Giving Thanks for a Great Trip, Wonderful Friends!
2019 Trip-goers with BSF staff and Board members
Pokhara
Sometimes I think I am the most fortunate person in the world! Every year for the last 10 years I have led sponsors and donors on cultural trips to Nepal to learn more about the Mitrata-Nepal Foundation for Children programs, meet their sponsored children, and explore the beautiful Himalayas and culture of Nepal. The people who join our trips are the most compassionate, dedicated people who give their resources and time to help very poor children halfway around the world. These trips don’t always go as planned, but I have been lucky because our trip-goers are the most flexible and easygoing!
Ricki and Adele
Sponsors with their children
This year, I had the privilege of leading 6 sponsors and donors, and if you have been reading the blogs, you can see why they are special and wonderful! They all opened their hearts to our kids and learned so much about their lives and their country. Our sponsors also did a lot to help the economy of Nepal by purchasing beautiful handicrafts made by artisans in Nepal! They are hard to resist!
Before the sponsors arrived, I spent my first two weeks purchasing, obtaining and packing seventeen 50 pound bags of items for our Holiday Bazaar on December 7th and 8th. This isn’t like ordering on Amazon! It is so much more fun as well as pretty exhausting, challenging, and complex. With BSF Executive Director Leena Satyal’s help, we coordinated all of this inventory be checked in and priced. I couldn’t have done it without her!
Leena on a hike
The next week I spent meeting with BSF staff overviewing BSF needs and functioning and videoing and interviewing all 90 children in our programs. It is so important that I meet the children and review their welfare with BSF staff so I can share that information with sponsors and the Mitrata Board.
Trip-goers after a meal with some of their sponsored kids
When the sponsors arrived, their first evening involved dinner with their sponsored children, which is always a trip highlight and very emotional. This is a time when many meet their children for the first time often after years of providing support and sending correspondence. There are lots of tears of joy in those meetings with sometimes tentative beginnings that end in loving hugs and great conversation. By the time graduation day came around, everyone felt like a big family!
Trip-goers with Contact Center kids at the zoo
Nine of our kids graduated to go on to support themselves after their education, including Iswhori, the first orphaned girl I found in Nepal in 2002 which was the beginning of Mitrata. I was overwhelmed with the joy of seeing her success. I would never have guessed back then that Mitrata would have grown so much in these years and involved so many wonderful people!
Dancing after the graduation ceremony
Ishwori, Mitrata’a first child, who graduated this year
Our trip also included excursions to beautiful cultural sites, usually World Heritage sites in Nepal and a five-day trip to the resort town at the base of the Annapurna mountain range which included 2 days of trekking.
It was the mountains that brought me to Nepal in the first place, and I always feel so invigorated and happy there. The stunning views and hard work of climbing treacherous steps and hiking challenging trails just feeds my soul!
Glow on the mountains
Christine and Pam
On the way down
At the end of the trip, I felt a connection to each sponsor in a new way and the group built lasting bonds. So you can see that I am truly very fortunate to spend time with these beautiful children, the amazing dedicated staff of BSF, and the devoted and loving sponsors and donors.
I give thanks this Thanksgiving Holiday for all of Mitrata’s wonderful supporter that have come into my life over the past years!
— Dr. Christine Schutz, Executive Director
