Help Nepal network would like to present yet another edition of our newsletter to help keep you in touch with the projects we are doing and also the developing network across the world, united to help Nepal.

To get an even more closer look at what we are doing, please view our short documentary. This was kindly sponsored by D2Hawkeye in the USA and Meridian College in UK. The video will help put all of the following news in better perspective.

Please forward any comments you have to admin@helpnepal.net and the most relevant person from the Network will get back to you.

Help Nepal Network has approved the funding worth Rs.3,00,000 ($4,225) for the construction of a library for Shree Shakti higher
secondary school located in Prithivi Narayan Municipality-3, Patechaur, Gorkha. The fund will be used for the purchase of
books, library's furniture, library staff training etc.

The school was established in 2009 B.S (1952 A.D.). The construction of library will benefit 1300 students and 35 teachers of the  school. Besides that it will also benefit 200 teachers participating in Education Training Center, 200 students and 70
teachers from the nearby school.

The total funding required for the project is Rs. 6,00,000 ($8,450). The remaining fund will be arranged through the school management. The school has started 10+2 education in science faculty and is planning to run the classes for Management and Humanities from next year.

Help Nepal Network has approved the funding for the reconstruction of a school building of Sri Rameshwor Higher Secondary School in Sankhuwasabha. The reconstruction work will be done in a building situated in the east side of the school.

The roof of the building is in pathetic condition with the zinc sheet roof badly rusted. The height of the room needs to be increased and windows need to be added for proper ventilation. The room gets very warm during the summer and very cold during the winter. HeNN will be providing Rs. 2,51,250 ($3,538) out of Rs.3,35,000 ($4,718) required for the project. The rest of the funding will be managed through school management and the school re-construction committee.

The re-construction work is expected to finish in two from its start date. The school was established in 2008 B.S (1951 A.D.). It is presently providing education to students up to class 12. Altogether there are 687 students studying in this school.

Help Nepal Network has approved funding for 'Light-up Humla' project. This project aims to bring light to people of Humla who reside in extreme rural himalayan sector, through solar light. The project will be completed with concerted effort of SLIDC (Snow Land Integrated Development Centre), solar companies, local people who are actively involved for the project and other supporters.

This campaign "Light-up Humla" provided light to 50 houses in 2061 B.S. (2004 A.D.), work is taking place to provide light to 500 houses and 5000 houses are planned to acquire light by 2063 B.S. (2006 A.D.)

HeNN will be providing Rs. 4,00,000 ($5,633) to light 100 houses of Humla people.

Help Nepal Network with intention to help children who are affected by the ongoing conflict back home has initiated  special project under the name 'CIC Project'. CIC stands for "Conflict Impacted Children". HeNN recently received a  proposal from Helpless Service Nepal Bharatpur, Chitwan in regards to support conflict impacted children. HeNN  instantly recognized the splendid work being carried out by Helpless Service Nepal and decided to approve the proposal. The project includes providing basic required materials such as books, clothes, shoes, copy , pencils etc. to the children for one year.

Helpless Service Nepal has been housing 83 children. Many of them have lost one or both the parents. Those  whose parents are alive are too poor to support their son/daughter. The organization is headed by a social worker  Mrs. Sarswati Poudel whose husband lost his life due to ongoing conflict.

The children are from Bharatpur, Tadi, Parsa and many adjoining villages of Bharatpur, Chitwan. HeNN contributed half of the total funding, Rs. 4,15,000 ($5,845), required for the project.

Help Nepal Network had reacted by deciding to release Rs. 3,00,000 ($4,225) when Kantipur daily published an article about the dilapidated condition of Sarswati Primary school in Ghanjhari Pipal-8, Salyan. The project is now in progress. Three ropanies of land has been bought. Wooden work such as construction of doors, windows etc. have also been completed. Among 24 houses present in the vicinity of the school, members of each house have generously accepted to provide labor work for 15 days.

The construction of Rana Devi Primary School in Panchakanya Village Development Committee, Ward No. 1, Sunsari District is now in full swing. HeNN contributed Rs. 2,20,000 (US$ 3136) out of a total of Rs. 7,31, 556.58 (US$ 10428) estimated for the project. The project is expected to provide decent school environment for 5 teachers and 205 students who are currently studying in this school.

As part of HeNN's effort to help Conflict-Impacted Children of Nepal, the Network has launched a Bhai-Bahini programme.

A child of Nepali origin or any child in the world will support another child who has been impacted by the conflict in Nepal until they become capable of living their own lives and supporting themselves financially.

We encourage you to contribute 33 cents a day (US $120 per annum) for this pious cause. For more details either write to Muna Joshi on admin@helpnepal.net or visit http://helpnepal.net/news/bhai-bahini.htm.

A group of musicians from around the UK have set two new world records-The world's longest gig  and The worlds highest gig. Both were in aid of a children shelter in Nepal . Oz Bayldon and his friends performed for close to 44 hours continuously from 1418 Sunday 18th September 2005 to 0950 Tuesday 20th September 2005 at the Soho Lounge in London.

Setting world record: Members of ‘The Hidden Band' and others performing at Kala Pattar above the Everest Base Camp last month

The musicians have also just performed to a crowd of 100 at the Everest base camp and subsequently broken the Worlds Highest gig record.

The musicians formed the Nepal Balbalika Trusts with the aim to raise money for the Nepalese children shelter, in partnership with the Help Nepal Network. The Shelter will be located on the outskirts of Kathmandu . It will give at least fifty children a place to call home. They will be given an education and taught skills that will ensure they are able to look after themselves once they leave the s helter.

Help Nepal extends it's congratulations to the musicians for achieving their set goal and in the process helping children in Nepal.

Help Nepal International day was celebrated in Vienna, Austria on 22nd of October,2005. The participation of the children during the program was significant. They raised 100 euro as donation. Some of them talked of the plight of children in Nepal and appealed other children to help deprived children back home. The scene turned emotional when the children donated 2-3 euro each from their pocket money.

HeNN International Day Celebration

Help Nepal Network - Australia celebrated the annual Help Nepal International Day in both Sydney and Melbourne in the last week of August and the first week of September respectively.

The programmes in Australia raised over AU$8,500, with Sydney raising AU$5,000 and Melbourne AU$3,500.

In Melbourne, around 130 people participated in the dinner cum seminar/cultural programme. HeNN documentary left an excellent impression on the participants. There were also Nepalese products on display, which were sold on auction during the function.

Senior Detective Nick Farr of Victoria, who scaled Mount Everest earlier this year, said that organizations like HeNN provided the opportunity to help the disadvantaged communities in Nepal. Graeme Kent of Oz Quest, a non-profit organisation that takes young people abroad for development projects, said he looked forward to working with HeNN. Honorary Consul Simon Hill was also present on the night and spoke very high of HeNN.

Simlarly, in Sydney, a glorious spring day brought together the Nepalese community and Australian supporters of HeNN, including the Honorary Consul General Christine Gee.

FDifferent activities were conducted during the program including screening of the documentary, Daughters of Everest, by Sapana Sakya and Ramayat Limbu, Screening of the HeNN documentary on the introduction of HeNN and its projects in Nepal, exhibition of project images etc.

Tara Shrestha welcomed the guests and this was followed by a few words by the Honorary Consul and Indra Ban. Harsha Gautam presented the annual report and Hari Devkota gave a vote of thanks to all sponsors and well wishers.

Simon Bond, a keen Nepalese enthusiast, will be trekking the Australian Alps to raise funds for the Help Nepal Network. The six week trek will start within a month. He will deposit hidden food supplies along the track at certain points using a GPS and will be living in a tent. More information is available here. Simon has been given a certificate of appreciation by HENN-Australia for his contribution as a volunteer to HENN activities in Nepal.

HeNN Australia has signed a MoU this year to support projects in the area of health and education. The two will jointly undertake a project this year. OzQuest will provide volunteers from Australia and some resources whereas HeNN will act as a project champion and coordinate local resources. On behalf of HeNN, HeNN-Australia signed the MOU and believes that this MOU will help volunteer program in the long run.

After Sydney, the city of Perth has officially joined HeNN-Australia and is now a part of HENN. The Nepalese community in Perth are in the starting phase of forming a team. They are planning to hold a get together and show the HENN documentary during Dashain/Tihar in October.

HeNN-Ireland

HeNN-Ireland (HeNN-I) celebrated HeNN International Day-2005 on 31st July. HeNN-I team collected around 200 euro as a donation for HeNN activities. All the executive committee members of Nepal Ireland Society were also present. They decided to take 'Help Nepal Network' as a channel to support the homeland. After this decision, Nepal Ireland Society will be a supporting backbone for all HeNN-I activities.

Nepal Ireland Society, at present is the only registered Nepalese society in Ireland that represents around 300 Nepalese living all over the country.

In another development, HeNN-Ireland treasurer Mr. Aanand Kumar handed over 700 euro to HeNN-Nepal treasurer Mr. Ramanath Shrestha in HeNN office in Kathmandu. This amount has been utilized for Chitwan project.

HeNN Chapter of Russia and CIS countries celebrated the Help Nepal International Day on 12th June, 2005 in a natural surrounding near Moscow city.

Since 12th June is also the Russia Day, it attracted a large crowd of non-resident Nepalese and friends of Nepal. Around 250 people attended the program, which was jointly organized by HeNN-Russia, National Coordination Council of NRN Association and Moscow-based Nari Nikunja with one common objective – "Helping Nepal".

Nepalese in Moscow are well informed that contributions made to HeNN help improve educational and health conditions of most needy children in remote and ignored parts of our country.

Considering remarkable expansion of projects and increased administrative costs of HeNN-Nepal, the Nepali community of Russia has decided to increase its annual contribution from NRs. 1,00,000 ($1408) to NRs. 1,20,000 ($1,690) from 2006 A.D..

Nepali friends of HeNN-Russia are informed that this amount will be used to fund the Kathmandu office.

HeNN-Sweden celebrated Help Nepal International day on 24th September,2005. Around 20 people participated in the program which included local Swedish people as well. The meeting included screening of HeNN Documentary-2005 along with the discussion for registration of HeNN-Sweden as a charity organization. The meeting was successful in collecting 360 Euro. A representative from Swedish-Nepal Society informed the decision of the society to donate 200 Euro to HeNN annually.

HeNN-Italy celebrated Help Nepal International day on 25th September,2005. The program was held in the residence of HeNN-Italy President Mr. Suman Dhakal. The program was attended by around 25 Nepalese residing in Venice. The participants showed great respect for the works being carried out by HeNN and offered willingness to help in fund raising and other activities. The program collected 110 euro from the participants.

HeNN-USA celebrated Help Nepal International Day at the First Parish of Bedford on 2nd October, 2005, amid various programs.

The program started with Pancha Kanya (Mahika Pandey, Isha Singh, Aneka Pradhan, Bishaka Bhattarai, Eyasha Pandey), welcoming the guests.

The Bhai Bahini program was inaugurated by lightening up of Panas by the Pancha Kanya followed by Jayshree Balarajamani’s classical Indian Dances (Bharat Natyam).

Shailesh Gongal, the Chairman of the HeNN USA, highlighted on double pronged approach to our CIC and Bhai Bahini Program.

Screening of HeNN documentary was well received by the audience. Erica Pandey, 10, made an excellent case, explaining why the children abroad should support Nepali children.

Muna Joshi (chief coordinator of Bhai Bahini program) coordinated the program and her team prepared 9 course authentic home made dinner for the guests.

HeNN-USA is thankful to: Ishwar Khatiwada, Anil Shrestha, Niva Shrestha, Sanjeeb Khanal Manisha Bhattarai, Mamata Adhikari, Anuradha Tuladhar, Sheela Manandhar, Sajja Aryal, Reema Gongal, Chandika Shrestha, Sujita Thapa, Ambika Tiwari, Prem Tamang, Jayashree Balarajamani (Classical dance), Bijaya Pandey (Nepali Dance), Sushila Shrestha (Bhajan), Anup Siwakoti (MC), Deepti Bhattarai (MC), Sanjeeb Tuladhar, Binod Bhattarai, Prasanna Dhungel (Lok Geet), Ujjwol Shrestha (Lok Geet), Aswin Ghimire, Muna Shrestha, Subarna Shakya, Anju Pradhan, Bharati Gautam and Surya Thapa (GBNC President). Dr. Rudra Pandey and D2Hawkeye, San Pradhan and Sajha.com

HeNN-UK will be celebrating Help Nepal International day on 28th November, 2005 at Ealing Town Hall. On this day HeNN-UK plans to present- "Schools in the Crossfire". This film depicts the plight of school children and teachers in Nepal's countryside who bear the brunt of insurgency and shows the deteriorating education system in Nepal in a very powerful way.

This newsletter is targeted to give a brief summary of the new projects carried out by HeNN and also to give updates on the existing projects. Along with that, we put different activities that are being conducted in different HeNN chapters around the globe. We hope you found this newsletter useful. If you have any comments, we would welcome them. Please use this link to contact us.