PRESIDENT ARRIVES FROM USA
Bishow Bhatta arrived after a few months absence to return to try to finish the renovation of the infrastructure damaged by last year’s two earthquakes. With your generous support and contributions, we’ve been able to complete so many worthwhile projects. Nepal Children Orphan Home, an independent organization licensed by the government, is truly becoming, if not already, a first class orphanage, an example to Nepal, and a tribute to its supporters.
The first day, with a dozen of workers already hired, Bishow even began working himself on the first day, with jet lag. Here he is welding to make playground equipment for the children, saving money by using left-over metal.
NEW NECO HOME BOARD OF DIRECTORS
On the footsteps of making many management reforms and increased transparency,our Directors at NECO Foundation… our fund-raising arm based in California… have been responsible, who provided invaluable professional advice, which led to subsequent improvements. In Kathmandu, we have pursued similar changes with new local Board of Directors. One of the first steps our President took was to reform the board, some with new directors and the installation of a new President. The board is now more involved; it meets and is consulted on a regular basis; it has been given more authority and power in decision-making; and all major decisions goes through this board. Although our website is still in the process of being updated, you can acquire more details here.
A new President has been installed, Mrs. Kalpana Pokhrel Kandel. She is a lawyer with extensive experience in social welfare who recently returned to Kathmandu after working in Australia for the past 8 years.
On this L-shaped porch, we’re proposing making it into a “Wall of Graduates”, honoring every graduate child from NECO Home by hanging their picture, displaying also their attendance dates. The porch will eventually have furniture to be used for a quiet reading or social area.
Facilities and gardens before earthquake, which are being restored.
The Ward Hostel with new playground provided by special funding. Playground will facilitate children’s slide, monkey bars, and space for basketball, soccer and other games. The high fence prevents balls from going onto neighbor’s property, as well as providing security. Each post is a flagpole, and will hand flags from regional and donor nations.
One of two girls dormitories in the new Ward Hostel. Two also for boys.
Propoesd children's computer room to be here.
This proposed room will be 350 square feet housing desktops, laptops and printer. Above the brick wall, will be wall-to-wall aluminum glass windows facing the Himalaya.
NEW TOILET AND BATHING FACILITY BEING BUILT
Including septic tank and water reservoir.
New toilet, bathing and washing facility for the Ward Residential Hostel currently under final stages of construction.
NEW YEAR GIFTS
Each child were gifted one pair of sandals, school water bottle, diary notebook, and a Snickers chocolate bar!
NUTRITION AND HEALTH CONTINUES TO IMPROVE
BioGena corporation out of Austria supplies our kids with high quality one-a-day multiple vitamin and mineral tablets given every day with breakfast. We also have Vitamin D3 chewable tablets.
Our General Manager and Bahá’í member, Ramesh Bhatta, in New Delhi.
Left to Right: DURGA BHATTA (no relation), DILU GHARTI, BISHOW (President), ASH BAHADUR GURUNG, JOHN (Advisor), ISHWOR BHUJEL, SUDIP POUDEL.
Children are scheduled to spend two months volunteering in India.
Two other graduate girls, Doma and Neelam, are scheduled to attend next month.
ALL KIDS TAUGHT WORK ETHIC
The senior children are responsible to help with the maintenance and care of our compound. Here the older boys clean our fish pond. Usually this big project is done once a month.
Most all a children are assigned specific jobs and duties, which includes not only cleaning, but kitchen and garden work, and serving others at meal times.
Recently two boys took the initiative to repair, repaint, and remount our fallen basketball board.
Helping to paint storage racks.
Small allowances have resumed for the kids to provide them some pocket money to buy personal things, especially the teenagers. Allowances do have deductions for misbehavior, if any, but it is rare. However, work is minimal because the children are so busy in school, six days a week, plus study times. And then on their off days, they have to collect water from the local Artesian well, wash their clothes, and clean their rooms. This is why we hired women housekeepers to do what the children do not have time to do.
EMPHASIS ON PLAY AND FREE TIME HAS INCREASED
Life is more than just study. Kids have to be allowed to be just kids!
Efforts have been made to change the compound atmosphere, where we thought it appeared too restrictive. Older teenagers are allowed more freedom to come and go (but never alone), as long as they register with our staff. However we must be observant and very strict regarding visitors to our compound. Children in their free time can bicycle, play table tennis, cards, chess, outings are conducted, and five days a week, children participate in sports activities off the compound.
We are also starting to provide musical instruments to encourage the children in this area. And this photo reminds us of one of the world’s greatest guitarists, Jimi Hendrix, who said: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
And in the Herman Unity Room, we have a music system to listen to music and dance, watch an occasional TV movie, and to read from the Eloise Lund Library. “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”
We also encourage children to paint.
And soon, we hope to finally improve our computer system with internet access. Our plans are to build a new computer room for this purpose, as mentioned above.
TAE KWN DO AWARD CEREMONY
Physical exercise is important for a health body and mind. So we continue to conduct Tae Kwon Do and Soccer classes.
Many of our children were given awards, including Ratan shown here, who is an incredible athlete.
Ratan later sneaking up to a PC to check his Facebook!
After the ceremony, NECO provided snacks to all the participants, some shown here.
HIRING OUR OWN
BIRTHDAYS CELEBRATED
Anusha and Choki
Ratan and Sneha
Manager handing over new books.
Kids happy to receive new books and school supplies.
Block at School. Administration putting in new chemistry lab on top floor.
The north wing plans to add more classrooms.
This bus collects and returns the children form and to the front Gate of NECO Home. School is Six days a week and runs between 9am to 3:35pm.
One of lower and upper Kindergarten classroom.
Marharshi English School has introduced, so far, two Digital White Boards in their classrooms. Internet can be projected onto the screens, edited and even printed.
OUR FEATURED CHILD THIS MONTH
Melina was born on 19th January, 2007 in the rural village of Gorkha called Kerauja. Kerauja lies in the lap of Himalayas. Life of the villagers are very tough there and Melina's Family was very weak financially. Melina's father Kanchha Gurung used to collect herbs that grows in Himalayas and sell those and run his family. But he was killed by some other people involved in the same work. It was the incident of 2008 when seven young men of Kerauja, were killed by people of another village in a deadly fight. Melina and several other children lost their fathers at the same time.
When Melina sees the rising sun, she says "There is my father… inside the red sun...watching over me...”
After that, Melina's mother Kopila became mentally ill. She had nothing to feed her children or any ability to survive on her own. Then Melina was brought to NECO in 2009 at the age of 3. Later she started schooling from 2010 and now, she is going to be promoted in grade 3 very soon. She is a very sweet, always smiling plus healthy and strong girl now. She loves to play with dolls. She is good at making clothes for her dolls as well.
Melina likes fruit; mango is her favorite. She rarely cries but when she does cry, she becomes so loud and it's hard for everyone to stop her. She likes to dance and read fairy tales. She wants to become a dress designer in the future. She always stays happy and makes others around her happy too.
So many children like Melina are looking for a home, help, encouragement,
love, education, and to be introduced to a better way of life.
With improvement and expansion of our orphanage,
new infrastructure mostly completed and paid for,
including a much larger residential hostel,
we can now focus and accept more needy and destitute children.
But only if we get support to sponsor new children.
We need your giving month by month to support this long-term mission.
Please write to us if you are interested to sponsor a child.
Volunteers are always needed and welcomed.
For more information or to apply, click here.
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Mail check or international money order to:
NECO FOUNDATION
696 Alberta Avenue, Apt. 3, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 USA
Telephone: +1-650-417-5977
Website Email
(all checks made out to “NECO Foundation” will be earmarked for NECO Home in Kathmandu)
(Examples: $150 to provide full sponsorship for one child per month, $40 to provide for one month English-medium education;
$50 to provide food for one month; $10 to buy one pair of shoes or school uniform).
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