jenns.world

Jeff I got to know Jeff and the Community Development Network (CDN) during the summer of 2016 after an introduction was made by a mutual friend. Jeff has been working in Nepal since 2014 and has accomplished a lot through his research around Education and implementing computer labs surrounding Kathmandu. Ramita After getting to work with Jeff Lee and CDN I was off an running on setting up our donation link on the site here, and encouraging donations through my Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook posts. I was introduced to Ramita, a woman from Sankhu a town just outside of Kathmandu where Jeff and his cohort Tiffany had worked with extensively since 2004. Ramita was very warm and welcoming in her emails, and excited that I would be returning to Nepal. She invited me to visit with her family and her home in Sankhu. I was ecstatic about the opportunity to visit another place in Nepal and to see the work Jeff and the CDN Team had been doing all these years first hand. Paru I graciously acce...

In March of 2016 I planned to build a home for Nisha, Manish and their little girl  that live at Hidden Paradise in Pokhara, Nepal . In August of 2016 the process of building that home had began and continued until we ran out of funds that Nisha could drum up, I contributed personally, and that friends of mine had donated. We left our story in October of 2016 during Deshain, a month long celebration very similar to our Thanksgiving and Christmas. With the workers taking the entire month off to spend with their families, Nisha and I used that time to get the shop up and running and to come up with a solution to fund the remainder of the home. During the course of the next couple months I had to come up with a plan to get Nisha and Manish the money they needed, but not directly through me. I suggested to Nisha that they get a loan from the bank, and we would find a way for them to pay the loan payment each month. In November Nisha and Manish applied for the loan, which was a several wee...

In March of 2016 I planned to build a home for Nisha, Manish and their little girl. In August of 2016 the process of building that home had began. Nisha messaged me on Facebook while I was working at my contract position in Seattle, WA (earning money for the home and my living expenses) to send me photos of the ground breaking and some of the supplies being delivered. I was excited and anxious at the same time. I was worried about how they were going to pay for the supplies and for the workers when I hadn’t gotten my first paycheck yet. Nisha told me she had money to get started. I felt relieved that they could start the home on their own and provide for themselves, not only since I couldn’t get the money to them but because I want the people of Nepal to be able to realize their potential and be able to do things without the help of tourists or others as much as possible. This was the first step in Nisha and Manish being able to build the home they never thought they could w...

I first met Niisha in November of 2015 while traveling to Nepal with a group of volunteers. We arrived in Pokhara Nepal two weeks after our time in India building a Chicken Coop as a lay over before we headed into the village of Arnakot to complete the final stages of the computer lab the organization had raised money to build. We all stayed at the Hidden Paradise Hotel just outside of the second largest city in Nepal. Pokhara is a very popular destination for tourists as a rest point before heading off to many of the popular treks in the Himalayan Mountains. The city is also a great place to stay as it has many activities including Paragliding, Kayaking, River Rafting, Horseback Riding, and short outdoor hikes such as Sarangkot and to the Peace Temple overlooking the lake. The most popular location for tourists they call “Lakeside” is just a 20 minute walk from the hotel making the hotel’s location a prime place to visit. I met Niisha at Hidden Paradise as she cooked...

In May of 2016 I had visited my close friend Niisha’s village in Nepal and gotten to know the people there. During my visit I felt a desire to help the children attending the local school and Niisha and I talked about helping more of the students and people as much as we could. One of the discussions was possibly helping well performing studentsthat didn’t have the financial means to attend the local University. One young woman in particular, Srijana, is a Daughter of a man in Niisha’s village who is deaf and mute. Because of this he struggled to make enough money to support his family, and was unable to pay for Srijana to attend the University she so desperately wanted to. While Niisha mentioned many other students that are doing well in school, but who’s families struggle to pay for their basic needs (such as notebooks, pencils, etc) Srijana’s story stuck with me the most. I’m not quite sure why, but perhaps it had something to do with the benefits...

On March 31, 2016 I visited the village my close friend Niisha Kshetri grew up in along with one of the guests staying at Hidden Paradise with me, and now considered a good friend Kim (from Quebec ). At the age of 17 Niisha was married to Manish who both work at the family run Pokhara hotel  just North of Lakeside where I spend most of my days in Nepal. Niisha’s village is just a 45 minute bus ride outside of Pokhara and has a beautiful view of the city as well as the mountains just behind her home. My trip there was for the sole purpose to see her Mother and get to know her family more. While we were there we walked around her village to see the local temple as well as the school she attended as a young girl. The school was a long white building followed by a shorter one just behind a large soccer field. The children were not in school as all of them had finished their exams and were on their break before starting the next year. Niisha is a big fan of taking selfies (as most Nepa...