Stichting Veldwerk at Nepal

Secretariaat: 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

Marjon Oude Aarninkhof, Champion in collecting stuff of the year 2003.

Marjon comes from Hengelo and is a certified children-and neonatology nurse. She works in the neonatology division of the Medical Centre Twente in Enschede (the Netherlands).


Marjon was in Nepal before and just like a lot of other travellers she fell in love with this beautiful country and its divers inhabitants. She wanted to go back but this time in combination with volunteer work. Marjon looked at the internet and click....she found our website (thanks to our webmaster Jos Storken).

Marjon wanted to work for one month followed by a long trekking tour through the gorgeous Annapurna area which she booked at HT trekking tours in Wapse. A good combination, isn't it?

She worked with Yvonne and Marjo. In the morning to the Mother Theresa home and afterwards helping the children with their homework in Hamro Niwas after school.


She felt she could do more so she phoned Paul Boslooper from HT trekking tours and asked him if she could bring extra luggage for the children home.
Paul thought this was a good idea and of course for a good cause. So Marjon started to gather stuff with help of her colleagues, the group she travelled with last year, her boyfriend and her work.

She wrote me during that time:
“I managed to get a paper cutter, clothes, shoes, educational material, pampers, baby bottles and other material to take care of newborn babies at our neonatology division. Let me know what you need.

“Hello to you too Marjon” is what I thought when I opened my e-mail that morning!

After some discussion we decided to give the paper cutter to another good cause. This thing weighs about 40 kg and that's just too much to transport without costs. Our Dutch air company allows a total of 20 kilograms. Extra weight costs 28 euro every kg and they don't make exceptions for good causes, money is money!

A bit later I got another mail from Marjon. She knew about this school that had bought a whole new interior and the old stuff would be thrown out. If we could use some of that stuff? And her boyfriend got offered some used Laptop- computers from the RABO Bank in Papendrecht.
Well, these big things of the school are difficult to transport but the laptops are more then welcome. A lot of suffering social organizations ask me for a computer all the time. Now I can finally help them out.

The items for newlyborns like pampers and baby bottles were donated by the Nutricia Company. We gave all this to a nurturing clinic in Kathmandu. And they were extremely happy, for sure because we added a lot of baby clothes to it.


The deal Marjon finally made with Paul Boslooper from HT trekking tours was that she could bring an extra 100 kilos for Hamro Niwas divided over the group. She brought everything in 10 big bags to Wapse first because she herself left a month before them. After the group arrived, we emptied the bags on the roof of the children home together with the children and the Didi. And that's always a big party. So many beautiful clothes, shoes and other useful items (it's almost like Christmas!).

The laptops we distributes too, one went to the staff from the Leprosy shelter. The nurse and dentist working at that place were happy to get it. Now they can write decent sponsor letters to one or the other generous person and besides that keep their administration in order.

Apart from the hard work Marjon and the other volunteers were doing, we had time for a short trek through the beautiful lower Himalayas. And because we were in the neighbourhood we crossed the border to Tibet. And on the way back people dared to do the Bungee-Jump (165 meters down!). The last part heading for Kathmandu we did a rafting trip on the white water of the Bhote Khosi River. All in all quite an undertaking and Marjon wrote a nice story about it.
See "Info for volunteers: Barabhise trek


Marjon, thanks a million for your raving enthusiasm in name of the children of Hamro Niwas and myself. And please say hi and thanks to Edwin and the RABO Bank for the Laptops, Nutricia, Univé, Jules and Irma and of course HT trekking tours.

And just to make sure:
There are a lot more beautiful treks to do in the mountains. So don't hesitate to come again. In your case that can never do any harm!

Greetings,
René Veldt, Stichting Veldwerk, Kathmandu.