Hello Friends, Family, and Web Wanderers.
For those who don't know me, my name is Tom Gilbert, and my wife Fiona and I are planning a trip to Dhapasi, Nepal (on the outskirts of Kathmandu) to volunteer for 1 month at Papa's House (http://www.nepalorphanshome.net/). The orphanage is run by Michael "Papa" Hess, an American who moved to Nepal three years ago after being introduced to these remarkable children. Beyond meeting the physical and emotional needs of 30+ children in his direct charge, Michael founded Papa's Trinity Academy, a school providing an education to 340 children of the greater community without regard to their ability to pay.
Fiona and I stumbled upon Papa's House after deciding we needed to remove ourselves from the "comfort zone" of our daily rountine that is in fact slowly wearing thin our physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. We believe this will be a life-defining voyage...a journey more of the mind than of the body. The main thing that drew us to Papa's House is the smile on each and every one of the children's faces. Too often, orphans are used as part of a marketing campaign; often times the children are unbathed and miserable, with the tag line that unless you help immediately, the child will surely die. While these images invoke a strong, emotional response, I often wonder, "Why can't they even meet the basic need of bathing this child, or give him or her the love and nurturing such that a smile is inevitable despite legitimately having the right to wallow in despair?" Our goal is to support a man, who through his own personal finances, has succeeded in developing a framework for instilling hope in the hopeless.
When you browse the website, you may not feel the need is urgent. All the children are indeed well fed, clothed, clean, and receiving an excellent education. But I submit to you, this is exactly when your support is needed and will have maximum returns. Your money will not be used to fix old mistakes or pay off bad debt. Michael isn't exploiting the children for his own personal gain as happens far too often in other orphanages.
Fiona and I have already booked our tickets and started gathering arts, crafts, toothbrushes, and other supplies to bring the children. Despite that we don't board a plane for over 4 months, we're constantly thinking, "I wonder if the children would like that." Fiona and I exchange emails almost daily with Michael. Each exchange is roughly the same; after a brief update to the previous email, we try to figure out what we can bring with us that would further support in the care, education, and nurturing of the children, and each time Michael responds to just bring ourselves. He never asks for anything, and yet, because we know there are so many areas where we can help, our minds are constantly in motion.
Please give thoughtful consideration as to whether you would like to contribute to this journey. Donations can be made directly to Papa's House at http://www.nepalorphanshome.net/donate.asp or via the paypal button in the column to the left. I'm also "selling" JourneyToNepal.org carabiner keychains via Google Checkout. They were intended to be a free gifts, but Google does not allow me to collect donations as I am not personally a tax-exempt charity. So while I recommend donating directly to Papa's House, I would be happy to collect your donations through the Google link in the "Buy a Carabiner" section in the left hand column. I will distribute all Google Checkout payments once I am on the ground in Nepal and verify first hand that everything is how it appears. You can also discover other volunteer opportunities at Michael's other website http://www.volunteernepal.com/.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Until later,
Tom
For those who don't know me, my name is Tom Gilbert, and my wife Fiona and I are planning a trip to Dhapasi, Nepal (on the outskirts of Kathmandu) to volunteer for 1 month at Papa's House (http://www.nepalorphanshome.net/). The orphanage is run by Michael "Papa" Hess, an American who moved to Nepal three years ago after being introduced to these remarkable children. Beyond meeting the physical and emotional needs of 30+ children in his direct charge, Michael founded Papa's Trinity Academy, a school providing an education to 340 children of the greater community without regard to their ability to pay.
Fiona and I stumbled upon Papa's House after deciding we needed to remove ourselves from the "comfort zone" of our daily rountine that is in fact slowly wearing thin our physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. We believe this will be a life-defining voyage...a journey more of the mind than of the body. The main thing that drew us to Papa's House is the smile on each and every one of the children's faces. Too often, orphans are used as part of a marketing campaign; often times the children are unbathed and miserable, with the tag line that unless you help immediately, the child will surely die. While these images invoke a strong, emotional response, I often wonder, "Why can't they even meet the basic need of bathing this child, or give him or her the love and nurturing such that a smile is inevitable despite legitimately having the right to wallow in despair?" Our goal is to support a man, who through his own personal finances, has succeeded in developing a framework for instilling hope in the hopeless.
When you browse the website, you may not feel the need is urgent. All the children are indeed well fed, clothed, clean, and receiving an excellent education. But I submit to you, this is exactly when your support is needed and will have maximum returns. Your money will not be used to fix old mistakes or pay off bad debt. Michael isn't exploiting the children for his own personal gain as happens far too often in other orphanages.
Fiona and I have already booked our tickets and started gathering arts, crafts, toothbrushes, and other supplies to bring the children. Despite that we don't board a plane for over 4 months, we're constantly thinking, "I wonder if the children would like that." Fiona and I exchange emails almost daily with Michael. Each exchange is roughly the same; after a brief update to the previous email, we try to figure out what we can bring with us that would further support in the care, education, and nurturing of the children, and each time Michael responds to just bring ourselves. He never asks for anything, and yet, because we know there are so many areas where we can help, our minds are constantly in motion.
Please give thoughtful consideration as to whether you would like to contribute to this journey. Donations can be made directly to Papa's House at http://www.nepalorphanshome.net/donate.asp or via the paypal button in the column to the left. I'm also "selling" JourneyToNepal.org carabiner keychains via Google Checkout. They were intended to be a free gifts, but Google does not allow me to collect donations as I am not personally a tax-exempt charity. So while I recommend donating directly to Papa's House, I would be happy to collect your donations through the Google link in the "Buy a Carabiner" section in the left hand column. I will distribute all Google Checkout payments once I am on the ground in Nepal and verify first hand that everything is how it appears. You can also discover other volunteer opportunities at Michael's other website http://www.volunteernepal.com/.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
Until later,
Tom
