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Hi from Kathmandu!
We have only 12 hours of electricity a day (and most of that in the middle of the night), the streets are strewn with festering garbage because of a strike by government workers, and today was the umpteenth day of “bandh” – i.e., a strike by one political party or another – everyone has lost track of who is striking for what. During bandhs, all the roads are closed to vehicular traffic except for bicycles and rickshaws. The silver lining in all this is that bicycle rickshaw drivers are among the most downtrodden, lowly, poverty-stricken, bottom of the barrel citizens of Nepal, and when taxis are not allowed to ply the roads, they are able to charge a decent sum for their back-breaking services.
 But that’s not what I want to write about. What I want to tell you is that we have a new boy at J house – I’ll call him Manoj. He just turned four. His father died of AIDS and his mother is HIV positive, as is his sister. They have been evicted from the family home because of the stigma associated with their illness and live in a falling down shack in a rural village. His mother cannot find work. She asked if we would admit him to J House, and although it was hard to separate him from his mother, the chance that she will survive and be able to provide him with decent food and an education are very slim. (She is encouraged to visit whenever she can, and NYOF will pay her travel expenses if necessary.)
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The best – the very best – times for me here in Nepal are when I watch how our children respond to a newcomer among them. Nepali children seem to be born with an inner sense of nurturing. It is never necessary to ask an older boy or girl to help a younger one – they rush to help and comfort almost without thinking. Manoj is always on another boy’s lap, petted, kissed, cradled. It’s as if we have a houseful of young boys bursting with maternal energy. I just returned from J House a little while ago, and he ran to me immediately showing me the numbers and alphabet he was writing with the help of the teacher we have hired to give him a boost when he starts Montessori school in April. She says he is an apt learner and will be a good student. So, welcome, Manoj, to a new life and a new family.
I’ll write again soon and let you know about our trip with the children from J and K House to a wildlife park in the jungle.
Warm regards,
Olga Murray, NYOF Founder
Olga with a young woman supported by NYOF
P.S. Please donate airline miles to NYOF!
Your donation of airline miles will enable our staff to travel between our California office and Nepal. The money we save will be used to support impoverished children. If you can’t give enough miles for a flight across the Pacific, we still need miles for flights within the U.S. to give presentations about NYOF, or even as prizes in an upcoming auction! Please contact us at info@nyof.org or 1-866-FOR-NYOF to discuss the possibilities.
Watch a VIDEO about Olga Murray and NYOF!
Olga Murray describes the dire problems affecting the people of Nepal, as well as NYOF's wide range of projects which bring new hope to destitute children there.
Watch the video
Keep an eye on NYOF’s YouTube page for more videos about our programs and the children we rescue!
