With so few good news reports these days, it feels nice to tell you a story that will make your hearts soar.
Let me bring you back to earlier this year when more than 60 Bowen Islanders turned out to hear me speak about the remarkable year I had in Sri Lanka in 2017, working with the Tamil community in the north of the island.
In no small thanks to my friends who helped throughout the evening, it was a roaring success, raising more than $5,000 to benefit the education of children with spinal cord injuries (SCI) in Nepal — a cause close to my heart.
Here we are two months later and the monies raised have already been put to good use! Four children with SCI have just started the new school year (April – March) at the local school in Jorpati, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
Sumit (15), Sidhant (12) and Subash (15) are three boys who have spent the past two school years at a SCI hostel. This funding has allowed them to continue their education and involvement in sports for another school year and includes food, accommodation, personal care, school supplies, uniforms and medical expenses.
New to the SCI hostel is Bandana (10) who arrived recently from Mugu district in mountainous Western Nepal. This time last year Bandana was playing with her friends, fell off a cliff and suffered a spinal cord injury. The horror of such a devastating injury meant Bandana had to spend the past year undergoing surgery and months of rehabilitation before returning home …. to nothing.
Attending school in a wheelchair in this mountainous region was out of the question. Wheelchairs don’t do well on steep trails.
With this funding, Bandana gets to continue her schooling but not before carefully transporting her and her dad from western Nepal for two weeks of pressure sore management at the local hospital. This week will be her first week at school in over a year. You can’t imagine her excitement!
Thank you Bowen Island, for your continued support in all the volunteer work I do, and the support you provide me time and time again. In particular I would like to thank Ann Ramsey and a cadre of anonymous donors (you know who you are!) for your generous donations. Thank you too to those who contributed in many ways at the fundraiser.
Your generosity has given hope to the possibility of a bright future for Sumit, Sidhant, Subash and Bandana.
Dhanybhad.
For more photos and personal stories of the children and a detailed budget, feel free to check out my blog www.bowen2bangladesh.wordpress.com.
