Talbot Centre.’ If you have any fundraising ideas or can spare some time for our events then please contact us by email at: talbot@talbotcentre.o
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
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