The Second Children's Community Library, Saranpur, Chitwan, Nepal, Dec. 2010

 

Saranpur is a village in Chitwan, Nepal. It is a very wonderful village that is located near the jungle. We have many  Empower Nepali Girls scholarship girls located in this village. 

One of Namaste Nepal - Himalayan Children's missions is to support the children in the villages where we have scholarship girls located. We were thrilled when Digumber brought forth the idea of building the next library in Saranpur. It took tremendous collaboration, time, energy, and resources to bring the library into existence. With the help of many people from around the world we were able to give the children & community members a beautiful community library. Thrilling! :)~

 The new plaque for our library ~ a wonderful man in Chitwan created this plaque for us ~ Thank U!

 Young boys from the village loved looking through the books ~ they became so excited and they wanted to show me each picture and discuss it! I loved it... sweet friends... I'm so happy you love to learn and are excited to explore! I want to cry when I think of it ~ :)~ it makes me so happy!

 We provide an enriching environment for the children to explore books of all genres and levels. We also like to provide enriching learning games and materials, including puzzles to help stimulate thinking and exploration. The children love this ~ the children (and adults) value education and feel extremely grateful for every opportunity to learn. We love to help as many children as we can ~ through providing educational scholarships, teaching and mentoring, and by providing community libraries.

 Heather meeting with a group of community women and children. The library is a place for all people ~ regardless of age...we can still all learn and grow!

 This beautiful lady was excited about the library, I told her that the library is for her too! :)~
She smiled and I smiled, deeply!

 My friend, Sarita, who is thrilled to try out the sports equipment! :)

 Beautiful children from the village visited the library to see which books they would like to read!

 Digumber with the carpenters. Digumber worked hard to ensure the library project was on target. He also has donated a great deal of his own money to ensure the quality of the library. He is very passionate about making things very beautiful for the children.

 On the morning of the grand opening, the chairs for the event were delivered by ox & cart! I was so surprised! And I said... "Only in Nepal!"  :)~

 Thank you to Tapasha Piya (Digumber's daughter- Tapu) & Sagar who helped me set the library up on the morning of the opening! I could not have made it without their help! :)~

 Thank you to the students and children from Gilbert Elementary School who wrote beautiful posters and letters to the children in Nepal! They are decorating the libraries in Bandipur & Chitwan! Thank you. Special Thanks to Jean Madden who helped to coordinate this activity!

 I was grateful to our librarian at Gilbert Elementary School, Kay, who donated beautiful character stuffed animals for the shelves. It really helped pull it all together!

 The finished library! And now, I had to run and changed and dressed for the ceremony! :)~

 Community members came from far and wide for the grand opening ceremony!

 Women from the village wait for the ceremony to begin. The sun was very hot that day and we all sat for a very long time, but it was worth it!

 Digumber and Heather give a prayer and lit the lamp for the ceremony.

 Children are anxious as they peek through the door of the library!

 Time to go inside! :)~

 Heather saying a speech ~ sharing about how so many from around the world have helped to make this library possible. A thrilling time to finally get to share our sentiments and hopes and dreams with our friends.  Mr. Karki translated ~ thank you.

 Digumber's turn to say his speech ~ he shared many things with the people of the community. He has a deep passion to help his people in Nepal.

 Thank you to Munni  (Uma) & Tapasha who helped get all the decorations in place and helped me get my sari on as well! One thing is true, when we work together we can get so many things done! :)

The end of long day, the community leaders are pleased with the library and the ceremony ~ These are the members who will oversee and help develop the library further. They have already plans to create a garden in the front and back of the library. I'm thrilled to visit again and work in the library and the new garden!

Thank you to everyone who made this possible ~ to Lourdes and Rachel for their hard work and the generous donations from so many from around the world ~ we are blessed by your kindness and your loving support! Many Blessings to All!

Namaste!

Progress Library #2 - The Children's Library in Saranpur, Nepal

 We visited the library when we first arrived and could see all the hard work that had gone into it thus far. The children from the village are clearly excited and so are WE <3

A few days later and they have really made progress ~ each day they are finishing the final touches. It is almost time for us to fill the shelves with books, games, and puzzles. We will present the library to the community in few days.

♥ Preparing to Go ~ Carrying Dreams ♥

For the Children ~ ♥

The December 2010 trip to Nepal is fast approaching and each day I look for updates on progress on the second Community Children's Library in Nepal.  The first library in Bandipur, Nepal is going strong and we are excited to visit our friends there. The community members are working hard to ensure the completion of the library so we are able to complete our goal of creating a beautiful and wonderful Community Children's Library in the community of Saranpur, in Narayan garh/Bharatpur (Chitwan area). We are very excited to visit and fill the library with books of all genres and levels
~ written in English and Nepali so the children and community members can enjoy.

As I reflect on this entire journey thus far, I am moved by the loving kindness, caring, and tremendous support from many individuals from around the world. People believe in education, literacy, and in helping those who need a hand ~ our friends in Nepal agreed to come together and build the library and our friends from around the world donated funds from their hard days work, participated in a variety of fund-raising activies; two friends ran marathons, a group walked a 5K,  two individuals walked across the UK,  many of us sold used items in garage sales.

People from around the world have given their time, energy, and faith in improving lives through the gifts of education and literacy. I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to help make this happen. I feel fortunate to have such beautiful people by my side....Youko, Digumber, Joseph, Lourdes, Rachel, Paul, Steve, Andrea & ALL Those who have helped in big and small ways ~

In leadership one idea is to always keep your Values & Goals in mind ~ and then what happens in between those two are how we achieve our goals ~ As I reflected on the Values and Goals of Namaste Nepal ~ Helping Himalayan Children I kept coming back to this powerful verse written by Lourdes ~

 The dreams of the children who will visit the libraries ♥

‎"For each child who visits the library, for each book that is opened and read, we will open doors and windows to different worlds. Through each book that is read and each story that is told, we will give children the opportunity to learn, grow, feel, hope, and imagine. We will help bring smiles, stir ideas, foster learning, improve literacy, and nourish curiosity. We will help open possibilities in ways which only books can. I tried putting this in numbers, but some things are too big and too many to be counted." ♥ Lourdes Coronado ♥ 

 It is through these values that we set the goals that inspire us to continue the work of moving forward and to search for ways to meet and exceed our goals of improving lives through building relationships, improving literacy, supporting education through working with communities from around the world. 

So as I prepare to leave for Nepal this time ~ I am carrying dreams in my bags!  I will update everyone while I am there and post pictures of the children in the libraries.

Namaste ~  ♥     

Heather

~ Laying the Foundation of the Second Children's Library in Saranpur, Nepal ~

Construction is underway way for the library. The frame is built and the roof is on as well. Soon this will be a beautiful library filled with enriching materials for the children to read and utilize. Many of these children do not have access to books or a place to relax and learn about the wonders of the world. Namaste Nepal - Helping Himalayan Children hopes to continue to bring more libraries for many children in Nepal.

President of Namaste Nepal- Helping Himalayan, Digumber Piya and the community members from Saranpur, Nepal in Chitwan lay the cornerstone of the Second Children's Library. The library will be opened in Dec. 2010. We feel very grateful for the collaboration and support from all the community members from Saranpur and friends from around the world.

The villagers and Digumber Piya say a prayer and bless the start of the Second Children's Library, to be opened in Dec. 2010. Namaste Friends ~ we will see you soon! :)

NNHHC Celebration Kick Off and Honoring Amazing Individuals Who are Making a Difference ~

On Sunday, May 30, 2010 a dynamic diverse group of amazing individuals gathered at the Himalayan Grill Restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, for a celebration!  We gathered to celebrate the start of our new organization and to also honor two women who are "running to change the world" ~ Lourdes Coronado and Rachel Ishiguro are two remarkable women who are both running their first marathons to raise funds to build libraries in Nepal!

Heather Guay (co-founder/President in USA)  & Youko Amemiya (co-founder/Secretary)

Rachel Ishiguro (from San Diego), Heather Guay, Lourdes Coronado (from Spain) working together to make a difference!!!

Rachel is running the Edge to Edge Marathon on Vancouver Island, Canada on June 13, 2010 and Lourdes is running the Rock-N-Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 6, 2010. Both amazing women choose to sponsor Namaste Nepal - Helping Himalayan Children for their first marathons. We are  honored by both of these remarkable women and join in supporting them as they raise funds to build our second Children's Library in Nepal. We have the second library site selected, as just reported by Digumber Piya, our President of NNHHC in Nepal ~ he recently had a meeting with local village leaders in the Sarunpur area and they agreed to a building location that is centrally located for the community. The library will be in a central location for all community members to access. The community members are excited and supportive. We will continue our efforts to raise enough funds to build the next library and to provide support at our first library site in Bandipur, Nepal!

It is our goal and intention to continue raising funds to create a library in each village where Empower Nepali Girls sponsors scholarship recipients ~ and then beyond! We endeavor to create a network of libraries and support systems throughout the rural regions that will support, empower, and encourage each person to reach their personal best ~ that includes all of us!  

If you would like to sponsor Lourdes or Rachel and help them reach their goal of donating a library to Nepal ~ please visit the website and donate via Pay Pal or send a check to the mail address.www.namastenepal.org

This is Julius Joseph Guay IV, Director of Media and and Marketing for NNHHC ~ he helped brainstorm and designed the current website, created the logo, and has spent endless hours helping us get everything set up and organized. It was quite fun to present him with a certificate, flowers, a blessed scarf, and a "magic" Nepali Wizard wand to help undo all that yucky coding ~  We are extremely grateful to Joseph for all the hard work and dedication he has shown to NNHHC and to supporting the children in Nepal!

Another special thanks and appreciation was given to those who have been pivotal in the creation of NNHHC some of these individuals could not join us ~ and they were missed terribly ~ 

Digumber Piya - Co-founder/ President NNHHC in Nepal

Andrea Kelley - Director of NNHHC - Australia

Paul Hensman - Director of NNHHC - UK

Sneha Shrestha - Director of Student Affairs - USA

Steve Robinson - Writer/Editor for NNHHC - USA

Ramita Shrethsa -Supporter and Director - Sankhu, Nepal

Nancy Compton - Artist and Media Designer - USA

Each of these individuals have spent endless hours in supporting NNHHC from the start, and we could not have put everything together without their encouragement, love, and expertise in each of their areas of focus. Thank you all ~ and Namaste ~

Together we can make a difference  in the lives of many!!!!

A few of our friends who joined us for the celebration!!! More to come!!!

When People Come Together~Amazing Things Happen!

              Smiling faces ~ the joy of friendship and new opportunities!

This has been an amazing journey so far, indeed!  My last post was in the beginning of March of this year and now at the start of May there is MUCH to report! :)

Namaste Nepal - Helping Himalayan Children (NNHHC) is "official" and has started to actively function with our new dynamic website: www.namastenepal.org  and a Face Book Group Page with currently 164 members: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=119867374691159.  The website is beautiful and unique, thanks to the hard work of Joseph (and the brainstorming and development of our other NNHHC members)! THANK YOU ALL!

We also have amazing friends on 43T Website ~ a 55 member team who are cheering two of our fellow 43T friends who are each running a marathon to raise funds for the Children in Nepal! It is all so very amazingly wonderful.

Namaste Nepal-Helping Himalayan Children (update)

Several weeks have gone by and Namaste Nepal-Helping Himalayan Children is starting to take shape. We are still anxiously awaiting our nonprofit number so we can set up our paypal and bank account so donations can be tax deductible in the USA. The paperwork should be here anytime...

In the mean time Andrea, Paul, Joseph, Youko, and I have been working furiously brainstorming ideas for the website and different aspects of NN and potential ideas and topics related to building and running a successful organization. This collaboration spans Nepal,  Australia, the UK,  the USA, and many other countries as well~ we have also been collaborating with our Nepali friends in different villages to assess needs and explore potential projects and volunteer sites. I have been in touch with Biju, our librarian in The Children's Library in Bandipur and things are running smoothly there. There will be opportunities for Biju to share her experiences of running the library with our prospective new librarians in other villages and schools as we build more libraries. This provides a great learning and growth opportunity for Biju, and will do the same for the new librarians as well.

The support we are receiving thus far has been phenomenal! Many people are interested in taking on projects to raise funds and more than a few have expressed a desire to volunteer in Nepal and help teach English, mentor, open libraries, and or do whatever projects are needed!

It is humbling and exciting to work with and receive support from such positive people.

namaste~

Namaste Nepal-Helping Himalayan Children website is: www.NamasteNepal.org
(by the way the website is under construction~ we are exploring different color combinations, fonts, spacing etc.) Paul and Joseph have been collaborating and working hard with all the computer coding etc. It is very exciting to see NN evolving. We are looking forward to great mutual successes for everyone involved!

If you have any suggestions or would like to begin to help with fundraising, volunteering, or offering services or ideas to helping Namaste Nepal-Helping Himalayan Children, please contact us!

namastenepalheather@gmail.com