I really do hate to go. The trip this year has been wonderful. There are many great memories with the sponsors Jacque Richmond, Pam and Ralph Caraffa, Angie Schutz, Nancy Williger and Reva Meadows. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the kids, the adventures in Pokhara and the hospitality of the BSF staff. They are amazing working with the kids every day in spite of all the traffic, pollution headaches and the notorious redtape of the bureaucracy of schools and government.

I get this question a lot. The answer is yes! When I come to Nepal it is a priority to meet individually with every child we sponsor to see first-hand the child’s condition.  

I also take pictures and videos to send out to the sponsors when I get back to the USA and give out the letters and  gifts that the sponsors have sent with me to Nepal. It is really a fun thing to do, even with the challenges of shy kids who have trouble talking on camera and the difficulty getting a quiet space with enough light for filming. It does take a lot of time since we have 85+ sponsored children separate from those in our Contact Center!

Much to our surprise my dear friend and travel agent videotaped one of the last fun nights with the sponsors on the trip. We had dinner at Gokarna Restaurant in Thamel where we had a delicious Nepali dinner including a little Roksi (a little goes a long way) served in tiny clay cups and then watched Nepali traditional dances and enjoyed good conversation.

The sponsors have returned home from their trip to Nepal, hopefully recovering from the long and arduous air travel and jetlag.  So I am here staying in Sukedhara, a suburb of Kathmandu, at the office building in the guest apartment on the third floor.

Our partner, BSF, rents a large building that meets our needs. It provides for office space, a small group facility on the first floor for kids who need a place to stay in transition to new schools or who can't find a suitable hostel, and a guest apartment for me or for volunteers.

Operating since 2002, Mitrata-Nepal Foundation for Children now has a large group of kids who have graduated 12th grade and are making future plans for their careers or have already started attending universities and vocational programs. Our partner NGO provides personal counseling, career counseling and special workshops to help each child determine his/her focus for a career and assist when interpersonal or family problems arise.  It is sometimes a challenge for the children to stay focused due to family pressures and the usual issues of growing up and launching into independent life.

Newer sponsor Jacque Richmond, who sponsors several younger children, Ruplal, Milan and Januki, attended the graduation ceremony and shared her thoughts:  Graduation ceremonies are always an important rite of passage, filled with emotion by students and their parents.  Even more so for Sunday's Mitrata-Nepal Foundation for Children’s graduation ceremony in Sukedhara Kathmandu, where we celebrated five graduates --Anita, Rukesh, Pawan, Sangeeta, and Pratima -- each of whom has overcome enormous hardships to successfully complete a degree in nursing, hotel management or science. All of them are now out and working and supporting themselves.