Six months ago I found a child dying on the streets of Kathmandu. He had a nasty swelling on the side of his neck and had been unable to swallow for days. Although he is 10 years old and about 4 feet tall, due to severe dehydration he weighed only 15 kilos when we admitted him to the Kanti Children’s Hospital. Today Rajesh is happy and healthy, and living safely in the loving environment of the Children’s Home Dallu. Rajesh had never been to school before. When his father died his mother brought him to Kathmandu, and unable to care for him she abandoned him on the streets. He had been living rough, sleeping on the streets, begging for food, for more than a year when I stumbled upon him.
When I found Rajesh unconscious under a filthy blanket on that fateful day, my only connection with the Orphanage was my infrequent donations to “members” who go around houses soliciting donations. I contacted them immediately after I found Rajesh, and they cared for him while he was in hospital; for as you may know, when you stay in a hospital in Kathmandu you must have a relative or friend in 24 hour attendance. When Rajesh was discharged from hospital he recuperated at my home and then settled in quickly at the Orphanage. He loves to go to school, and he just received his first report card, he has surprised us all with his natural aptitude for his studies.
At that time (September 2003) the orphanage was situated in a depressing and downright dangerous corner in Banasthali Marg, near Swoyambu where I live. Four small rooms, one inside toilet and no garden or yard meant that the orphans spent a lot of time on an unfenced first floor roof. Thanks to the generous donations of some local and foreign sponsors, and due the unflagging efforts of the Members and two very special German volunteers, Sabine Starz and Carolin Koeberle, a new, modest orphanage has been built in Dallu. We have two toilets and a small shower room, and a small fenced in yard where the children can play safely. We even have a small grassy area next door, where the children plan to play soccer.
As senior class advisor at Lincoln School, I was most impressed when the senior class chose to “adopt” the orphanage for their Community Service Project. Students interviewed and photographed the orphans for this webpage, and organized a clothes drive that netted the orphans sufficient warm clothing to get them through the cold Kathmandu winter. We also took the children to the Zoo for a picnic. It was hard for me to tell who was enjoying it more, the orphans, none of whom had ever been to the Zoo before, or the seniors of Lincoln School who made the day so memorable for their underprivileged wards. It is the intention of the senior class to find sponsors for every child at the orphanage. The students of the senior class at Lincoln have wonderful plans to improve the living conditions of the children, and every Saturday a few accompany me to the orphanage to play and hang-out with the children
Although Children’s Home Dallu is recognized by the Nepali Government, it receives no income from the State but continues to operate only because of the generosity of the community both local and expatriate. With so much poverty in our beloved Nepal and with the rising numbers of children displaced and orphaned by the on-going violence here, do please consider sponsoring a child, remembering that they are the future of this country.