November 17, 2007

I want to thank you for your contributions to HCC in 2006. Susan and I have traveled to Nepal twice in 2007 and feel that we have had major impact with the lives of the children we all sponsor.

In September, we were able to take one child who needed an eye operation to the local eye hospital in Kathmandu, and the surgery to repair her wandering eye was performed successfully on October 4th. We also took another child to the local orthodontist to get her crooked teeth corrected, which will take about two years. The children overall are doing great in school, with over half of them in the top 10 of their respective classes.

We have also taken on another project overseen by Deepak S., our liaison in Nepal. We will be sponsoring children whose parents are alive but are too poor to provide a good education for them. We have committed to support 20 children in this manner, with the cost for the basic education at $125.00 per child per year. This is a different quality of education than what we are providing the 30 children that are at the main school and does not include the cost of food, clothing or shelter.

Thank you again for your care and support.

Susan and Bruce

February 4, 2007

Greetings!!

I want to send out a quick update on our trip to Nepal in January. In all of our trips to Kathmandu, I think this was our best in terms of the health and happiness of the children and the effectiveness of the schooling that they are receiving.

During the winter school break (December 25 through January 20th), the children in the past have gone back to the main orphanage where their clothes get lost, some developed head lice and they would spend the entire time watching TV. This year we arranged with the principal of the school to have the kids stay there and she arranged field trips, craft lessons, magic shows, sports games and some tutoring for the younger children. The net result when we arrived on the 18th was that the children were very happy, they insisted on performing some dances for us and they sang some 60’s folk songs for us in English. We spoke with all of the children and they expressed that they felt a strong family atmosphere and they loved being in the school.

Two days after we arrived, we held a lunch for the kids at our hotel and fed them a high protein lunch. We presented 5 of our students awards for being first, second, or third in their class rank. We took pictures of all of the children to update the web site and Susan brought balloons, which were a big hit. That evening we enjoyed a campfire and two hour sing-along at school ("Dust In the Wind" will be forever in our minds) and we joined the children for dinner at the school.

On our next to last day in Nepal, we took the 9 oldest children on a field trip to a town called Baktipur, where they got to see historical buildings, watch a Buddhist artist at work and a potter throw pots in a local market. We all had a great time.

Once again the children were excited about the letters they received.

Susan and I want to thank you all again for your support. We appreciate that you are helping make a difference in these children's lives.

Best to all-

Susan and Bruce

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