Thursday, May 23, 2013

Recent Renovations


There have been several changes during the last three years following generous donations from different groups.  The biggest and possibly the most important change occurred when the Red Cross building was finally completed so we could move in and establish a clinic.

 The space at BFCC could then be used by the rapidly expanding kindergarten.  At the start there were only three children, but now the class sometimes has twenty children.  The older students love teaching them.
Niru outside BFCC in 2003.  At that stage there was only one room
The open door to the right was the Red Cross office
This was the BFCC at the end of 2012.  The roller door leads to the kindergarten area.  Dipesh is standing in the space which has been used for the new room.



Recently a third room has been built into the space beside the path to the front door.
The most recent addition to BFCC giving us a third room
The first three who arrived following the rumour there could be a kindergarten at BFCC.
A few weeks later there were twenty posible kindergarten age children  who attended  the class


The clinic in 2010 before it was finished


Latrobe working in the community

Learning to play the guitar

A visit to Yagamati School to meet the Headmaster and classes

Teaching in BFCC


Visiting the dog rescue centre.  Dogs are rescued from the street and treated.
A programme to educate the local people about dogs is having lots of success.

Visiting a local school where one of the Latrobe students volunteered as a teacher

Latrobe Volunteers



The first Latrobe group visited Nepal in 2007 and groups have returned every year since then.  They work in the local community and have had a large impact on the local community.
One local school has a new tank supplying water to the toilet and a photocopier all donated by Latrobe students.
As well as a short trek in the Annapurna region the recent groups have also visited Chitwan National Park




Watching an eye operation at Til Ganga
Another donation of jackets.  This is a wonderful gift as the children can wear them to school.

The first group stayed in the Tharlam Monastry Guest House

The lunch with the Rotaract students was an interesting experience


All groups have trekked to Poon Hill

Donations of blankets to some of the poor families

The groups all worked with the Rotary Club of Pashupati

Another group and porters at Poon Hill
A donation of $200 helped install a small hand basin and water tank so the children  can wash their hands after going to the toilet.  We had to spend time teaching the young children how to use the basin.
The group from Latrobe visit Til Ganga (Fred Hollows) Eye Hospital.  Here they are  looking at the machinery which makes the lens which can be exported overseas.
The group visits Sankar's garden.  Sankar teaches martial arts and is very happy to demonstrate his sword collection

Donated jackets were a lovely gift from one of the groups



Sewing School

The sewing school was developed in 2011 to help the local ladies learn a new skill.  Some were hoping to be able to set up a new business, but most were happy to produce their own clothes

Bright Future Health Clinic

Three rooms of the Health Clinic were built in 2010 and this has enabled some progress with education about health with local children and adults.
Weighing a baby.  The idea of a baby health centre was rejected in favour of a general clinic
Junita, the student nurse, teaching about cleaning teeth
Some boys found cleaning the tongue a bit strange
A visit from Dr Doig was appreciated by the local health workers
Teaching about health using a chart on the floor
The Earthquake Awareness class run by the local Red Cross was held in the Bright Future Health Clinic

New Developments at BFCC

A sewing school was begun in 2011 to hopefully provide women with a means to earn some extra money without working on the building sites. It was instantly successful and several groups learnt to sew and hopefully found employment.
My last visit in 2012 was a bit disappointing as the sewing classes, although popular, were not helping many women in the long term.  We have continued to fund the project because it does help some of the women.
We bought a large table, but the ladies prefer to work on the floor.