Child sponsorship update from Bharatpur, Nepal

Update for child sponsors from the SOS Children's Village Bharatpur, Nepal from Winter 2008.

Dear Friend(s),

We are very close to the end of the year 2008 & are welcoming the New Year 2009 which is at our door step. We hope the year 2008 remained worthwhile & encouraging to you & your family. At the holy & festive moment of the great Christmas & New Year, we, the entire family of SOS Children’s Village Bharatpur, wish you:

“A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!”

We, the family of 140 children (79 boys & 61 girls), 14 mothers, 5 aunts & 12 coworkers, are already 5 years old now. All our children in the village look healthy & happy. They are actively involved in doing lot many activities throughout the year. Majority of the children enjoy playing football and cricket. Some of them also like badminton and indoor games like chess and caroms. A total of 30 children go to music & of them 10 are doing Guitar, 5 Kango, 5 Madal & 10 Harmonium & 29 children go to martial arts(Karate). Amongst the total of 140 children in the village, 139 are studying at our SOS Hermann Gmeiner Higher Secondary School Bharatpur. The youngest child - Mohan Paudel (4 years now), who was 26 days old at the time of admission, has started schooling from this year & the eldest girl - Chandra Sintan (18 years) is doing Staff Nurse second year.

Our children’s club named “The Little Champs” is very active and regularly organizes various activities on different occasions. Some of the programs organised by the club during this year are: Oratory Contest in January, Talent Show in February, Cultural Event in March, Martial Arts Presentation in April, Poetry Competition in July, Teej Fetival Event and Children’s Day Special in September. A Workshop on Child Protection Policy was organized in the village in January, the National Poet - Madhav Ghimire was felicitated in February, 22nd SOS Day was observed in the village on 23.06.2008 with a number of vibrant activities, of them Inter High Schools District Level SOS Running Trophy Quiz Contest was the major event. The President of SOS Children with 4 other international delegates had a gracious visit to the village from September 9 to 10, 2008 during which a Cultural Programme was organised by the children. Major Nepalese festivals like Dashain, Tihar, Sivaratri, Fagu Purnima, Teej were duly celebrated.

Our SOS School was upgraded to class 11 from this year & the total of 491 students are studying from grade Nursery to 11. The school is developing itself as a glare of publicity in the local community. The students have made honorable performances amongst the immediate community schools and in the district. The very first batch of students who appeared in the School Leaving Certificate Examination this year recorded the most outstanding result. Out of 34 in total, 20 got distinctions and 14 first divisions. The school stood first in the district and bagged the “Best School Award 2008” from District Education Office. Every month we are providing Day Care Facility to 30 deprived children, Medical Care Facility to 224 poor community people, SOS Scholarships to 214 needy children & Adult Literacy Classes to a group of 30 elderly women from our SOS Social Centre.

The political development in Nepal now seems stable & tranquil to a greater extent. The government having the mandate of drafting the New Constitution within the stipulated date is actively working for it & we all hope to witness the permanent peace & secured life of all Nepalese in the country. The weather is getting cold in Nepal & this weather lasts here until the last of March 2009.

Once again, we wish you a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year. With warm regards & loving greetings from all the children, mothers & coworkers, I remain,

Yours Sincerely,

Bhola Nath Paudel
Project Director