Namaste family and friends,

At the end of March Juliette and Samantha traveled to Kathmandu to carry out a number of projects. Read more below about the successfully executed Free Health Camp, support for the orphanage Hopeful Home, and sponsorship of two brothers from Chitwan.

Free Health Camp

At the end of March we organized a free health camp in Tarakeshwor Rural Municipality in Nuwakot. More than 260 people, young and old, received a free health check-up and medication. We traveled in three 4×4 jeeps together with seven doctors, six nurses, and three pharmacists to the village of Newarpani, which is about four hours from Kathmandu.

We purchased the medicines at the ‘Growth Pharmacy’ of Ram Thapa in Kathmandu and any leftover medication was returned afterwards. We also hired a local bus for the day to give people, who live further away or who have difficulty walking, the opportunity to visit the Free Health Camp. This extra service was well used by many!

The health camp was held in two classrooms of the Shree Saraswati Secondary School. Special thanks to the headmaster Raju Adhikari for opening up the school on Saturday. A number of teachers had registered as volunteers and helped to keep everything running smoothly. After registration, everyone’s blood pressure and oxygen level were measured and their general health and any complaints were discussed with the doctor. The pharmacists distributed prescribed medicines and gave additional advice.

In the afternoon Juliette and Samantha handed out colorful hats and children’s clothing, knitted by Harmiena from the Netherlands. It was so great to see how pleasantly surprised not only the children but also their parents were with these beautifully made and warm clothes.

Afterwards we presented certificates of gratitude to the whole medical team and all volunteers. The Laxmi Support Foundation received a beautifully framed certificate as an expression of their gratitude from the Tarakeshwor municipality. We dedicate this special gift to all our sponsors, who donated directly or via the GoFundMe campaign that Juliette and Samantha set up for this project.

Support for Hopeful Home

During our stay in Bhaktapur, located in the east of the Kathmandu Valley, we visited the orphanage Hopeful Home a couple of times. It was very nice to return after two years. Together with Gopini and Milan Wosti, we bought lots of writing materials and we replenished the food supply.

At the wholesaler in Bhaktapur we bought twenty bags of rice, lentils, cooking oil, salt, sugar, spices, cookies, and much more. We also bought hygiene products, such as shampoo and soap. All the items were delivered by small truck to Hopeful Home later that day. We also bought literally hundreds of different sized notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers, and more. All this will help the children with their schooling for quite some time ahead.

We also visited the school of the Hopeful Home children. The headmaster gave us a tour and we attended the morning assembly. All the pupils lined up neatly in the schoolyard for some light exercises, sing the national anthem and say a prayer. A special experience and quite different from what we are used to in England and the Netherlands.

Sponsoring two brothers

At the end of April, for a third consecutive year, we sponsored the two brothers Sulab and Biplab from Chitwan. We not only paid for their annual school fees, but also for school books, writing materials, new school uniforms and shoes. Sulab is 13 years old and is in class 9 and Biplab is 8 years old and is in class 4. The boys and their parents are very grateful for this opportunity for a better education.

We would like to thank all our sponsors for making these projects possible. Check out our website for more pictures, and our YouTube for videos or follow us on Facebook.

Best wishes,

Laxmi Support Foundation