Newsletters

Spring Newsletter 2006

Dear Sponsors & Supporters,

Hello again from the CHANCE Team.

We are pleased to bring you news in this issue of our growing community projects activity, the first “CHANCE of a lifetime” trek in Nepal and of course an update on the sponsorship programme.

We have just returned from a month in Nepal with a packed itinery which took us to Everest, visiting families and networking with senior development officials.

Our trip was opportunely timed between the election period and the more recent “agitation”. The situation has been very volatile in the last few months and I am sure many of you have kept up to date with the news. Further information on the political situation and impacts of the recent activities also feature later.

The charity continues to be hugely successful and for that we owe much to you – our supporters.

Namaste!

Tina, Cheryl & Nigel
CHANCE Trustees

Parcels Delivered – Thank you for contributions

During the Field Visit to Kathmandu a parcel was made up for each of the children. These contained donated clothes and books. Each parcel was carefully put together to ensure the donated gifts were put to best use and appropriate for the children.

As always the families were extremely grateful for the gifts and the children were also pleased with their extra homework books!

Books and educational toys are the most useful things we can provide for the children to help with their development. If you have any unwanted items please contact one of the Trustees.

Spring / Summer 2006 Key Dates

CHANCE Dates

• May 5th Coffee Morning, Kingstone
• June 23rd – July 2nd - Pateley Bridge Festival Nepali Craft Sales
• July 13th Ladies who do Lunch & Hats! Zzzzzzzzz (Hat Fashion Show) Ludlow

Key National Festivals/Dates

• April – New School Year Starts in Nepal
• April – Nepali New Year
• May – Buddha’s Birthday

	Sherpa boys playing with a new jigsaw and alphabet snap cards.
Mondira models a new hat.
	Lhakpa Doma indulged in writing with her new crayons.

New Faces

We are pleased to welcome some new faces to the CHANCE family. This Spring we shall be admitting 3 new children to school and a fourth child previously without a sponsor has now received help.

• Riya. Riya is one of many children who have fallen victim to the civil conflict. She and her family were in a bus that was blown up by the Maoists. Her father was killed and she lost a hand – but managed miraculously to survive.
  This spring she will be admitted to school and we wish her all the best.
• Anjan Moktan. Son to a single parent mother now thankfully has a sponsor.
• Pasang Sherpa. Pasang Sherpa is a 5 year old boy now ready to start school. He will follow his elder sister in joining the Children’s Model School where we hope he will enjoy his primary years.
• Sanju Rai. Our fourth new face starts school on Sunday 30th April. Good Luck!

The Kingdom of Nepal – but for how long?

You have probably been unable to escape the media attention that has enveloped Nepal and Kathmandu over the last few weeks. The recent agitation has been caused by the ongoing conflict between the Monarchy, the Maoist movement and the 7 alliance party.

Firstly we would like everyone to be reassured that all of the CHANCE family in Nepal – recipients, supporters and workers alike are all safe and well.

The Monarch has now under pressure made a commitment to hand back governance to the coalition who were the last democratically elected government. The parliament re-opened on Saturday 29th April. This group will now review the constitution and be responsible for any reforms relating to the Monarchy and the Government’s Rights. One of the pre-requisites of this reform will need to be the realignment of the military to become under government rule rather the monarchy. Otherwise dictatorial actions that we have seen in the last 2 years will always be a threat.

The major questions that remain are whether the government officials with this historic task ahead will be influenced or manipulated by bribes to allow the continuance of Monarchy Rights. Corruption unfortunately is a great threat to the revolutionary change in this ancient Kingdom. Secondly, unless the Maoists are given a voice on the governing alliance body there remains a real concern that their terrorist activities will turn once again against the government.

There is a real appetite for change and reform. The Nepali people were organised in there demonstrations, every household committing a representative to share in the peoples voice. Slowly they have influenced the change so far and there is optimism that this will continue. For the first time the people of Nepal have stood out with a voice of strength and said No to the monarchy, No to the Maoists and stood up for themselves. Only time will tell if they find peace in the Kingdom or whether Nepal becomes a Republic.

Teacher Training

Our passion to invest in teacher training has evolved to a huge amount of research on how best to develop a policy to help support this area of Education. We are in discussions with VSO Advisor to the Ministry of Education, the Country Director of Nepal for the UN, World Organisation and Save the Children. We want to ensure that the project we set up works in synergy with other agencies and supports the development of infra-structure in Nepal.

There is currently only one teacher training establishment in Nepal which, not surprisingly is in the Kathmandu Valley. There are two ways for us to invest with this activity – firstly to support training of teachers in Kathmandu and secondly to help develop the satellite branches of the NCED (National Council of Educational Development) teacher training facility into rural districts. This project continues to be discussed with our network of development agents and we will bring you news of our policy as it develops.

This area is one we feel very passionately about, by providing one effective teacher we hope to help hundreds of children. Thanks you to those who have bought any Nepal crafts from us – the proceeds from which will be supporting this activity.

Fund Raising Update

Nepali Craft Sales

This year we are continuing to sell Nepali Goods:

Pashmina, Scarves, Cards, Jewellery & Bags

If you would like to hold a house party please call Tina: 01423 712 663

All these products are bought on a fair trade basis – providing income to needy third world families, and are sold at fair prices to the supporters of CHANCE.

Talks

We also do talks to WI, Rotary, Ladies groups, Outdoor Clubs, Schools etc. Topics include:

• Trekking for the over 60’s!
• Exploring the Himalaya – Everest, Ladakh & Annapurnas
• Volunteering in Nepal
• How the other half live

If you are interested please contact
Cheryl: 01889 500653

If you have been inspired or have any bright ideas for fund raising please contact either Tina: 01423 712 663 or Cheryl: 01889 500 653.