Sad News

This month we have some very sad news to convey, as many of you were aware, our therapists Chiran and Laxmi were expecting a baby at the end of June. Their boy, Endeavour, was born on 19^th with a healthy weight but sadly died just 35 hours later in the hospital after contracting meningitis. Obviously both parents are devastated and still struggling to make sense of such a traumatic event.

Andrew – our latest volunteer was here alone with them (we had left for the UK 10 days previously) and coped bravely, providing the support and compassion they needed in the early stages of their grief and shock. We are immensely grateful for this – and relieved that he was there in our absence. We returned as fast as we could (unfortunately not quite fast enough to catch Andrew before his departure back to Sydney) and can see that he has had a very positive and supportive influence, and forged deep and lasting bonds with staff and students alike. Sneha and Didi (aka Bhagwati) also did (and are continuing to do) an amazing job looking after Laxmi and Chiran, and the Seeing Hands family in Kathmandu is now much stronger as a result.

In happier news...
The students are making excellent progress (thanks again to Andrew) and are now extremely well acquainted with Henry, our skeleton. Their level of English is much better than previous student intakes, and this is allowing us to teach the course in more depth and really test their understanding.

Pictured is some origami (a basket and helicopter) made by Deepak (just one of his many talents). We now have a collection of paper birds, boats and boxes and we’re rapidly running out of paper for him to fold!

The clinic in Kathmandu is also doing much better than we expected – now we are into monsoon season it is actually beating Pokhara in terms of client numbers. We are unlikely to break even while the rains pour on but this is a very encouraging sign and the few clients we are getting are helping to keep Chiran distracted. Ramji has also temporarily relocated from Pokhara to work alongside Chiran until Laxmi is well enough to return. He is enjoying his time in Thamel so far (spending most of it playfighting with Sagar!) and is keeping us all entertained with his antics.   

Thanks and a plea for more help!

Special thanks to Andrew Salvetti..again! Also to Daniel and Laxmi Sweeting, a Nepali-English couple who asked their wedding guests not to give presents, but gifts of money for a charitable cause in Nepal. After meeting some of our therapists and seeing our work firsthand, they chose to donate their marriage fund to Seeing Hands and we are touched by their gesture. Right now, support like this is crucial for the charity, which would be running on empty were it not for our regular donors. Income from the clinic businesses is helping to support day to day operations but we are in low season now, and expecting to make a loss in both clinics for the next 2-3 months. We also need volunteers (therapists) – particularly for the first half of 2012 so if you can support us in any way (physical or financial), please get in touch.