Hello Hello Hello!
First of all, to all who read the last post the photographeeeees that i took in the Himalaya are now up on the book so checkle them out pls!
I really have just been kicking around the last few days, catching up with everything thats going on and getting everything sorted before i leave the country in 2 weeks (can't believe i will be back in thailand in such a short amount of time :) ) By sorting out I mean the future plans of the orphanage.... Im sure you recall the problems facing it and the solutions given 24 hours after things got messy. Well to all who have been to Nepal and know how things roll out here you won't be surprised to hear that no-ting has happened to resolve the issues. So we are taking matters into our own hands. By we I mean Rustam (the founder and my host), Carrie (a new british volunteer who fundraised before coming out here), a Nepali UN worker and myself.
Here's the scoop:
The board of committee have done bugger all in the last month to change the orphanage's situation. Still the kids are living off just rice and lentils with no vegetables, no fruit and no milk. The water is cutting off all the time and the whole place stinks of everything nasty. We all had a meeting this afternoon for a couple of hours in a local restaurant and have decided to act, but we have to tread carefully. We want to set up a new counsel with Rustam, Carrie and myself on the board of committee. Then we can do things how they should be done, with no business mentality, just as a charity, how things should be. We wish to set up this committee on the side of the other one and slowly (and without the other's knowledge - the tricky bit) transfer the power from them to us. To do this we need to raise money which we will all do when we get home after the summer. Its not a huge amount of money, the orphanage of 19 children will be well sustained on around £1000/month, something that I'm sure, given my past experience fundraising, is possible. Buuuut.... to raise money back home the charity needs full transparency, something that it does not have now (lots of money goes missing every month to the greedy businessmen who 'sponsor' this place). So Rustam is writing up a budget of pipedream outgoings to present, The UN worker is designing a website and Carrie and I will be in charge of correspondence and fundraising. With a full website and budget lists we think that this is possible, people all around the west do want to help and operating this as a western-style charity (e.g. websites, welcome packs, direct debit forms, letters from the children, pictures of the children, shopping lists) some people will be interested to help with a fiver or so a month commitment and we only need 200 of these donors to have a wonderfully happy and healthy orphanage.
So Im in central KTM now with a mission at hand for tomorrow. I am going to the west of the city to the RCDP headquarters to speak to those bastards that I paid 50,000rps ($800) to to do this project. Out of this 50,000 12,000 has turned up my end of the deal funding the host family I stay with. No money has been donated to the orphanage despite RCDP stating on its international website that it would. So 38,000 rps is missing or rather has been pocketed by this 'Non-Profit Organisation'. Outrageous yes? So tomorrow I will go see them but I will have to tread carefully, the orphanage is at the moment still dependent on them for the volunteers they need so much and if I go in all guns blazing that could jeopardise the orphanage's immediate future. If they think that Rustam told me the amount he got then they could get mad at him and cut off they're relations with him and the orphanage sooner than we want. I will go tomorrow and say to them that i have been at this orphanage for 6 weeks now over the course of 10 weeks and have witnessed 6 other volunteers arrive through RCDP and yet the place still has no money, so RCDP why is this? I gave you 50,000 rps, I would like a legal receipt documenting where this money was spent - surely you can arrange this, Im sure you keep accounts etc. Then it looks like it comes all from me as a concerned volunteer and no one gets in trouble. If they can't which I am guessing will happen, I will contact IFRE the america NGO i organised this through and inform them that they are working with a fraudulent organisation. The rotary club overseeing this will also be informed and unless they try and make economic amends, we are looking at legal action being taken against them... Bullet proof.
Small steps slowly, thats the plan. And I intend to see this project to the end and stay on the board of committee for the lifetime of either myself or the orphanage. I have found a path :)
Ok, so thats me... I will let u know how it goes, check out the pictures :)
Oh just thought id mention that I saw 'A beautiful mind' last night - what a movie, that film had my in tears and in complete confusion - i know i'm ten years late but WOW - one of the best things i have seen all year. Watch it!!
Much love
Oh yeh, about the title - it was the kids end of year speech day today and i sat through 3 and a half hours of nepali speeches (which sounds like army style shouting) in 75 degree heat... I would have died if it wasn't for Angry Birds on my phone!
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