Stichting Veldwerk

Secretariat: Stichting Veldwerk Postbus 163 1850 AD Heiloo The Netherlands

Tel:+31 (0)72-5339585 veldwerk@wlink.com.np IBAN nr. NL51ABNA0543703266 Attn. Stichting Veldwerk, p/a Egmond binnen Bank: ABN-Amro 543703266

Latest up-date….read all about it !!!!!

Hello to you all. It's about time for an up date on the news from Nepal. A lot has been going on and it's almost impossible to keep up with everything, let alone write it down. So I'll be brief. The full stories however, are hidden behind the subtitles in this newsletter. Just click on the underlined words and belief me it's worth your while to take a look.
But first, the latest news from Hamro Niwas!

The INGO
Finally…this week we got the official status. After fighting the Nepalese bureaucracy and agreements that were never met, we finally did it….Stichting Veldwerk now exists in Nepal too! And that without paying any bribing money to hurry up proceedings illegally, which they offered us several times. Corruption is common in Nepal, but we absolutely refused to cooperate on that level. Apparently our refusal caused for the delay all this time. The Nepali system is led by the higher casts and the people working behind the desks….these are the people that want to fill their pockets besides their monthly salary. But, no sponsor money from us though, that's meant for the children.


So what is all the fuss about? Let me tell you…..
Because we're registered we are able to buy a house and remain to be the owner. Within the Nepali system it's sometimes possible that through dirty tricks property just changes owner because somebody or something isn't registered correctly. Mostly foreigners are victim of agreements “in good trust” when they try to help Nepalese people. As a foreigner you need a Nepalese partner and they aren't always trustworthy. Because of that I've seen a lot of good willing but disappointed Dutch people leave the country. We try to make sure we stay out of those situations so we can proceed with our project for a long period of time. That way we can actually offer our orphans a future, of course with the necessary help from Holland.
This means we can finally buy the land we need to built a bigger home for the orphans. The present home is too small and we don't have room for more children. I'm already preparing a construction plan but that's for the next newsletter.
But luckily at this moment we can proudly say…. WE DID IT!!!!!!!
With many thanks to Gita, the secretary of CCSD, our partner.
Gita and Mummy, for now “cheers” and on to the future.


New computers;
And that future looks bright, for sure when we take a look in our computer classroom. Last month a lot of new volunteers arrived in Nepal, amongst others Mara van de Ven from Holland. Her speciality is teaching computer lessons to children.

I've waited a long time before buying computers because we weren't officially registered. Now that's changed and we can finally put to use the money we got from our Dutch sponsor, Armas Europe The owner, Wil Mosk, already supported several projects for children over the world and this time we were one of them. The 6 computers as well as the children behind it look amazing! Mara brought all sorts of educational and English computer software for children from London where she was recently. All the main characters from Jungle-Book and Whinny the Poeh run through the screen and help the children with their first computer lessons. Even the children that are slightly mentally handicapped seem to have hidden talents that show during the computer lessons. Yet another way for them to catch up with the rest a little.

In other words, things are really turning out for the best again at Hamro Niwas in Kathmandu. A lot of thanks to the volunteers and our great sponsor Wil Mosk.





An other important sponsor; Room to Read
We recently had the privilege to receive a pretty collection of books from Room to Read.
This (originally American) organization has an office in Kathmandu as well. Their objective is to provide free books in English and Nepali to less privileged institutions. Their premise is the use of a library system. Moreover, the books should truly be used by children of the target groups, such as government schools, rural communities etc. Sometimes boxes of books remain untouched or aren't used properly in these remote areas. Ignorance or lack of the English language is common causes.

Well, our books are used in a very fine way. Every day the children take them out of the shelves to expand their knowledge. In addition, our volunteers use the books as guideline for their English classes. The library method isn't applied completely accurate yet, but it is very clear the books are made good use of, which is, in the end, what Room to Read is meant for!

On behalf of the children of Hamro Niwas: Thanks and appreciation to Room to Read.


A Christmas Child….
A little while ago, just before Christmas, a new boy came to live in our house.
He is 5 years old –at least they tell us- and his name is Sagar.
Actually the house was already full with 27 children, but for an emergency we managed to find some space. Another children home “Hamro Ghar” told us about this little boy that had been seen wandering around on his own at a carpet factory just outside Katmandu.
The staff had already tried to place the child at several other orphanages but none of them had the capacity to take him in. One of our own staff members went over to take a closer look at the situation. As it seems the mother had worked at the factory for a while until three months ago she suddenly died. His father, who had left for India during the pregnancy to find his luck over there, never returned.
After the death of his mother, Sagar had no place to live and he stayed near to the factory begging for food. He did go to school for a while when his mother was still alive, but had to quit due to lack of money.
Now he lives with us and as soon as he regains all his strength and is used to his new environment he will go to school. Until that time our teachers take care of him…..preschool is the fancy word for it in Nepal.
So welcome Sagar…our Christmas child…..now it's definitely time for a bigger home!

Because the number of children on the waiting list is still growing, I'm looking around for a new piece of land to build a proper home myself. But that's not an easy task. Sellers often ask too much money and besides that the registration of the property leaves a lot of question marks. In many ways, you have to be careful in Nepal.
Politically speaking it's still a mess in this country and the Maoists build up tension with their terrorist activities. Every day the newspaper shows numerous casualties due to fights between Maoists and army. The local people are in the middle and the king doesn't seem to do anything about it all. In the meantime the number of orphans grows.
Nobody knows exactly what will happen in the near future but in this current status Nepal is heading for a bigger disaster.
The orphans and the street children will be the first to suffer.

A few days ago the Dutch government decided to cut financial aid to Nepal. Amongst others because of the non transparent administration and corruption in the country. Understandable in a way, but the children will in the end be the ones “to pay the bill”
Already we have a few children in our home that lost their parents due to war violence. Also a little 5 years old boy that witnessed his mother being murdered by his father with an axe. He has to spend at least 15 years in prison which makes this child an orphan too. And because of this he needs special attention as his behavior tends to be more aggressive than that of other children.
For them we founded the children home, to provide them with the care they miss and need. A nice warm bed, clean clothes, healthy food, medical care, education, love and attention. Just like a normal family!


Two adorable children
Just recently I was on a trek in the higher Himalayas.
And it's beautiful…….take a look at this!

I came across 2 adorable children. The first one was a little 5 years old girl, crawling trough the rice field on her hands and knees. I asked bystanders what was wrong with her, but all they could tell me was that she'd never been able to walk from the day she was born. When I asked if there was a lump on her lower backside they confirmed it. This girl had what you'd call a spina bifida and that's the reason she can't walk and besides that she'll be incontinent for the rest of her life. And that became very obvious when I approached her.
In fact this girl has a lot of possibilities and chances to become somewhat independent with the right help and support. For example: an operation can straighten out her back, wooden crutches and revalidation can enable her to walk and eventually go to school. Of course she will need a special toilet, but that are not the biggest expenses….at least for us.


But her parents don't have the financial resources to provide this kind of medical care and therapy. So I visited several children hospitals when I got back to the capital and discussed the possibilities for an operation. I also got in contact with “Liliane Fonds”
in the Netherlands. With their help and attention this girl can actually have a future. First the operation and revalidation, than school and the chance to build up a reasonably normal future. Without this she'll always be depending on her mother. I am however confident that the children hospital and Liliane Fonds will work it out.


The same trip I ran into an 11 years old orphan working at a lodge to earn his living. The owner told me about his background and asked me straight away if I could take him to Katmandu and provide him with a home and education. Because, he told me, the boy did go to school in the village but the level was not sufficient and he didn't get any English lessons. This was complicated…..although he is an orphan, he does have a roof over his head, food to eat and education until the fifth grade. Not urgent enough for our home that by the way has no space left for one more child. But….I have good contacts with a boarding school in Katmandu that shelters children from the mountains and provides them with education up to high school. Last year 3 of our volunteers, Jimi, Rene and Femke, worked there for quite a while. The students in that school are sponsored by an English organization and I decided to write the coordinator. This week I got the message that they had found a sponsor willing to pay all the costs involved to put him in school. Tadaaaa…… This boy can go to school without having to work for a living besides that. Again a small success and a good ending to a wonderful mountain trip!


Doctor in the house
Last summer we started taking all the children to the dentist. This was a small financial disaster because none of them had ever been to a dentist before. The dentist had a lot of work repairing the 27 little mouths but that's done now and all we are left with is a visit every 6 months for a check-up.


Since a few months we also have a doctor coming to the home. Twice a week she checks the children for lice, TBC, rash and other easily attainable diseases when people live so close together. Doctor Renu Prasaid is familiar to us because she used to work with our partner “Child Welfare Scheme” in Pokhara. With the help of doctor Renu (and in the back the children hospital where she works during the day) we try to prevent epidemics like mentioned before. All the children get vaccinations and extra vitamins when necessary. We've had lung photos made to check on TBC and we've run blood tests. The costs were a little over our budget but this was a first necessity. The doctor did ask (demand) for a private room and her own equipment like a stethoscope, a blood pressure meter, and so on. Well euhh doctor, don't you have this stuff yourself? No, and so we had to get our wallets out again.
Luckily a tour group of “Koning Aap” from the Netherlands past by and with their generous gifts I was able to buy everything needed. With thanks to God Hanuman King of the Apes.


Santa Claus in the house….?
Oh yes. The story goes like this. Last year around the same time we had 2 Belgian trainees Ophelie and Leen and they introduced this Dutch/Belgian festival. Santa Claus is a good holy man from Spain that, so the children are told, travels the world on his white horse the night before December 5 to give all the “good” children a present. Every child puts his or her shoe in front of the chimney filled with carrots for the horse and drawings for Santa Claus and they sing songs just before they go to bed. At night Santa's helpers climb down the chimney (so they look black) and leave the presents. Imagine this festival in our home. The trainees even got the children to sing “Sinterklaas kapoentje” which is a song in Dutch! I wasn't that pleased to start with but why not!
This year of course the children were wondering if Santa Claus would come. So we celebrated again.
In the meantime the Dutch Consulate in Katmandu requested if I would be willing to act as Black Helper at a Dutch School. That was okay but only if Santa Claus would drop by our home too! So that's the story around Santa Claus. See Santa Claus.


Dance Teacher
Since one month every Saturday morning we have a dance teacher in Hamro Niwas. Maybe this sounds a little strange but in Nepal this is not unusual. Dancing is just something they are born with. Put on a Nepalese song and people start dancing spontaneously. This is a result of the many festivals celebrated in this country. It's mostly the women who circle around with grace and beauty but when the men are a little bit tipsy they also can't resist the music.



In our home we have a few children that start moving to every tune they hear and we want to stimulate this. Even our oldest girl that's slightly retarded loves to dance. If we give special attention to that fact we can improve her strong points, which give her more reassurance and self confidence. This will take her to a higher level of life and that's exactly what we want!
However it may be, it's a beautiful site to see all the children dance and turn with so much enthusiasm. We, westerners, wouldn't be able to do the same. Come and have a look one day!


Magic Man!
One day I met a nice man at the airport who told me he was a magician and performed at social organizations all over the world for free. You don't come across people like that often these days!! And it didn't take long to set a date. One evening he dropped by at our home. His name is Sylvain Sluys and he comes from Brussels.



You never know for sure what you end up with, but this man was amazing. The children laughed their heads off and didn't have a clue what was going on. Nobody understood what he was doing and how he did it. But that of course is the art of magic, superb.
I introduced him afterwards with another children home “Hamro Ghar”. Again a big success. Thanks to this great artist Sylvain. See Magic man.


Visitors at Hamro Niwas: Alberto, David, Jos and Nelle
Again we had a lot of visitors from the Netherlands and abroad, interested in Hamro Niwas. Except for Koning Aap, mentioned before, we also had individual travelers, the Sawadee tour groups, HT trekking groups, Summum and Shoestring groups. Almost everybody brought presents for the children and in their name I want to say thanks for all the, books, pens, clothes, shoes and toys. We, especially the children, are extremely happy about that. Last week Alberto Ventorini from Italy was passing by, with a big bag filled with presents for our children. Thanks you so much Alberto, in name of our children.


But also David Setka from Canada comes to see our nice Children home, see David's story.
And our webmaster Jos Storken and his wife Nelle also paid us a visit. Now Jos could see for himself what he spent all his free time on every night. Nelle wrote her own vision about there visit, look here!


New Teacher
Since May this year we had a teacher attached to the house. She did a kind of remedial teaching with the children that stayed home from school. She was a woman in need of help with two children but her English was bad which was unfortunate because the children have to learn English as well.


Remedial Teaching is meant for children with learning problems. They need extra attention which we tried to provide in hiring her. The teacher had problems with the small group of children and she raised her voice too often. We talked to her about that but it didn't seem to help. One day one of the children had a red mark in his face and the imprint of a ballpoint in his hand. We're sorry but we had to let her go, she just didn't understand what we were trying to accomplish with this class.



Now we have a new teacher and she seems to do a lot better. She is very motivated and sweet for the little ones. So that gives us more perspective. In the meantime we hired a second teacher. A lot of the children still in the house need individual attention. This was too much work for just one teacher.
Next April the children can be enrolled in school, we hope by that time they are ready to start at the proper level.

In the afternoon our volunteers help the children with their homework and English lessons. After that they play some games. This resulted in good grades and a lot of them are first, second or third best of their classes. That can only be a good sign!


Last but not least: The Volunteers
Yep, the volunteers. Their number grows each year and they play a very big part in our work. Besides the work they do in our home, they are also involved with numerous other organizations where their help is more than welcome. For instance with the Mother Theresa institutions in Katmandu, the children home Hamro Ghar and the attached Contact Center. I would like to thank all the volunteers for their devotion and enthusiasm and for all the extra things they brought for our home. A lot of thanks too for all the volunteers in the Netherlands, the members of the board, our webmaster Jos Storken and our web host Peter Bekker. And of course everybody else that in one way or the other supported our children home. I hope you had a good holiday and I wish you all the best for 2004.

• Julie Seynaeve and Janneke van Dijk
• Yvonne van den Berg
• José Detollenaere
• Arina van Eck
• Marjo Jenniskens
• Thijs van Bokkem en Roos Dusseljee
• Marjon Oude Aarninkhof

IBAN nr. NL51ABNA0543703266
Bank: ABN AMRO 543703266
T.a.v. Stichting Veldwerk p/a Egmond Binnen