the children of nepal

i am so grateful for the chance to go to nepal this past year and meet the children of the umbrella foundation. these are the most incredible children i have ever met. (and i have awesome nieces, nephews and cousins). the children of umbrella, as well as next generation nepal, are orphans. many of their parents have been killed or are too destitute to keep them. they are also the most hopeful, humble, and creative children. even doing math homework with them is a treat.

these are some of my stories from my trip to nepal. now that i am back in the united states, i am hoping publish some of my adventures, as well as collect new info about how to help from afar. i will be posting as often as i can.

please feel free to ask any questions and do share your stories and resources too!

devi, sima, shakti, bami

devi, sima, shakti, bami
(names changed for safety)

suki

suki
loves his new socks!

sima and lalli

sima and lalli
on the doorstep of the orphanage

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

elections








first of all, thank you so much to all those who signed up for pen pals!
to those who haven't yet, there are many names still on the list, so please feel free to join the program!

so, i wanted to talk about elections today, but i have to admit, the more i read about it, the more confused i get. american elections are confusing enough - superdelegates scare me and i'm still trying to figure out how huckabee plans to change the constitution. but it's thrilling to have such a fiery contest, and it's so exciting to watch college kids rallying around our candidates! (ugh, i feel a gray nose hair sprouting while i write the word 'kids').

anywho, nepali elections? just plain scary. it may happen on april 10. the nepali congress is the ruling party, the royal palace is empty, and the maoist insurgents tried to woo voters by picking up garbage on the streets of nepal (no easy feat, either, especially because the maoists are usually busy kidnapping and raping). but now according to the kathmandu post, the nepali congress is threatening to protest because they think the candidates were chosen unfairly. also, the united democratic madhesi forum is saying their needs are not being met, so one of their leaders tried to rewrite the election orders (by hand).

please forgive me - i know i'm not getting all the facts. my only excuse is that i get confused trying to catch up on the kathmandu post and i also don't think anyone has the full story. but i thought i'd share so we could all appreciate our election process, even if it gets frustrating sometimes (i.e. couldn't nader use that money in a more productive way for his cause???)

ok, please share your thoughts/comments and feel free to visit the kathmandu post or the himalayan times for more erudite coverage (and so you can teach me, please...)

be well! and as promised, new pics of the kids are added here.
xo,
abby

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