Fundraising for Tenzin

I have created an online CrowdRise fundraiser
to support Tenzin - the Tibetan girl I am sponsoring - and her education.  Please visit my fundraiser and donate! I appreciate any donation and I know Tenzin and her family do too!

Click on the link below:

A Tibetan Education for Tenzin

Sharing Kathmandu Voices at TEDx - Yosemite

Today I was honored to be involved with the first annual TEDx-Yosemite event, held in Mariposa, CA.  There were so many amazing speakers....  I just LOVED the whole day, and felt inspired to follow my dreams and really make a difference in the world.  I have been so sucked up by college apps and endless late-night homework, that I've almost forgotten what really matters.  It's great to get a wake-up call!  

Although it's impossible to condense an entire summer into 8 minutes, here is the brief video summary that I shared today:

Back from Nepal... Now What???

My time in Nepal was so incredible and life changing...  I don't want it to fade in to the past like so many other trips.  In order to follow through, I will be working on several things this Fall. 

Interviews - I conducted several more interviews while in Nepal, and still need to edit the footage.  I am excited to complete these, post them, and share their interesting stories.  Make sure to check periodically on my YouTube Channel for new posts. 

Presentations and slide shows - I am creating a slide show with video clips about my experience.  I will present it in my hometown of El Portal in December, and in several other locations soon after... likely in the Bay Area.  

Sponsoring "my student" - Sweet 3 year-old Tenzin Choedon's education is now my responsibility.  Thanks to the generous donations from many friends and families, I was able to sponsor this young student's 8-year education at Manasarovar Academy.  I have enough funds raised to cover her first 4 years of schooling, and will do whatever it takes to pay for the rest. If you are interested in helping, please contact me.

An Adventure in Nepal??? - Immediately following the earthquake, donations and aid were essential.  Now, several months later, life has stabilized for many Nepalis.  Some friends in Nepal said that they felt awkward or embarrassed to still be receiving donations and assistance.  Shankar told us "...taking donation now feels to me like begging.  It is better to earn my money in honest hard-working way.  Please tell your friends not to send money, but now please send tourist and clients!"  

     Nothing would make me happier than to return to Nepal.  I do not know if that's possible for me this year, but bringing business to our friends in the tourist industry would be a huge benefit.  If someone makes a donation to Nepal, they might write a check for $50 or $100, but if someone takes a trip there, they will spend $1,000+ in a couple of weeks.  That money gets spread around between drivers, cooks, hotels, guides, porters, etc.  Then they get to earn their money in an "honest hard-working way."  

     So many wonderful people will benefit... and if YOU were to go to Nepal, you'd be experiencing such a beautiful culture and incredible landscape!  My Dad is putting together a cost estimate for a 2 week trip at Christmas break that would include Kathmandu temples and schools, trekking, rafting, and jungle safari by elephant and canoe.  Anyone out there interested?   I know it's only a few months away, but if 5 or 10 people are seriously interested in visiting Nepal, we can make it happen!!!  Let us know... 

     --->>>TRIP UPDATE:  Life has been just too full to organize a group trip to   
    Nepal on such short notice.  And although I feel like I could drop everything, 
   and fly over tomorrow, most people need many months advance notice to go 
  on a big international trip.  Hopefully we can make this happen in the next year.  

The people of Nepal have become such an important part of my life.  I hope that by continuing several aspects of my project, I will be always be able to stay connected to Nepal. 

Back home... but my heart is still in Nepal

It's hard to believe that just over a month ago I was in Kathmandu.  I miss everyone in Nepal so much that it hurts, and my experience there is always on my mind.  Although it is difficult to re-adjust and get back into the swing of things back home, I wouldn't trade this summer's experience for anything.

At the beginning of my journey, I was under the impression that I was going to volunteer for a lot more causes and organizations in Nepal, but I ended up focusing on just a select few.  Instead of being disappointed, I feel better that I was able to focus my efforts and energy on what I thought most important.  

During my 6 weeks in Nepal, we accomplished many things:

• Taught 12 classes per week at Manasarovar Academy.  We taught third, fourth, and fifth grade classes with approximately 30-40 children per class.  Subjects included; Poetry, symbolism, plate tectonics, solar system, seasons, eclipses, ecology, predator-prey relationships, carrying capacity, ocean life, and more science topics.

• Demonstrated several science experiments to go out with a BANG!  These included baking soda & vinegar explosions, balloon inflation, the classic Mentos and Coke explosion, and the excitement of high and low pressure through the "egg, fire and bottle experiment."

• Played games with the students to teach them about ecology in a fun but educational way!  These included "Bird beak buffet" which taught the students about adaptations and competition. "Sharks, Fish, & Plankton" was another game during which the kids chased each other while learning about food chains, predator-prey relationships, and carrying capacity. 

• Organized and set up weekly movie nights at the Kailash Home and two movie nights at Manasarovar Academy for the boarding students.  

• Led bird watching hikes with the older students at the Kailash Home every Saturday morning. 

• Organized and played soccer with the Kailash children culminating in a trip to a "futsal" soccer arena with emphasis especially on getting the girls out on the soccer field. 

• Created an audio/visual projection room to remain permanently at Manasarovar Academy for use of the teachers.  This included donating a projector, computer, projection screen, figuring out the electricity complications, and tidying up an old room. 

• Visited quake damaged villages to see relief donations in action. This was a crazy adventure!! We trekked for two days with Shankar Lohani through rice fields and steep muddy terrain visiting too many damaged houses to count.  We were invited into countless villager's houses to eat homemade curd, chai, or Jack fruit and stayed in Shankar's sister's temporary tin house. 

• Committed to use my remaining donated funds to sponsor a young Tibetan girl's education for 8 years.  Tenzin Choedon is three years old and her poor family could not afford to pay for her education.  The funds are only enough to pay for four years, but I am determined to raise enough to get her all the way from Nursury through class Five.  Any additional donations are greatly appreciated and will be channeled into supporting her education.

• Participated in many activities at the Kailash Home such as the annual rice planting, their bread baking training program, and frequent spontaneous games with the younger students.

Overall, my summer spent in Kathmandu was one of the best times in my life! I will definitely do everything I can to go back, to visit friends and continue helping and volunteering there.  I will always treasure the relationships that I built in Nepal.  

Our fundraising efforts this winter and spring was so successful, that

we have extra funds to share with needy families. We used your donations conservatively and carefully, and therefore have nearly $1,500 still to give. I decided to use this to fully fund a poor child's education, from nursery through 5th grade. This 8-year sponsorship (approx. $350/year) will truly change the life of 3-year old TENZIN CHOEDON and her family. (she is the middle child in the photo below)

Her mother escaped from Tibet in 2004, crossing a snowy pass in the Khumbu region disguised as a boy in a yak caravan. She is now hand-weaving colorful cloth, earning ~$10 per week. Tenzin's father works as a day laborer whenever possible, which occasionally brings in 200Rps., or $2 per day. They could never afford the high quality education provided byManasarovar Academy Nepal without long term financial support.

The generosity of families, friends and donors like YOU has made this possible! We are feeling deep heartfelt GRATITUDE to all who have supported the people of Nepal in so many ways!!!

Our Weekly Routine in Kathmandu

The last month has been wonderful, busy, exciting and exhausting! We have been teaching Monday, Wednesday, Fridays at Mansarovar Academy and visiting the Kailash Home on Friday night and Saturday.  Teaching has been great but a lot more work than I ever would have imagined.  It takes a lot of prep making a power point and or lesson plan each night, but seeing the students' excited faces when I walk into their classroom makes it all well worth it.  

     

We usually teach four periods per day at Manasarover, in grades 3, 4, and 5.  Our classes range from 30 to 42 students.  We've been teaching a lot in the new projection room that we established, and the kids are thrilled when we take them down there!  It is really exciting for them to learn in new and different ways, such as the powerpoint presentations we often create. We also show them science video clips from BBC Earth and Oceans DVDs, and play outdoor "ecology games" involving predators, prey, and lots of running screaming kids!

     

On Fridays, after a full day of of teaching, we ride the bus with the students 30 minutes out to the Kailash Home.  We are like a portable movie studio, hauling 2 laptops, speakers, projector and cords along with us.  We usually play soccer or basketball for awhile with the children, and then the "study bell" rings.  My Dad and I do our best to help the students during their study hall time, tutoring them in ecology, accounting, math, science, etc.  After a yummy dinner, several students carry a screen (...a white sheet on plywood) onto the basketball/soccer court, and we set up the projector to watch a movie.  So far we've watched Spirit, The Sound of Music, The Two Brothers, and Curious George.  

Five years ago when my family spent 4 months in Nepal, my mom established a bird watching club at the Kailash Home.  She has returned several times since then to continue the program and I wanted to help keep this going.  Early Saturday morning, my dad, 12 students, and I wake up before 6am to go bird watching.  I've never really been a good birder or had a desire to continually go bird watching, but spending Saturday mornings with such a wonderful group of individuals my age who get excited about birds, really makes me look forward to it!  We usually hike 3-5 miles, from 6am until 12 Noon, and keep track of all the birds we see.  Several students are really motivated to spot new birds, and they meticulously flip through the guidebooks to make sure their identification is correct. 

We return home on Saturday night, or Sunday morning, to relax a bit and prep lessons for Mondays classes.  It's been a really worthwhile meaningful summer here in Nepal, and I can't believe it's almost over...  There is so much more I still want to do with, and for, these sweet students! 

Soccer, Futbol, and Futsal... I love 'em all!!!

It has been so much fun to play soccer with everyone here in Nepal!!!  I just love how everywhere you look, a little pick-up game is going on and every little boy has on a Messi, Real Madrid  or Chelsea jersey.  I have always loved soccer but these children, so desperate to play every chance they get, are fueling my passion for the sport.  "Miss! Will you come and play futbol with us?" Is my favorite thing to hear.  I noticed that it is always the boys who are playing and it made me sad that none of the girls got out there.  I decided along with Lobsang, the manager of Kailash Hostel, to get the girls practicing then organize a special outing to Futsal, one of the small turf soccer arenas recently set up around Kathmandu.  It was so great to get the girls out there and I think it was a success!  I cant wait to play more soccer with them before I leave!