I just wanted to pass my sincere thanks on to Su, yourself and all the members of the Yoga Club for raising money for our little orphanage, that money will go an awful long way over in Nepal , I thank you all for your efforts and salutations to the sun. As you know I was out with the children during April and had a most rewarding visit, in all honesty it was great to see that we may now, after all these year, have finally turned a corner. We have a very nice home which we hope to keep for the next few years, the landlord is very sympathetic to the cause and what we are trying to do, so I’m hoping that will help. Most importantly all the children are very happy there, they love the house and are far away from the noise and pollution and never ending road works that are going on throughout the whole of Kathmandu. Whilst there I had meetings with the Landlord, the Bank Manager, School principals and teachers, this year the £11,000 raised will cover the costs of absolutely everything we need for the coming 12 months, plus a little for emergency tucked away in the bank account ! something we could never have done without the on-going support of our group of sponsors and supporters…for which I thank everyone most sincerely. The new home has as you will see, a very nice little garden which is managed by “the gardening team” who are responsible for the watering and up-keep of the area and the harvesting of produce ! This year they have already had bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and carrots plus a number of herbs and spices that I’ve never even heard of ! There is running water to supply the kitchen and bathrooms [3] and a cloakroom, solar panels provide the hot water so a massive step forward in that area. Electricity supply is still a big problem with power cuts every single day although now at least there is a schedule issued by the government so everyone knows when there is or isn’t power. Most evenings there are cuts and the children have to do their homework by candlelight then go off to bed with candles…this I found extremely disturbing, especially as I knocked my own candle over on my first night ! So, following that little mishap, we decided to invest in an emergency lighting system, it’s a solar powered package and will provide 10 to 12 lights in the most important areas during power cuts, the cost is around £800 including installation and it should be up and running early to mid-June. We also negotiated an excellent take down and re-fit price, just in case we have to move house at any time. In order to provide continuity for the children and maintain the standard of living we have achieved to date, we have made a decision to send all of the children to a government sponsored school thereby saving some of the cost associated with previous private schools, which seem to be more interested in collecting the fees than educating the children, that having said we have a number of school class toppers who are rightly proud of their achievements and their medals {see pics] Having visited the school and met with the principal and all of the staff I feel very confident that this is the right decision. The Maoist elements of the new government are very keen on education, and improving the infrastructure of the country this must be seen as a positive step forward for everyone, despite some of the more negative aspects. I’ve attached a number of photos for you, some will relate to what I have said in this mail and others I thought you might like to see, this is a small selection form the 400 odd I took ! others will be added to the new website when it is finally completed next month, or certainly well before the road works finish in Kathmandu !!!! You’ll probably get the gist of the other photos which include outdoor eating and prayers, class toppers and medals, maths lesson, card making, chapatti production line ! daily chores and a group shot from our day trip to the royal palace. Hope you enjoy them, and thanks again for all of your help in making 2013 -14 so successful for everyone. Kindest regards Terry PS… A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY, OUR FUND RAISER AT THE CARBROOKE VILLAGE HALL WILL TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY THE 31st OF AUGUST, I’LL SEND AN UPDATE AND ADVISE THIS YEARS THEME TOW