Here is another guest post.  This one from Laura Hughes, an Irish volunteer who helped at the orphanage and the nunnery during the months of February and March 2009.

‘Warriors of compassion’ was the only term I could summon up when trying to describe their presence to a friend…the weight of the world, which they carry on their shoulders and in their hearts everyday, by some miracle of love, serves not to weary them or set down their footsteps with the weary of the world, but rather to issue them a new lesson to learn – how to create love in the way we live every day.

While we all carry a hazy image, realized to a better degree in some rather more so than others, of how our children are our future, how they are the key of education, how we are creating their inheritance…somehow the meaning in all of this has never been so well exemplified than by witnessing the remarkable clarity with which these souls live their lives. No step of theirs is taken with an issue to the calamities they have suffered, or the losses which they are enduring and realizing in such a harsh way. Rather they choose to take exceptional care in learning to live with love, honesty, dignity and respect for one another. What we couldn’t learn from them.

It is impossible to imagine a more pure example of this lesson than the one which these children practice every day. It is, honestly, impossible to describe how moving it is to see such young, tiny people, carrying the oldest imaginable worry of the world on their shoulders with an impeccable amount of grace and dignity, and in each a surefire determination and willingness to help one another, carried out only in terms of equality and respect for one another, as is the only way they see fit.

Assuredly, that these children can grow so healthily in every sense, while given only the bare resources, is an essential sign that we must help these resources to grow, while allowing every chance for the love which they embody to continue it’s journey. And we may be so lucky to witness such miracles as these.

This is a guest post from Kelsey Bourn, who volunteered at the orphanage and the nunnery between February and March 2009.

I was fortunate enough to spend two months in Nepal, yet it did not seem nearly long enough time spent with the fifteen beautiful children living in the orphanage supported by Padma. I started going to the home on Saturdays to help in any way I could, teaching English or playing, but what it came to be was mostly me learning from them. They all come with different backgrounds with some similarities, and looking at them now you would never be able to tell the hardships they have survived to become the extremely loving and beautiful people they are today. The words I taught them that they didn‘t already know were few and far between, their understanding of English was amazing to me and it was easy to believe that they were successful in their school. The loving people that care for the orphanage do an amazing job at keeping them organized and focused on their education, health and ending the cycle of poverty.

The one thing that I hope I left with the children was hope, and the possibility to dream. One project I did asked the children what they wanted to be when they grew up and not surprisingly the children had big goals- doctors, pilots and teachers were common among the list. It amazes me still the way they seem to be such a family, working together, communicating freely, eager to learn and their appreciation for life and their new “family”. Because they knew so much English already, it was easy to concentrate solely on songs and games that they could play after I had returned to the U.S. They particularly enjoyed “Red Rover” and, because they are all so bright, I only had to show them one time before the following weekend, on the arrival to the home, I could see them already outside playing it on their own.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Nepal with these great children.  It was hard to say goodbye to them but it made it easier knowing that there were and still are good people looking out for them, completely supporting them and I only hope I can give back to them as much as they have given to me.

Happy New Year! Tibetan and Hindu New Years have come. The festival Shiva Raktri celebrating the upcoming year and ridding oneself of last years’ negativities brought over 2 million pilgrims to the Khatmandu valley for 2 days of ritual and celebration in the Pashupathi temple compound. In addition to Hindu pilgrims, thousands of Shiva sadhus and yogis attended, many barely dressed and many showed off their yogic abilities in their birthday suits. All Tibetan New Year festivities were cancelled this year in protest of China’s oppressive and brutal actions over the past year.

The kiddos are doing great and we are all adjusting to a current extreme water shortage. Most days we have less than 3 gallons of water to use for washing dishes clothes and ourselves. Anjana found a public well a few kilometers from the home and the kids are bathing there. Anjit found a fresh water supplier who drove a water truck up to our front door and filled the rooftop watertank. Buying water is not in the budget but living without any water for a few days makes you appreciate the modern world. The shortage is caused by electricity shortage. Without electricity 16 hours a day water cannot be pumped through the valley or up to rooftop tanks.

On a brighter note the possibility of moving to a larger house has come. The new government has spent several years rebuilding the public, or government school system. As little as five years ago private schools were the only option for decent education but today most government operated schools are equal and in many cases better. The Nepali school year ends in early April and Anjit suggest we move the kiddos to a nearby government school and save between 5 and 6 thousand rupees, or about $80. Not much in the states but enough to pay the rent difference for a bigger home. Boo yah!

Anjana is working diligently on preparing the perfect grant proposal to send to Save The Children among other large INGO’s. She also continues to visit organizations around Khatmandu looking for the big 5: 1-education support 2-food support 3-medical support 4-clothing support 5-financial support. She is establishing a network to call on in an emergency as well as information sharing.

Other than that, the help and pressence of Giedre Pesenkaite is missed by everyone. She went back to Lithuania after 3 months of volunteering and working in Nepal. As her final act of generosity to Padma and the kids she secured a donation of clothes for the 15 kids and the 7 kids Padma sponsors outside the home. The clothes were donated by Volunteer Services of Nepal.

Besides all this, the kiddos have parents day at school tomorrow. They will show off the songs and dances they’ve studied for the last 4 months. Rama, Anjit, and Anjana will put our proud parent caps on for the festivities. Check padmanepal.org for pics in the next week or two.

As for our current goals: the main goal is to have $1500 in monthly sponsors registered through padmanepal.org. Currently we have just over $300 in monthly sponsorship. Times are hard all around the world these days. We are still counting on you for support. If we can get 75 sponsors giving just $20/month we meet our goal and continue our mission. If you have any questions suggestions or will be in Nepal sometime soon drop us an email at info@padmanepal.org.

Be sure to check out the pictures of the kids and get to know them on their individual pages!

The kids finished their semester exams and had a week holiday.  We took them outside the valley to Pharping, a rural town with several Buddhist pilgrimage sites, clean air and mountain views.  4 boxes of Christmas presents also arrived!  My mom Heidi gathered 20 shoeboxes full of gifts for the kids.  At first the kiddos didn’t know what to do with the boxes but once they realized the cool stuff inside was really for them they were elated!  That night they couldn’t sleep and several snuck out of their beds to check on their new markers, crayons, hairclips etc.  On Saturday they decided to write thank you cards and draw pictures to show their  gratitude.  3 hours later they were still coloring, cutting, writing and designing their Masterpieces of Thanks.        

Across the valley the nuns of Ngoedrub Charbeb Ling nunnery are preparing for a trip to Bodhgaya, India to participate in the Nyingma Monlam, an annual prayer festival where thousands of monks, nuns and Ngakpas pray and meditate 8-12 hours a day together for two weeks straight while seated around a tree marking the place where Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment.  The nuns are excited for their teacher to return in a few weeks and are hoping for more support to start coming for the monastery.

       Well for the time being, the power is back on for 8 hours a day.  A great leap from 4 hours.  Several large protests around the Kathmandu valley against the increased load shedding forced the government to turn the lights on a few more hours a day.  While the lights were out 20 hours a day, we didn’t have power long enough to fill our water tank on top of the house.  Meaning, we had no water for a week.  No lights, no water and a propane shortage all led to an interesting week.  Now, for the time being we have water and were able to buy some propane but you never know what tomorrow may bring here.

      Anjit, Anjana and I met with an NGO this week, Volunteer Society of Nepal.  They host international volunteers around Nepal, run an orphanage and school and fund several other projects.  They are sending a health volunteer monthly to give checkups and also offered to send volunteers to help the kids learn English.  Since our failed clothing drive brought no winter clothes to our home we also asked if they had any ideas on where to get donated or cheap jackets.  They offered to buy our kids jackets and warm wool socks to wear while in the house.  “Glorious!  What fortune!” my shouting was not the most appropriate response, but uncontrollable.

      Anjana is keeping everyone accountable with her accounting and is working to make more contacts with other NGO’s in the valley.  She starts her grant proposal and NGO management course February 2nd.  Our big decision for this coming week is whether or not to buy her a new scooter.  For going to and from class and building and maintaining our burgeoning NGO network walking and Kathmandu public transit won’t cut it.  She’s bringing us 3 options this week and it looks like she’ll have a bike by Wednesday. 

Nun Project   

      I moved across the valley to Ngoedrub Charbeb Ling Nunnery for the much of the week to see my nun sisters and Tibetan Buddhist teacher Khenpo Konchok Monlam Rinpoche.  Rinpoche is currently in Hong Kong teaching and raising money to keep the monastery running.  Currently there are only 11 nuns, down from 22 last spring.  The lack of funding has forced Rinpoche to travel looking for sponsors leaving the nuns without a teacher.  Several left to other nunnerys and others returned to Tibet.  Looks like it’s time for us to kick the Nun sponsorship program into overdrive.

     Anjit and I spent  New Year’s on the roof with our pals Brandon, a Montana wildland firefighter/yogi/Dharma Bum, Dorje, our Utah monk, Andy the Australian guitarist, and Christine, the Columbia grad student — although Dorje insisted on calling her Heather which for some reason made everyone laugh.  We burned lots of incense, ate good food, some drank good wine, and talked about whatever kept us smiling, mostly Buddhism, Nepal, stars, past and potential romantic endeavors etc.  Bob Marley and the stupa hung out in the background.

      The first week of January saw lots of changes in the kids home.  Anjana started working organizing past expenses and planning January’s budget.  Anjana is attending a series of seminars and training courses designed to train NGO leaders in management and international networking and funding with an emphasis on grant proposal preparation.  The goal is to send out at least twenty grant applications to Nepal-based and international NGO’s and funding agencies by March.

      The new year also brought with it a hot water heater for showers, an indoor gas powered portable heater, and as of today, a washing machine. 

      Anjit and I set out on the Suzuki 125.  Bouncing over potholes, rocks, and through the mile of dirt road we were out of Boudha and onto the main thoroughfare headed to Chabihil to find a washing machine.  After much discussion we opted against a dryer as the Nepal economic situation demands we continue line drying for the time being.  Our main budget increases are due to the blasted electricity crisis.  Currently the power is turned off for 16 hours a day to save the very sparce power supply in Nepal.  In February it will be extended to 18 hours a day.  The devastation this is doing to the economy is sure to keep Nepal in the 3rd world for at least another decade.  For us it means spending much more on propane and candles, and when these become two necessary commodities for survival, the price isn’t so cheap.  Supply and Demand 101.  Last winter there was a propane shortage when a separatist rebel group from southern Nepal blocked all shipments of propane from India to Kathmandu.  Hopefully, there won’t be a repeat this winter.  Needless to say we decided to save the dryer funds for a cold winter day.

      Chabihil is full of small storefronts none of which are larger than one room with an open front facing the busy, dusty main road headed to the guts of Kathmandu.  Anjit headed into a shop while I stayed on the sidewalk.  We decided long ago that my presence often discourages sellers to drop prices.  Now and then I walked past the shop to check Anjit’s progress.  A woman showed him a washing machine they spoke briefly and looked like we were about through.  On my next pass Anjit was flailing his arms and rambling on about who know what, but pretty quickly another woman appeared in the store clearly of higher rank.  The 3 of them talked for another 20 minutes while I breathed chewy air on the sidewalk.  Finally I saw them filling out a receipt so I figured I could make my entrance.  Immediately the two women eyeballed me.  I asked Anjit, “How we doin?”  “Good,” he said.  The pricetag read 45,900 rupees.  I glanced at the receipt the higher rank was filling out, 41,000rs.  Anjit’s tirade and 45 minutes of antics were now clear.  He’d managed to save us 4,800rs, or about $62.00.  4,800 sounds a lot more impressive and it was in these hard times.  However our budget was 40,000rs and we still had to pay for delivery and installation.  About this time I saw another model and figured it must be more expensive and had to look twice to realize the pricetag said, “16,600rs” and not “116,600rs.”  Sure enough, less than half the price.  I looked to the woman still writing the receipt and said, “Why’s this one so much less?”  “It’s semi-automatic.” she said.  “9 millimeter or .45?” I replied.  Not a chuckle.  She was worried.  She’d all but sealed the deal with Anjit to buy the most expensive machine in the place when Luke P showed up to wreck the party.  I walked to the wall covered with different models ranging in price from 16,600-23,900.  I then noticed a man enter the shop.  They were calling for serious back-up this time.  I pointed to a model and asked, “semi or fully auto?”  “Automatic,” he replied.  I pointed to our Cadillac-like washer and asked, “Difference?”  The head honcho stood with both women flanking him and giving me an unhappy face.  He said, “This one much better, wash all clothes very well, and make water little warm even.”  “Only difference is it makes the water a little warm?!”  He was down to, “Much better.”  Unconvinced quality was motivating this sale any longer, I asked Anjit if we would have a 1 year guarantee with the 23,900 top loader.   When he nodded yes the battle was over.  Instead of a few thousand rupees over our budgeted amount, we came in almost twenty under.  Boo yah!

      We paid and got out of there before I caught a beating.  While walking out I saw a man putting a strap around our boxed washer and loading it on his forehead.   As we climbed aboard the 1980s Suzuki 125 superbike I asked Anjit if this guy was carrying our washer all the way to the house.  “Of course” he said.  ”Of course” is the answer to 3 miles with a washing machine on your back strapped to your head wearing foam sandals.  Anjit has a saying: “ This is Nepal.”  He usually laughs after saying it.  Laughter helps here.  I asked Anjit what we pay a guy for walking our washer 3 miles on his back.  Hundred rupees.  After some debate Anjit allowed me to give him 3 hundred rupees, a little under $4.  This is Nepal. 

      On our return, the kids were playing in our shared yard and shouted almost in unison, “Good afternoon, brother Luke!”  These kiddos have me hooked pretty good and I’m starting to think my life’s work has arrived.  Two nights ago I came home at 7pm to a room full of kids studying by candle light next to our new heater.  Babina, the youngest at 5 was sitting right in front of the heater.  The shyest of the bunch I sat in front of her looking at her notebook.  A to Z was written neatly spaced to cover the page.  I pointed to G and shrugged my shoulders hoping she would answer.  Not much of a talker, I notice I wonder what her life looked like last year while living on the streets of Kathmandu.  I reached across the notebook held her hand before smiling as genuinely kindly as I could.  Then something strange happened.  I started singing the ABC’s.  I’m no singer but I sang the ABC’s in perfect pitch to invite a 5 year old to interact with our peaceful healthy little community.  She smiled and started to whisper the ABC’s while fighting to keep her smile from getting too big.  Yeah, I’m hooked on these kids.

      For the next week Anjana is getting use to our new accounting software, the kids have exams before winter break starts next week, and I’m trying to find some winter coats.  Our Utah clothing drive contact has not been in contact or reachable for a month, so I decided to look to local organizations to hopefully donate some winter clothes for the kiddos now that winter has arrived in the valley.

  I arrived in Nepal on December 23rd.  After a lengthy wait in the airport for my visa I was released into the 3rd world grandeur of Kathmandu.  Throngs of people begging for money or offering a taxi ride are the standard welcome wagon here.  Among the crowd I spotted my dear friend Lama Urgyen, a Tibetan Lama who lives in the orphanage and teaches the children about meditation and spirituality.  He was holding a Tibetan silk scarf called a kata and draped it over my head as an offering and greeting to me.  We walked together to find Anjit Bista, the proud head administrator and founder of the OCAYHN organization.  We met and there we were, the 3 amigos together again, ready to take on the world, or at least poverty in Nepal. 

      We headed to Anjit’s mother’s house where I was planning to stay.  Instead I’ve stayed in the kid’s home every night but my first here.  Before meeting the kids I went to the Boudha stupa, a dome-shaped monument symbolizing the enlightened mind of the Buddha.  Tibetans and other devotees circle the stupa day and night while reciting prayers or mantras to transform and calm their own and others minds.  Amidst the raucous nature of Kathmandu the great stupa, as it’s known reverberates with infectious peace and inspiration.  When I stood in front of it for the first time in two years a few days ago, my mind found a thoughtless tranquility and I felt more at home than anywhere else in the world.  After recharging my spiritual energy at the stupa it was time to meet the kiddos.  A 10 minute walk to the small town of Tinchulli, turn left at the big tree and I was there. 

      Walking up the dirt path to the house I saw two young children wearing Discreet brand beanies.  Kind-hearted pro skier Julian Carr donated these hats to all our kids and they wear them almost constantly.  Anjit opened the front door for me to meet the kids. I walked inside and a room full of Nepalese kids looked up at me and shyly said, “Welcome brother Luke.”  For 3 years I’d worked to make this home possible, then viable, now exceptional and when meeting the kids for the first time in their healthy home I felt my soul exhale and relax in a moment of exceptional satisfaction!  I also met Rama for the first time.  The lifeblood of the home, Rama herself grew up in an orphanage and manages most day to day happenings in the home.

      For several days I simply enjoyed being around these kids and watching them play and interact harmoniously.  I can’t quite figure out how or why these 15 kids are so well behaved, happy, caring, and considerate of each other and their surroundings.  All I can surmise is they must feel tremendous gratitude to be living how they are today versus the streets or abject poverty they came from.  The daily prayer and meditation probably helps too. 

      With Christmas coming we decided to throw a backyard bonfire and feast for the kids, Nepalese relatives, neighbors and some western friends.  We played soccer, badminton, ate way too much delicious food and 3 Christmas cakes, all followed by the kiddos performing songs and dances they’d practiced all day to entertain us.  Our Australian friend played guitar around the fire while the kids led in singing both Nepalese and English Christmas songs.  Lama Urgyen led a fire puja with Dorje, a monk and dear friend from Utah, and myself fumbling to follow along, to feed the local spirits and bless the party, while Pastor Anand said a Christian prayer to bless our feast.  Orion looked down on us from the heavens and the 40 something partygoers all were left with memories of a Christmas night of divine proportions.

      On the business side of things, much is happening in the home and with Padma.  We bought a hot water heater and everyone feels like royalty taking hot showers.  The kids schedule is being shaken up a bit with Lama Urgyen now teaching on religion and meditation every Saturday and Dorje tutoring English every Friday afternoon.  We plan to buy a washer/dryer this month and will offer laundry service to neighbors and westerners to begin bringing money into the home.  But the biggest change this month is the hiring of Anjana Bhan.  Anjana has a master’s in Nepalese rural development and for the past five years worked as an accountant for an international rug company.  Her role with Padma will include bookkeeping, financial planning, and grant writing in conjuction with a British NGO designed to train Nepalese in getting international funding for domestic service projects. 

      I’ve hit the ground running and Padma is rockin.