Sunday, October 28, 2007


Namaste to Simon!

Kind thanks to Simon (a fellow brit who made a generous donation after we met on the Langtang trek and explained our work). Please drop us a line as we didn't get your email address and we'd love to stay in touch. Rob & Sue
Been to the Seeing Hands Clinic?
Word of Mouth is the most powerful marketing tool there is. Please help this project to grow by telling others about our service. We would be especially grateful if you could recommend us to the Lonely Planet by clicking on the link to their feedback form below, http://www.lonelyplanet.com/contact/feedback.cfm
which will help us to get a proper listing in their guidebook. The future sustainability of this training project is entirely dependent upon the success of the Seeing Hands Massage Clinic. Many thanks for your help.

The Clinic Opens!
On 5th October, the Seeing Hands Massage Clinic officially opened (with Laxman and Sarita working as qualified therapists). So far, they have seen at least 35 clients between them - from a range of different countries and the feedback is positively glowing! Leaflets, flyers and business cards have all been printed and (with help from Pete, Nick & Gabby) are finding their way into the local restaurants, bars and hotels. Word is gradually spreading and we hope to get some local and national publicity about the clinic and the Seeing Hands Project in the next few months.

Another volunteer!
Pictured (with the new students) is our third volunteer, Gabby Rogers, a massage therapist from Argyll. After a fortnight of massage workshops with the new students, she is now working hard to increase Chiran and Anita's skill levels - as well as helping to market and manage the massage clinic.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Meet the New Students..
Samrat Gautam
Samrat is our youngest student at just 19. His mother and father live locally (Birauta) and are very poor. His mother works hard every day in the fields to provide food and clothes for Samrat and send him to school. He has been totally blind from birth and at the age of 2, got typhoid. He would have died but fortunately a japanese tourist donated the blood that he needed. His english is quite weak but he is determined to learn and support himself. He also enjoys listening to music and playing blind cricket.

Update September 2008: Of the 4 students who joined our course for 2008, 3 have now left. Two were lucky enough to get teaching jobs in their own districts and one is taking a break due to family commitments and will return next year. We are presently in the process of recruiting new students to take their places.

Saturday, October 13, 2007


We are overjoyed to announce that two of our students have passed their exams - Laxman and Sarita are now qualified masseurs (their results were 86% and 94% respectively) and for the last week, they have been earning their own incomes. The massage clients they have seen so far have given excellent feedback - one lady even said it was one of the best massages she had ever had! The other two students in our first group will take their exams in a few months as they have fallen behind (Anita has missed lessons due to her academic studies and Chiran has been in hospital with Typhoid but is thankfully on the road to recovery now).



The future looks promising for the clinic and the students and it is an exciting time for all of us. More news soon.....