The reason I've been busy...

This isn't strictly Melbourne related but it explains my lack of Melbourne related posting. I was away in Nepal volunteering in a small children's home. The trip to Nepal was enough to completely change my ways of thinking but working at the home changed the way i feel. Being around a group of children who want nothing more than your attention and affection (and the occasional candy) breaks your heart.

It was hard. There were days where i cried a lot. It was difficult to know i couldn't fix everything for them. The whole time i was there i kept thinking "i am going back to warm showers, hot meals and a comfortable bed and these children will still be here feeling hungry and cold."

i have been trying to raise enough funds to get all of the children into a private school. i don't mean a school with a fancy pool, computer labs and state of the art gym. i don't even mean a school where they have music or art class. i have simply been trying to arrange them an education at a school where the teachers can read and write in Nepali and have basic teaching skills.

So far i haven't been able to achieve this goal... i'm about $1000 away from them all being able to go to school for a year. Everyone keeps telling me that i should be proud of the money i have raised for them so far but i know nearly getting them into school doesn't help anyone. It doesn't make it easier when our website broke, paypal froze our account and i had to spend a small fortune to register a business name in order to open a bank account.

I keep telling myself not to focus on the problems, just think how good it will be to see them all off to a good school. So after you read this cross your fingers for me. I need all the good thoughts and luck I can muster.

And if you are looking for an international volunteer placement check out the website. All the fees go to supporting the children and it is a locally run organisation. Volunteer in Nepal.