Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Funding for Blessings in a Backpack

Initially our aim was to provide 100 students in Nepal with a backpack full of school supplies. But after visiting the schools here in Nepal, we decided that we want to impact more lives. There for with the hope of receiving fundings from business corporations in Nepal we raised the bar to 320 students. Our first donor was Machhapuchchhre Bank Limited who gave us NPR 15,000 to support our cause. We are very grateful to the Bank and the management who made this possible. 

Monday, May 30, 2011

Clothing and Toy Drive at Rupy's International

There are a lot of times that I buy things which I never end up using and there are so many things that are just lying in my room. As I am writing this, I know I am not alone. Few months back we decided that we would conduct a clothing drive in Kathmandu to benefit the people in far western part of Nepal. We have been spreading words to our family and friends asking them to donate cloths and toys. Today I went to Rupy's International School and talked to the students there. We talked about what the drive is all about. The principal of the school said, "It may just be another shirt for you or a toy that is collecting dust in your room, but to the people who cant afford to buy a shirt or have never had a chance to play with a toy, its going to mean a lot to them." We came to a conclusion that giving up something that we aren't using and watching a smile come on someone's face will will be a priceless moment. The school very kindly has agreed to conduct a two week long clothing and toy drive which will be co-ordinated by Ms. Geeta Puri and the student council. The drive will end on the 15th June, 2011 and the representatives from MLB will collect the donations from the school.

On behalf of Making Lives Better I would like to thank Mrs. Rupy Singh (Owner/Founding Director), Mr. Chandrayan P. Shrestha (Principal) and Mrs Geeta Puri (Vice Principal) for all of their support. Also I want to thank my brother Rohit Singh Bhandari (student at Rupy's International) for co ordinating our meetings with the school management. 

Friday, May 13, 2011

After arriving in Nepal on Thursday, I met with the Making Lives Better representatives from Rollins Chapter in Florida and St. Johns Chapter in New Mexico. Besides our water purification project, there will be three other projects that we will be conducting jointly with them. The projects are as follows:


1) Surgical Health Camp
-Headed by Rollins Chapter
-Location: Silgadi, Doti District, Far-western Nepal.
-Project date: End of may- early june
-Duration: 4 days for travel and set up, 3 days of camp
-Supported by Sagarmatha Health Foundation

2) Community Center
- Headed by St.John's NM chapter 
- Location: Bal Mandir primary school, Silgadi, Doti District, Far-Western Nepal
- Project Date: End of may- Mid June
- Duration: tentative: 2-3 weeks (depends on the speed of construction)
- Supported by The Davis Foundation


This community center will be the only one of its kind on a 100 mile radius and will be equipped with a conference room, multimedia labs and classrooms directly benefiting not only the children but the entire village . This project is also an extension of MLB's 2010 project. 

3) Blessings in a Backpack
- Headed by Westminster, MO chapter
- Location: TBD
- Project Date: Mid June
- Duration: 1 day
- Supported by MLB Chapter in Westminster


Through this project we will provide the needy children with a backpack full of school supplies so that they do not have to drop out of schools only because their parents cannot afford to buy them the supplies. Additionally, we also aim to reduce the burden on the parents.