S.W.A.P Inc - Students With A Purpose

TAX EXEMPTION

2009-01-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

For those of you who operate under the faith business, here is some uplifting news.
For a year now I have been struggling with trying to get the Tax exemption form filled out correctly. Well this morning I had had enough and I rang the Tax office and wanted someone to help me. 1 Hour late and the form was completed and is on its way back to the Lawyers for the last check before it goes in. Now heres the blessing, the guy that helped me complete the form and answer all the question to comfirm that we should get the Tax exemption was a guy called Sushi, who hails from Kathmandu.
Thank you Lord.

Thursday 08/01/2009

2009-01-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

Today Rajesh (civil engineer), Himal (President of Muscular Dystrophy Centre Bhaktapur), Narayan (Muscular Dystrophy Association Nepal member), and myself had a meeting today in Darbar Square, Kathmandu over lunch in order to bring each other up-to-date with the going-on’s surrounding the plans for the Respite Centre, and also to introduce Rajesh and Narayan as they had not met prior to the meeting. The meeting was a great success as we put our heads together and collaborated ideas and necessities with regards to the land needed to be purchased by S.W.A.P. After the meeting was over, I arranged another time to meet with Narayan with the purpose of finding out what, if any, government policies we need to run under, what administrative forms are required by the government, what M.D.A.N’s (Muscular Dystrophy Association Nepal) role will be regarding the centre, and if there is anything else I need to organise before heading back to Australia.

Saturday 03/01/2009

2009-01-06T23:51:00.001-08:00

Steph and Monique’s last day! Noooooo! We woke up and Steph and Monique finished packing the last of their things while I pitched in one last attempt to convince them to stay, haha failed =[ After they’d finished we met Rajesh (the Nepalese engineer helping S.W.A.P. with the Respite Centre) for breakfast at Java. He arrived on Nepali time and was full of smiles as always. He told the girls that it was too soon for them to be leaving to Australia, and that his wife had said that it’s too soon as she wanted to have us all over for dinner one last time. This brought tears to mine and Steph’s eyes! I resisted the urge to bring up the Respite Centre but was stoked when Rajesh started talking about it. Between him and Rei, whenever I talk with those two I always get incredibly excited as to what 2009 has to come! After their final goodbye’s to Rajesh, us three girls jumped in a cab and headed off to the airport. Since I was getting the same cab back to Thamel after dropping them off, we had to make our goodbye’s extremely quick as we were worried he might drive off with my bags still in the car haha. Tonight is the quietest our house has ever been! I miss the girls already!

Friday 02/01/2009

2009-01-06T23:50:00.003-08:00

Today we all woke up with a tinge of sadness in the air, it’s Stephanie and Monique’s last day in Banepa as we’re staying in Kathmandu the night in order to not have to rush to get to the airport tomorrow. After packing their last bits of luggage, and me pleading with them to stay till February with me, we wandered up to the canteen for breakfast and for the girls to say their last goodbyes to our friends in Banepa. Steph and I started crying at breakfast, she didn’t want to leave as much as I didn’t want them to leave! The girls had formed many great friendships here in Nepal, not only with the Nepali people but so too within our group. We three girls came to grow and share such amazing and strong friendships with each other, and it was so hard to think that it would be at least a month before we came together again to share more good times. We decided to go to dinner at Or2K in Thamel then head out after for one last game of pool. We retired to bed pretty early so we wouldn’t have to struggle to get up in the morning.

Wednesday 31/12/2008 New Years Eve!

2009-01-06T23:50:00.001-08:00

New Years Eve is here yeah! After contemplating whether or not to go to Kathmandu to celebrate, or stay in Banepa, our Nepali mates in Banepa told us they were organising a bonfire on the hospital grounds so that made our minds up for us, Banepa it is! The evening started off with us S.W.A.P. girls helping Yvonne prepare the food for everyone; mushroom soup (seriously Yvonne makes the BEST mushroom soup I have ever tasted! Sorry mum..haha), egg rolls, banana cake, fruit salad, and hot chocolate! Talk about a feast! Once it was all prepared we rounded up some of the guys to help us carry the food over to the bonfire. When we got there we were surprised at how many people had arrived. All together there was roughly 40 people, nearly all hospital staff, it was great to see! Charlie, Brandon and Shree had mixed together some cd’s and after we ate, they chucked them in the cd player and everyone was up dancing round, it was so much fun! Slowly people started to sit down as we were all getting tired from dancing haha once that happened, Charlie grabbed the guitar and everyone sat around the fire singing a mix of Nepalese and western songs. When the clock hit midnight everyone jumped up and down, running round to their friends giving them hugs and wishing them a happy New Year! It was such an amazing night! What better way to bring in the New Year than with your good friends around a bonfire?

Tuesday 30/12/2008

2009-01-06T23:49:00.001-08:00

We’re definitely making the most of our time off while it lasts! This morning we were able to sleep in again, though after all the walking we’ve been doing the past few days I think it’s definitely needed. Today we headed off to Nama Buddha, which we found out is 2 bus rides away from Banepa. The first bus we caught from Banepa took us to Punouti, the village which MDAN (the Muscular Dystrophy centre S.W.A.P. funds) is located. Then from Punouti we caught another bus which was meant to take us to the base of the mountain Nama Buddha is on top of. On our second bus Monique befriended an old Nepali man who told her he was also going to Nama Buddha. So we opted to hop off at his stop and follow him to Nama Buddha. Sounds like the perfect plan right? Wrong haha! After following the old man through 2 villages he disappeared. So with my basic, VERY basic Nepalese, I kept asking locals we came across on our path what the way was to Nama Buddha. We came across one man who spoke basic English (4 kms after hoping of the bus mind you), so between his basic English, and my basic Nepali, we had a general understanding that Nama Buddha was right around the corner. After saying goodbye and rounding the corner we discovered 2 things. Firstly the bus we had been on ends around that corner, and secondly we were now standing at the base of the mountain which Nama Buddha is on top of, and might I add that this was no little mountain either! So we decided to take a vote, majority wins, as to whether or not we attempt the mountain. Today we attempted Nama Buddha, but after a 5km walk due to us getting off the bus far too early, we did not make it up the mountain to the monastery haha! Oh well, at least we tried, right?

Monday 29/12/2008

2009-01-06T23:46:00.001-08:00

Monique caught the bus into Banepa this afternoon and we met up with her at the Scheer canteen, our usual meeting place. Brandon took us girls for a walk up to a lookout tower situated on a mountaintop behind the hospital. The walk was really nice! Once again we had beautiful views of countryside’s and villages on the way to the tower, oh and not to mention the public bathing spot we caught a glimpse of on the way. It took us about an hour to reach the tower and once we did the views were amazing! Nepal never seizes to amaze me at just how much natural beauty it has to offer. Monique decided to stay the next few nights in Banepa with us as we’ve got a few things on our sight-seeing to-do list we want to tick off. Tomorrow its off to Nama Buddha, a Buddhist monastery located out past Punouti.

2009-01-06T23:41:00.003-08:00

Today Stephanie and I set out for a massive walk to Sanga, the next town over from Banepa, in order to see the new Shiva statue Indian investors are creating. Little did we realise, what seemed like not so far on the bus between the towns turned into an 8km walk for us! The views on the way were refreshing though. Still tired from the day of travels yesterday, we appreciated the natural beauties surrounding us on our walk to the statue; hillsides, extremely old buildings (which really seemed only to be held up by something no shorter than a miracle haha work place health and safety?), and very friendly villagers. Once we had reached Sanga, Steph told me she was positive she’d seen whilst on the bus a path just past Sanga which led to the statue (which was on top of a mountain). So we decided to search out the path in order to reach the statue. After finding what appeared to be the path we were searching for we began to climb up and round and round the mountain. After a few rock-climbing manoeuvres we reached the top! YEAH! Then as we started to walk further on top of the mountain we looked to our left to see the statue, on top of an even BIGGER mountain next to us! Haha AHHHH! So after seeking out another path in order to reach the other mountain and finally the Shiva statue, we were on our way. We passed a few terraces which a man was burning the grass and realised that we had to climb up those terraces because the path we were on came to an end! Talk about an adventure! When we finally reached the statue the sight was breath-taking! Not only was the craftsmanship of the Shiva amazing, but so too the views of the surrounding valleys. If the weather was clearer, we would have been able to see all the way to Kathmandu! Once we left we realised that there was one straight path that went through the town Sanga and straight up to the statue, STEPHANIE! Her response? Whoops! Haha ah well I’m sure not many ‘tourists’ had the chance to experience a mini adventure before reaching Shiva. Needless to say we opted to catch the local bus back rather than walking.

Saturday 27/12/2008

2009-01-06T23:41:00.001-08:00

Ahhhh! 6:00am our alarm went off; an attempt to peel us from our beds and get us to our 7am bus heading back to Kathmandu on time. First attempt, fail. Haha snooze button it is! Actually to be quite honest I think I may have hit the snooze button more than once, none of us wanted to leave Pokhara and the 7am bus was like rubbing salt into the wound of having to leave such an amazing place! The first bus back to Kathmandu took 7 hours, then after a quick bite to eat and picture gazing at Java, Thamel, Steph, Brandon and I were on our final bus back home to Banepa. Monique stayed in Kathmandu as she was planning to soak up what the city has to offer. 2 hours later we arrived in Banepa absolutely exhausted and well and truly ready for bed! Aiming for an early night, Steph and I jumped into bed around 8pm but after chatting away we didn’t end up nodding off till after 10pm. What can I say, get us together and we love a chat!

25/12/2008 Christmas Day

2009-01-06T23:36:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day! Well what can I say, we had the most eventful day filled with its highs and lows haha. The morning started off great; we all enjoyed our first sleep in, went to a lovely cafe for a big breakfast, and then headed off to find a place to hire bikes and scooters. After finding a place that hired out both, us S.W.A.P. girls jumped on a scooter each and Brandon a motorbike and we set off for Sarangkot, a mountain which is well-known in Pokhara for its spectacular views of the Himalaya’s. After 15-20 minutes into our trip, we looked back to find Steph missing. After pulling over Brandon offered to turn around and go find her whilst Monique and I waited on the side of the road. About 20 minutes after Brandon turned around to track Steph down, he returned saying her bike had broken down. Ke garne? (What to do?) So the three of us went back to where Steph was stranded to see if we could get her bike started. At first we thought she’d had run out of petrol as even though we had paid for petrol at the place we hired the scooters from, we didn’t see the man actually put it in, and let’s face it, this IS Nepal and these things definitely do happen! So after we all decided it must be the fuel, Brandon and Monique rode off to the nearest petrol station to buy petrol. Once they’d gotten there the guy refused to sell them petrol in a bottle, even after they’d explained we had broken down and that’s why we needed it! So after that failed attempt to get fuel, a taxi driver pulled over and asked us if we needed help. YAY! After screaming YES he pulled over and showed us how to drain fuel from Brandon’s bike and put it into Steph’s. Once he’d driven off we gave it ago, and after opening Steph’s fuel tank realised her tank was already full of petrol! We obviously should’ve checked that in the first place haha but when you’re stuck on the side of the road with a broken down scooter on Christmas day, your mind can forget about simple things like that! So after the failed fuel efforts, two Nepali gentlemen were walking past and offered to help (we were coming across very friendly Nepalese people out in Pokhara!). After they had checked over the scooter they called the local mechanic to come and have a look for us. Once he’d arrived and tampered around with it for another 20 minutes and finally he got it started! YAY! We were back on the road, 2 hours later haha. After all the drama we thought it’d be best to take the bikes back, talk to the guy, and try and get our money back. We reached the hire place and after explaining to the guy what had happened, he simply said it wasn’t his problem the scooter had broken down as he’d actually gotten the scooter off another hire place. And since it wasn’t his problem, he wasn’t willing to give us any of our money back! Ah only in Nepal...haha. So we left the hire place and decided to put the day’s events behind us, it’s Christmas after all and we still had all evening to celebrate! We went back to the guest house, freshened up, and then headed out for another night of good food and great live music. So all in all we had an eventful day and a great night, what an awesome way to spend Christmas!

Wednesday 24/12/2008 Christmas Eve =]

2009-01-06T23:21:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve and wow what a day! This morning the S.W.A.P. girls plus Brandon (the Canadian volunteer teacher at Scheer), woke up at a chilly 6am to get ready and catch the 7am bus to Pokhara, the ideal destination for relaxation with breath-taking views of the Himalayan mountains. The bus ride to Pokhara seemed surprisingly quick as we only stopped twice, once for breakfast and then for lunch. After a very near miss head-on accident with an ambulance, sore bums, and beautiful views of the mountains and rivers Nepal is notorious for, we arrived at our guest house Gauri Shanker in Pokhara at around 3pm. Ah it felt good to be in Pokhara! Stephanie and Monique were amazed at just how clean Pokhara is in comparison to Kathmandu and Banepa. The streets are well maintained, almost litter free, and for the first time in Nepal we seen litter bins in the streets! We were really amazed and happy to see that people were implementing litter bins in the streets and people were using them, rather than discarding their rubbish on the ground or in the drains which is the most common case. Could this be a sign of the ‘new Nepal’? This evening we had dinner and found a restaurant with a pool table, much to Monique’s delight haha. After a few games of pool we headed to our next destination, a restaurant with live music! We were all shocked to find a restaurant with a local Nepalese girl singing and playing guitar. The Nepalese acoustic was absolutely amazing! The young lady performed cover songs from various artists and the restaurant quickly filled out. So our Christmas Eve was filled with good food, good pool, good music, and last but not least, good friends.

Tuesday 23/12/2008

2009-01-06T23:08:00.000-08:00

This time it was the hospital staff’s turn to present a Christmas program today and boy did they ever! The hospital administrator’s wife, Drusilla, took charge of producing the Scheer staffs’ Christmas program and the outcome was amazing! The program took place in the hospital’s courtyard for all to see; staff that had avoided roles, patients and guests, and the told the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Yet again the costumes were made with such perfection and the atmosphere throughout the hospital was nothing less of Christmas love and delight. It was incredible to see the patients and their families sitting in on the Christmas program and hearing the story of the birth of Jesus Christ for the very first time. After the Christmas drama the S.W.A.P. girls took part in Christmas carols alongside hospital staff. Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas... This evening we caught a taxi in Kathmandu and enjoyed the tasty food OR2k has to offer before heading to bed early in order to drag ourselves out of bed at 6am tomorrow for our long bus ride to Pokhara. Bring on Pokhara!

Monday 22/12/2008

2009-01-06T23:05:00.000-08:00

The primary school on Scheer Memorial Hospital’s grounds today had their annual Christmas program and we had the privilege of being among the audience of excited parents and relatives! As the classes went through their well-rehearsed performances; dances, songs and drama’s, we sat there watching the parents beam with pride. It was great to see that majority of parents had come along to watch their children take part in the performances. The costumes were made with such detail and it was so lovely to see the children wearing their costumes with utter delight! This evening after the school Christmas program the S.W.A.P. girls headed to the hospital canteen to sip chai and enjoy the feeling of not having appointment after appointment to rush off to. Christmas joy was in the air and we were making the most out of our relaxation time!

Sunday 21/12/2008

2009-01-06T23:01:00.000-08:00

Today seen the very sad departure of Rei from Nepal and back to life in Australia. As sad as I’m sure he was to leave us, he couldn’t hide his excitement of getting back to Aus to see Jenny (his wife) and their little babu (their son Tahne). Our dear Nepalese friend Rajesh (the engineer helping S.W.A.P. Inc with the Respite Centre) came to the airport to say good bye and wished Rei the best of luck in Australia with fundraising for the Respite Centre. We left the airport with the feeling of one team member down, but we were really looking forward to some much needed girl down-time! When us girls arrived back in Banepa we found ourselves in the canteen counting down Rei’s arrival to Aus. “Ah Rei’s only 4 hours away, whooo....Ah Rei’s only 1 hour away, whooo....WOW Rei would be home right now!”.

Nepali helps Nepali

2008-12-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon we went to the Soup Kitchen that has been started out on the back roads of Banepa and if you look carefully at the pictures you see how the impact of this establishment has come about concerning the lives of the people who come and eat here once a day.
So having a bunch of Westerners turn up was a bit of an occasion for these people. We watched as the children and families were fed, had fun with them using a camera and taking photo's and before we left we handed out blankets because all of them except the little boy in the blue spiderman outfit had no where to live. Most of them reside in the bushes close to where we were and for safety reasons (a child from another area close to SMH was dragged away and killed by a tiger) they stay close to each other.
This was a very humbling experience and if you look at the photo of the SWAP guys you can see that it was a little hard to take in at one go.
The lady running the centre is a very busy SDA woman and she is involved in many projects including an orpanage in Bhaktapur, it is great to see that so many people really do want to get involved and help each other.

Without You.

2008-12-13T23:28:00.000-08:00

There have been many things that have not made the blogs yet, and everyone from Stefanie, Monique and Shayne has gone above and beyond to work this event, but I just wanted to take this time to thank You.
There are many people sending their love and respect, admiration and support to us and each and everyone of us have hit that miss our friends and loved ones barrier. But because of the support we have worked through this together so I just wanted to take this time to let you all know that we are still doing well, we are heading of to a Soup kitchen this afternoon, it's Sunday 1pm, the Kitchen consists of mainly children living on the street and when you see the next lot of pictures, I am sure you will understand that your support has been well needed. I myself have done soup kitchens before, but nothing like this. Seeing 1 and 2 year old children eating the food provided and then heading of into the bush without pants was just to much for me. Adults I can handle, but children....
Anyway, we have been remarkably blessed with this section of the trip and even though it is a one of thing that we are about to do, giving clothes and blankets is just an unbelievable and unreal experience that has rocked a harden soul like me, I will show you the pictures soon and when I do, all I ask for is continual support to your loved ones and prayers and words of encouragement, because i have seen my team mates crumble some times, and this is why we still need your love.
I know you all understand,
Thank you.

SWAP goes to Chitwan

2008-12-13T23:04:00.001-08:00

Well what can we say. Chitwan was absolutely beautiful. Things that I never thought Id ever do again, sit in a canoe, do a 9 kilometer walk, ride another elephant, enjoy myself without my wife (to be honest I missed her an Bubba terribly). Chitwan was everything it was meant to be, the last two and a half weeks have been pretty hectic but in a good way. We managed to cover a fair bit of time and events with people and smooth out the way for the Aussie invasion coming next year, so taking some time out was refreshing for everyone. We had time to reflect on the previous weeks as well as take in a cultural event that was absolutely spectacular, think of Nepali Stomp for anyone who is into the whole bash things and make good rythm sounds.
We did not get to see the elusive Rhino and tiger in the jungle but we tried really hard to find them, our jeep got 2, not one, but 2 flat tyres and the thing that cracked me up was having mobile phone reception in the jungle, but it did prove for a long day, but that was ok, everyone was in high spirits.
Groups that went out the day before and the day after came across the rhinos, and I did not let up on our guide fo the three days about the fact, he took the ribbing very well.
The bus trip there was a sight to behold, seeing trucks tipped over on their sides was very comforting, we have great video footage of that, I would have been ok with a tipped over truck if we had not seen 3 of them on our journey, and coming home on the other side of the road closest to the roads edge was just great, there were many prayers said that day.
but all in all the trip was great, we were all happy to get to a shower, and after a relaxing weekend and time to catch up with family it was time to get blogging again, hence what you are reading now.
So Monday, it action stations again, we are going in to finalise the land and the plans, there will probably be no more bloggs now until wednesday and after the following Sunday coming, Shayne Ryan will take on the pleasure of keeping you all updated until the end of February.

A Post for Cam, one for the techiques

2008-12-13T22:22:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from HRDC, I've have tried to get them into order but then when I post it changes, so I will give a description but chances are it will change, however, you are all intelligent people I'm sure you will figure out which is which, so here goes.
Nurses station, In-patient white board - notice how many members are there supporting the family member - only 4 children their on their own, school classroom, hospital ward, water tanks and water heaters, ramps - concrete, roofing system, physio-therapy room and dining hall.

Monday Week 3

2008-12-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

Monday Week 3 was a great day for everyone because it began by getting Anupa to go to (Handicapped and Rehabilitation for Disabled children) HRDC. What we did not know was that Anupa and her mother had been to this hospital a few times, however this time it was a lot more productive. When the SWAP group got there we were overwhelmed with the set up of this hospital and actually thought the building of our own Respite centre would not benefit this area until we were given the royal treatment from the Executive Director of this place.
Everywhere we went we saw disabled children, and out of respect for them all we did not take any photos except for the one you see here that was a photo on a wall.
After talking with the executive director we were very encouraged to learn that not only is building our Respite center a good idea, but that between the two centers, (theirs and ours) we can actually cover more ground as far as the children are concerned in the whole of Nepal, not just the Karve district.
As for Anupa, she was well looked after and they were fed when they were returned home. so what turned out to be just a routine visit for the SWAP team, ended up being a great blessing.
Following this blog will be a post for Cam and the technical crew, these are the photos that were were allowed to take from HRDC>

A Pictorial summary of the last 2 weeks

2008-12-12T22:21:00.000-08:00

Women against violence protest march. Stef and Monique light up for world peace. Rajesh, Nirvin and Ranm 3 men helping with construction, engineering and land for the project. Bus surfing #1. Stef with Shree Krishna. Stef at Bhaktapur. Santo's and Yvonnes child Jasmine. Schree Memorial hospital. Narbin have some blankets, bus surfing #2. Nepali Church.

Friday week 2, Saturday Church Sunday Rest

2008-12-12T22:11:00.000-08:00

Well it has only taken me 2 weeks to figure out how to blog quicker (thank you Monique, Ben where were you when I needed you), so the next following blogs will consist of a lot of pictures.
Here are some of the kids from Bhaktapur.

Board members

2008-12-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the Board members.
Hopefully in the right order, Suraj Shresta representing, well Suraj, Rajesh representing the Engineering side, Narayan representing MDAN, Monique representing SWAP and Himal (in the middle) representing Bhaktapur.

Saving Private Zena

2008-12-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

How is it when you come to a country where there is no pension, no government support, no superannuation unless you are in the military and what you make financially is pretty well what you survive on can only be considered as normal or everyday practice.
Every member of SWAP that has gotten involved with an issue here in Nepal has taken it on board and done really well. We've made beds, parallel bars, given away blankets, clothing, tri-flow respirators and then we have provided physio-therapy for disabled children.
So what happens when a member of SWAP takes on the animal kingdom?
Well, this is exactly what happened.
Last year I walked around SMH and outside SMH are many animals, buffalos, ducks, cats, chickens and plenty of dogs. However, one dog caught my attention.
Well this year, that same dog caught Monique’s attention, and not only did she catch Monique’s attention, Monique has taken this project on personally and will SAVE PRIVATE ZENA.
You see, Zena has her uterus hanging on the outside of her body. Because of this she is in constant unease. So, Monique on Tuesday took Zena up to the vet in Dhulakiel only to be referred to Kathmandu, which she will do next week.
How much will this cost Monique, considering she wants to pay for it herself, or with the help of some of her friends in Australia?
$200Aus. “But what about using the money for someone in need here”, Monique was asked on more than one occasion. “Then who will look after Zena?” Monique’s response was.
Following this logic we all agree that this project is Monique’s, and it is giving her great joy.
I myself have watched as people (mainly foreigners) come out of SMH and see Zena and cringe at the position that this poor animal is in, however, it is Monique that has taken this to the next level.
The look on the taxi driver’s faces when they loaded Zena into the taxi, the look on the all the locals faces when Zena went away and came back, was a sight to behold.
If the locals thought foreigners were crazy before, they certainly think so now.
And what does Monique think of all this.....MEH, it's all about the dog, it's my money, and when we build the center can Zena will have a place to live.

Well the obvious answer is yes, of course, the lesson that has come from this development between Zena and Monique has been heartwarming, and as far as Zena is concerned, I’m sure the answer would be a resounding ‘woff’

Zena goes to the vet in Kathmandu some time near the end of next week, and big love to Kate, Bernie and Lisa who have supported Monique in here crazy yet fruitful endeavourer.
Go Monique, Go Zena.

Week 2 Day 4 Thursday

2008-12-08T03:05:00.000-08:00

Thursday we went back to Bhaktapur to ask Himal, the founder of the Bhaktapur MD center if he would be on the board that would govern all the issues between MDAN and SWAP.
The board will consist of 5 members and the members that have been asked are:
Monique Carlson from SWAP Inc
Narayan Thapa from MDAN
Suraj Shrestha from Brisbane Australia
Rajesh the Engineer from Kathmandu
and of course Himal.
We are still waiting for confirmation from Suraj and Himal, but basically these people will look after any descripences and bad spelling mistakes that come out of the union between SWAP Inc and MDAN.
The meeting with Himal was excellent, the put on a very nice lunch and we did the tourist thing in Bhaktapur.
Almost there.

$50Aus for food per week, you better explain Rei

2008-12-08T02:28:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to re-iterate the costing of the food situation because as a few people would know Cameron Forbes, Steve Quick and Jennie even, $50Aus for 1 week’s food would seem to be a little extravagant, and it is, but here is the piece of information I forgot to put in the last post.

To order all the food needed to feed 20 Australians would really cost $35Aus and we added a $5 buffer just in case we miss-calculated.

So why go from $40 to $50Aus per Australian per week?

Simple, the $40Aus calculation does not include the wage that would be needed for the 3 people involved, 2 will prepare the food and deliver it to site, and one person to clean everyday. And when you consider the fact that$10 a week currently calculates to $500Nprs, multiplied by 20 is $10,000Nprs per week, multiplied by 4 weeks in a month is $40,000 per month then double it for 2 months work, is $80,000 Nprs.

That seems like a lot of money over here and it is, but this is how Santo’s mother is breaking that money down. $20,000 for the dishwasher for 2 months work, and that over here is more than a mechanic or builder gets. $30,000 for Santo’s mum and $30,000 for whomever they get to help.

Now all this may seem very odd or weird to us and again extravagant, but here is the reason why we picked this lady.

At the end of 2009 when we are to come over and build this Respite Centre, Santo’s parents are going to mortgage their house so they can send their second eldest son to Australia to get a university degree. Now to mortgage a house here is like putting your life’s work, for both parents, on the line and hoping that everything will work out. She wanted to do the whole feeding project FOR FREE, no wage, and after some heavy negotiation we came up with the $10Aus on top of the original price.

So when you think about the $400Aus that you will fork out next year for 2 MONTHS food, think about how your money will be used, the employment situation that you will be generating and the fact that we can possible save a family from losing their house.

Very strong and encouraging words were given to the 2^nd eldest son concerning this situation and it was heartbreaking watching the eldest son breakdown because of the pressure that the family was about to go through.

How humbling and amazing this place is.

Pictures of Wednesday

2008-12-08T02:22:00.000-08:00

We went back to MDAN to finalise everything, meeting went well.

Pictures of Tuesday

2008-12-08T01:53:00.000-08:00

Sajeeta and Mum

Week 2 Day's 2 and 3 Tuesday and Wednesday

2008-12-07T01:33:00.000-08:00

After spending the night working out what had just happened the day before, the SWAP Inc team were invited up for dinner to Santos house. Last year we were privilagded to a meal here and so again this year. One thing lead to another and when the time was right we organised to come back tommorrow and talk to Santos's mum concerning catering for the 2009 Australian invasion.
So on Wednesday we found we had a bit of time on our hands and we went around the hospital singing songs to the patients, nurses and those waiting to be seen by the doctors, and Monique, Shayne and Stephanie made balloon animals which went down a right treat.
After this we went up to see Sajeeta and Santo's Mum and after a huge evening in the street having fun with the kids we went in and negotiated the catering contract.
This is the deal, Breakfast for 7 days, includes fruit porridge, cereal, toast, tea, coffee and anything else that is avaliable, some days it will be omletes etc, and 6 lunches bought out on site , prepared and ready to go around 1pm, (meals include rice pudding with coconut, saltanas and something else Nepali but nutty and very nice, curry, dahl bart and various other delectables including Roti bread) every meal, will cost $50Aus per week.
And if you eat out of the SMH canteen at night or want to go somewhere nice for din-dins then you are really looking at about $60-70 Aus per week, and that is eating well.
The catered food has been negoitiated at a very good rate, because the idea of employing 3 people to feed 20+ Australians, and tradespeople to boot, is considerably a big job, Cam and Steve will eat most of that on their own.
Opps sorry, Tuesday morning we had Anupa come into the hospital for a diagnosis, she was a cerebal palysy girl that we missed last year. It was heartwarming to see the doctors go over her condition. (You can see her profile soon on the website). Unfortunately for this girl her condition is pretty severe, she needs to get her muscles relieved as they have just cramped up and she can no longer do anything at all, plus she has retardation. On the following Monday we are taking her to HRDC which is another hospital and we are going to get her muscles released which shlould bring back a lot of movement.
Wednesday morning we went back to MDAN in Panauti and confirmed everything that needed to be settled with the group. They were very happy with the results and this next bit is for those who want to know, Nirmal has taken a back seat, I think the MDAN people have had a good with him and he is very happy staying at the office in Panauti and doing that job, which is really good for everyone. It was enlightening to see the change in the man, we were all very surprised.

Week 2 Monday Day 1

2008-12-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, Monday started out very good becasue after spending time with rajesh and going over the plans, it was time to look at some land, so inthe morning Rajesh picked us up from Thamel and drove us out to Bhaktapur where we met our supplier, Nirvin. He owns his own brick company and was able to supply us with everything from bricks, glass, aluminium, concrete and workers.
Both Rajesh and Nirvin are very excitied about meeting the Australian tradesworkers heading over at the end of 2009. Nirvin took us to met Ram and then we drove around Banepa looking at different areas, util we spotted the land you can see above.
Now here is where we realised just how deep we were into this project, when you purchase land here, you need to put down a deposit, obvioulsy, but because we were not ready for this, all three men, Rajesh, Nirvin and Ram (2 of which we had only just met) told us that they would pay for the deposit.
This news was very hard for all of us to deal with, and after sucking some very humble pills we accepted and are currently in negotiations with the land owners.
We will know more in week 3.
Because of this amazing result from these three men we have sent the word back to all of our freinds ion Australia to get on board and help us at least cover the deposit, so here is the call.
If you are reading this and you feel compelled to help us, please contact us so we can organise things while we are still here.
Everything is going so fast and so well it is hard to believe that we are here in Nepal, but we are tring to do the best that we can and we know that there are so many of you back there thinking, praying and watchingour progress, so now is the time that I am calling for your help.
If you think this is big wait fo the next couple of blogs.

Saturday and Sunday

2008-12-07T00:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday and Sunday were really a non event considering the fact that I was very sick and sucking charcoal tablets like lollies.
Monique and Stephanie caught up with Shayne and they shopped around a bit on Sunday.
The only true highlight was Saturday night when we went to the Red Dingo Resturant owned by Australians Stuart and Shirley Forbes. This was great becasue Rajesh joined us with his family and we had a really good meal together.
It was funny because Rajesh's family had never eaten anything like Australian food, and they thought it was so different.
We shouted Rajesh's family becasue all the work he had done for us had been voluntary and it was our way of thanking him.

Pictures of Friday

2008-12-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

Pictures of Friday.
Thats Rajesh, the temple where he is working and of course, monkeys, including the very rear Australian monkey.

Day 5 Friday

2008-12-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

Day 5 was an interesting day because we had to come in early from Banepa.
We stayed at Dilli's place in Thamel and then went and met Rajesh at Swarnumbul (which I'm sure I just spelt wrong) which we lovingly call the monkey Temple.
Rajesh is our Nepali engineer for this project. First he took us for a tour of the Monkey temple and we actually got to see things that would not be on the normal tour. At this stage Rajesh is construction up at the AMonkey Temple and when we had our meeting with him the following happened.
1: He is going to convert our plans for the Respite Center into Nepali plans, something that he explained would take him at least 6 hours to do.
2: He was going to introduce us to 2 of his freinds who live out near Banepa and Panauti, the regions where we were looking to build, this was going to happen Monday.
3: He was really excited about our project and was also very happy to be part of something that was going to benefit his own people.
Here is how Rajesh fits into the picture.
20 years ago my wife came to Nepal to teach english. Rajesh, Dilli and a few others were all students in her class, and from that class came a close freindship that is seeing fruit today. Both Rajesh and Dilli put the success of there businesses, they are both very well developed businessmen in Nepal, down to the fact that English has helped them, and this is their way of repaying something back. The beauti of all this is that it will be the Nepali people that win.
If you want to know how beautiful the people over here are, check out Mondays blog.

Day 4 Thursday

2008-12-05T01:33:00.000-08:00

Day 4 Thursday was catch up with everything day. Because the begining of the week had been so intense, it was voted that we spend the day at SMH and do computer work. Everyone had literaly hit the wall, even though we had made small contact back home, we were all starting to feel the pinch, and for myself, I was four days into missing my family terribly.
So Stephanie and I worked on the Profiles of the children, and Monique took the bull by the horns and orgainised the Garden structure, placements and everyting that she was asked of by Hazel Martin regarding the Garden. The Garden was originally Hazels project (and still is), Monique was just doing the ground work.
Now on the first post I mentioned that we went into Kathmandu and I could not remember why, well now I remember, it was to see Rajesh the Construction or Engineer that was going to oversee, with Cameron Forbes the building of the Respite Center. After we met with Rajesh and he confirmed not only that he wanted to be on board as far as this project was concerned, but that he wanted to be updated with all the details, it left the Group feeling very comfortable as far as where this project was heading.
So after spending a relaxing day at SMH but still doing computer work, the girls rushed off to get ready for the wedding.
Around 6pm I recieved a call from Rajesh telling us that the following day a strike was going to interupt all transport into Kathmandu and these things can be very difficult to manouver around when your in this country, so as the wedding was getting into full swing and the girls were enjoying themselves, we had to pack up bags and head into Kathmandu that night.
Unfortunately for me, I had a couple of pieces of beef at the wedding (I'm sorry honey, I should have known better) and the rest of the weekend was not very good for me as I became very sick.
Friday we were to met up with Rajesh and fine tune the plans and well as discuss the possiblity of looking at land.
This is pretty well what happened.

Day 3 Wednesday

2008-12-05T00:57:00.001-08:00

Wednesday was a great day because we got to go to The Bhaktapur Muscular Dystrophy Center. That was the good news. The bad news was that Himal Shoower, the founder of the Bhaktapur Center was goingto recieve the news that we could not fund him for another year. You see, Himal is the original Muscular Dystrophy main in Nepal. He has 3 sons all diagnosed with the diesease and he has converted his house into a Muscular Dystrophy Center. Last year SWAP Inc came here and constructed paralell bars that went around the walls so the kids could use them as an exercise machine. Yep Steve, the bars look great, and the new foundation they have put down gives the bars even more strength.
Going to see this very humble man was going to be difficult, because everything that we are baseing the Banepa Center on will be focused on what Himal is actually doing right now. So with hearts in hand we walked into the Center, (getting into Bhaktapur was a bit of a drama, usually the hit you up to pay an entrance fee, I just walked straight in and the girls were standing on the other side of the bridge trying to figure out what to do, after a bit of a stand off, they reluctantly came across the bridge and for a little while there, they were worried that we were going to get accosted by the local police, it never happened) and after intial hellos with Himal and Nabin (he's the one holding all the blankets) we began to explain our position and how we were going to support the Banepa Center.
It was a little awkward for a while there because it is never humbling to watch a grown man ask for funding. The children looked great. They are being fed very well, and you could tell that they were a lot happier than last year. I put this down to the fact that the children spend a fair bit of time together and because they play and eat and interact with each other, they seem to be more active than the kids we saw yesterday.
After Himal had accepted the concept that we as SWAP Inc had to put all our efforts into the Banepa Center, we agreed to head out and withdraw the final payment that SWAP Inc owed under the original contract. When we returned something very interesting happened, and because of confidentiality, I can not disclose to much, but what I can say is that funding has been looked upon as far as Bhaktapur is concerned, well at least for the next 6 months coming and this will be re-assessed for more funding if possible. This news was greatly appreciated by Himal and Narbin and again, until the source has time to do what is needed to be done, all I can say is that Bhaktapur looks good for another 6 months. It's amazing how these things work out.
Following the time at Bhaktapur Monique and Stephanie were looking to buy Saree's as they had been invited to a wedding through Yvonne, so a few of the mothers grabbed the girls and shopping they went.
Of course yours truly and Narbin were dragged along kicking and screaming but to be honest if was good watching the girls relax and have a bit of fun after 3 days of intense meetings and children work.

Day 2 Tuesday

2008-12-04T23:10:00.000-08:00

A very sad moment that ripped all our hearts apart
Seereta and her mother
Yvonnes daughter and Santos a freind
Sujan
The twins
Umesh
Shree Krishna
Sukuduva
Anupa
Monique giving blanket
Krishna
Tuesday was a huge day. Our goal was to head out from Scheer Memorial Hospital (SMH) and visit as many children on our files as we could. Stephanies job was to formulate profiles for each child, which we now have and will post soon on the website. Monique was handing out all the blankets that we had recieved from Sunshine Knitters Association (thank you ladies) and I was going along to re-assess and changes that may have been needed. Above is more the pictures of the children instead of a blow by blow record, the final results can be seen in the Profiles posted on the website.
Dinesh

Monday Day 1

2008-12-04T22:37:00.001-08:00

a

DAY 1

Monday was a big day, we had breakfast, obviously, then jumped into a cab and headed out to Panauti where we met with the MDAN people. The meeting went really well, MDAN recapped the year for us with what they were doing, and how they had seen 20 new children, not including the ones we previously have and we explained to them just how much work we as students, had done. This information included all the volunteers back in Australia, those who particiapted in every fundraising event and church members as well as family members and freinds from SWAP members who either donated money or time to support us. We explained to MDAN that ALL the finances that we have has been donated and that we were not millionaires, as many people previously believed.
We discussed the Respite Centre, asking them specifically what they wanted and how we were going to go about running the Respite Centre. What was interesting was that both groups had the same vision and ideas and it was at this stage we presented them with the Plans (thanks Sami). While they looked at the plans the SWAP team including Yvonne went outside to give them a break and we re-evaluated our position. When we rejoined MDAN we needed to know just exactly what it was that they were going to contribute to the functioning of the Respite Centre and who specifically from MDAN was going to run the Centre. At this stage they had not really discussed this situation so we arranged another meeting to happen the following week. Considering both MDAN and SWAP Inc had not met until now, a lot of issues were settled in the meeting and the next meeting was going to be crucial if the Respite Centre was going to go through. We have agreed to fund the MDAN office for another year, with no additional costs added.
Exciting news is that Manju from MDAN is going to be an expectant mother (pictured above) in April.
Following the meeting, SWAP Inc left and on the way home, Narayan pointed out specific areas that could be a possible location for the Respite Centre.
And to finish the day, myself, Monique and Stephanie went to Dhulikiel for dinner. Unfortunately the mountains were not on display but the food was. Or as Stephanie explained through chunks of food "AWESOME".

Are we there yet....

2008-12-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
first up, thanks to all those who were patiently waiting for some news, like it's only been what a week and a half.
Big thanks to Tamara for providing this service, we are all doing really well and it is exciting to be able to catch up with loved ones this way, cheers doll.
Whats been happening, well sit back buckle up, here we go.
I will blog the last week with pictures and hopefully if the internet doesnt crash it should all go well.
Coming through Bangkok was relatively easy considering what has been happening there, we just missed the whole thing, amen, that was spooky. India was also a concern but we were very safe. Thanks for the well wishes.
We landed fine in Kathmandu (see above) and Narayan from MDAN (Muscular Dystrophy Association Nepal) met us at the airport, it was great to see him. And of course not one to waste time we got into an agenda straight away. Monique and Stephanie were quite taken aback by the whole Nepali airport thing but adjusted very well and very quickly considering it was their first time out international. Yvonne from Scheer Memorial Hospital rocked up about an hour later (Nepali traffic) and we were loaded into 2 taxis and trucked back to the hospital in Banepa. Yvonne and I shared one car (Cam she sends her love, her adopted baby daughter is absolutely beautiful, will post a vid soon) where her and I covered a second agenda and the girls travelled in the front car, totally amazed at the sights and surrounding. We arrived at the hospital and went to our new house outside the hospital to settle in ($5 Aus per night), after a nice dinner we pretty well crashed. The house is great, I have one room the girls are sharing another, we both have showers and toilets although mine in Nepali (stop laughingSteve). There is a communal kitchen and the only thing that was wrong was the fact that they were still painting the place, it's 3 stories, but that was no biggy. There are beds and blankets and pillows and the owner is a lovely man. Sunday was pretty eventful considering the travelling we had done, we went back to Kathmandu, not to sure why now, and met up with Yvonne at the Red Dingo (Stu and Shirley send there love Cam) which is an Australian Resturant and came home.
Right, lets crack into the week.

2008-11-27T00:35:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

Rei and some of the S.W.A.P team members are currently over in Nepal for the next 5 weeks to organize approval of the proposed building and get everything sorted out for the mission in 2009. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Stay safe and God Bless

The S.W.A.P Team

Welcome!

2008-10-19T00:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome!