Nepal where I "voluntarily"lost my heart

Monday, 18 February 2008
Pokhara.

9.15 out of bed. Coffee served again.
After coffee to the shops and collecting our photographs.
Sitting on a terrace, looking at the pictures, some of them are really fantastic.
Sandwich, sitting in the sun.

I bought already a photo-album, so I can make this while we are here. Still a lot of space in my backpack after taking out all Zoe’s presents and the books for the school.

Around 15.30 to the house, asking Gangka if it was okay that Sudeep was coming with us to Mahendra Pool (market in Pokhara) to buy materials for the school.
Walking to the main street for the bus, but we were not patient enough, so we decided to take a taxi.
Sudeep ordered the taxi driver to a bookshop, where after 10 minutes we got Sudeep behind the desk to look for books himself.
Oxford dictionary, science books, bedside stories, mathematics, you name it, we bought them. Two bags full, one for the house, the other one for the school, from the money raised in Elounda.
It took us about one hour, so after that we deserved a coffee with a snack.
Sudeep took us to a super local “dump”, Renske and Sudeep playing safe ordering cola (Sudeep, because they normally only have tea), Rita brave enough to order a coffee.
Sudeep, you want to eat something? So, we got dry cubes of something, looking like cakes soaked in honey. Nice, but very sweet, hands sticking together from the honey.
Back to the bookshop to collect our bags, calling a taxi on the street, back first to the Hotel to drop the bag for the school, then on our way to the house.
Sudeep ordered all the kids in the study room, locking the door and like a real teacher he showed them the books explaining them how to threat the books (how to turn a page), how to put them neatly back on the shelve.

While Renske was helping Kamal in the study room with his homework – with singing and loud children around them – I went to the living room to watch the girls practising dancing for tomorrow.
I also had a talk with Thak. Sudeep asked us if it would be possible to help him to go to follow a course for web designing at an institute in Pokhara centre. We needed the approval of Thak for that.
In my conversation with Thak he told me that also Mongol and Rosilla wanted to learn more on the computer, so we agreed that next week (he has to go to Kathmandu for a few days) we will go to the institute to sign Sudeep, Rosilla and Mongol up for this three months course.
Also Kamal and Arjun, who had a sponsor before for their painting lessons, needed sponsor money again, so also for that we will go and sort that out next week.

All the kids got new school uniforms 4 months ago, accept the just arrived new kids. That is also something we have to check out, to get them uniforms, so they can also go to the Shining Star Boarding School.
Further they need some new beds in the house.

As you all can see, we are busy enough, but it is such a great feeling knowing that we really can DO something for these wonderful kids. Once again thank you all for your support.
I will let you know what else we can achieve with your sponsoring.

We stayed for Dahl Bath with the children, around 21.00 we left the house, walked to the main street by Sudeep and Arjun.

A drink and a pancake in Maya Bar on the main street, (Renske could not eat much of the Dahl Bath at Thak’s house), 23.00 back in our Penthouse, a bit of writing and now it is midnight, so time to go to sleep, because tomorrow morning first we have to buy suitable clothes for the Mini Parents Day at the school.

Suba Rathri dear Friends and from the Kids of Pokhara AND me: Dandyabad!! Thanks, thanks, thanks.