Last Thursday it was raining cats and dogs in the Sanku Valley. Within one hour our whole project flooded and our party for the next day was almost cancelled.
Friday was the day of the opening of the day care center, it was a big success and it didn't rain. The atmosphere was happy and festive as always. In this happy mood we returned to Kathmandu.




But on Saturday night we received terrible news. One of the older boys, Madan Adhikari, had played soccer Saturday afternoon and afterwards went up to eat something. After this he called all the other children and the staff for dinner and when they were all sitting upstairs he went down and took his life. A tremendous shock for us, the children, the staff (especially Aunty) and everybody who knew Madan. Our children have become an attached family the last five years. Suddenly, without an assignable cause this family lost a brother and son.
After some research from us and investigation by the police it seems that this despair action happened out of love sorrow. In his private locker we found many letters to a girl from his old school in Kathmandu. A few hours before his decision he made a phone call to her. What was discussed during this phone call is not clear, but it had a fatal result.

Madan loved sports and playing soccer, he was a good student and a very pleasant boy to get along with. He became 17 years old and leaves us, the children, the staff, the board in Nepal, but also all the old and new volunteers and the board of Stichting Veldwerk in the Netherlands behind sad and in enormous consternation.



The first days after his death we showed two things: the magnitude of the shock and how much processing there still needs to be done, but also how well the children support each other and the staff in this difficult process. Putting an arm around someone who sits quite in a corner, or making someone who's very sad laugh. But also by asking questions and telling openly about what happened.

In the meanwhile the cremation on the banks of the holy Bagmati river took place, and the home is getting back to it's daily routine as much as possible. That same day we have asked help from some child psychologists, who visited the house twice already and have analyzed and discussed the situation. The follow-up program has been determined. We also requested them to contact the girl from the school.

I want to say thanks for all the support from the Netherlands to us, the children, the staff and me. I also would like to ask our ex-volunteers that if they have any beautiful or special pictures of Madan, they can send it to me, so I can make a nice and complete photo album.

Thank you,
And for this time sad greetings from Kathmandu,
René Veldt,
Stichting Veldwerk
Nepal.