Golden Bay Friends Of Nepal

Namaste everyone from Kathmandu, Nepal!!

Borders have reopened and Nepal is ready and eager to welcome the world! I arrived back in Kathmandu last week after 4 years of being away to beautiful smiling Nepali people, colorful temples, pujas, stupas, monks and all the other delights of this amazing country. It is so good to be back : ) Bhupal and I had several days of good meetings this past week in and around Kathmandu and I will be going to the village in a few weeks after enjoying some trekking in the Khumbu region. Our apologies for the lack of contact and updates this past year - now with borders open, lockdowns finished and me here, we are excited and keen to reinvigorate our efforts here and continue improving the lives of rural Nepalis! Please read on for more details and donation opportunities. We have some exciting projects planned for the coming year!

(We will send around another email next month after visiting Bhumlutar with additional photos and details)

In the meantine, we hope you enjoy reading about all the goodness your generous donations continue to create in rural Nepal. If you would like to make a donation, details are below. As always, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for enabling all this goodness to be created in Nepal. We are improving lives and providing opportunity - let’s continue!

Namaste, Thomas (“Taj”) Rabosky (Chairperson - Golden Bay Friends of Nepal)

Project updates from Bhumlutar

Students

We currently have about 65 students coming to study regularly at the Golden Bay Friendship Academy. Our dedicated team of Bhupal, Kopila and Laxmi welcome the students each morning and afternoon to learn English, Agriculture and Computers.

Agriculture

Our team has been growing and selling pineapples, guavas, bananas, tomatoes and oranges at the local market in Dolaghat to help pay for costs of running the Golden Bay Friendship Academy - including electricity costs, NGO registration fees, and daily tea for students.

Seedling Distribution

Our team has distributed hundreds of seedlings around the village including a successful propagation of guava trees - highly sought after in Nepal. Guava fruit sells for NPR100/kg in the markets around Bhumlutar and soon the villagers will be generating significant income from selling their Guavas!

A New Life For Gopal And His 4 Children

You may remember Golden Bay Friends of Nepal donations helped Gopal and his 4 children over the past few years after Gopal broke his shoulder in a tractor accident, was forced to return to the village and was living with his 4 children in a chicken shelter.

Your donations over the past 3 years have enabled Gopal to build a simple house from corrugated iron, construct a toilet, provided mattresses and blankets, and seedlings for Gopal to grow food for his family. Gopal and his children are now living comfortably with plenty of food to nourish them. The smiles on their faces tell a thousand words : )

Kamala’s New Buffalo Shelter

You will remember donations from Golden Bay Friends of Nepal built Kamala (a Dalit/untouchable widow) and her 3 children a new house 3 years ago. In addition, your donations provided Kamala and her children with beds, mattresses, blankets, a simple kitchen and a buffalo for income and nutrition. Kamala’s previous buffalo shed suffered monsoon damage last year and we offered to build her and her buffalo (named “Juffalo”) a new shed. Kamala, her children and Juffalo are now all living comfortably and happily.

Ongoing and future projects

Women’s health and income generation - sewing reusable menstrual pads

GBFON purchased 2 Indian made sewing machines this year with donations. Bhupal and Kopila have offered one room in their new house to be used by local women for a sewing project to make reusable, washable menstrual pads to be distributed to girls and women for free around the village. GBFON also hired the local village tailor for 7 days of sewing machine training for 12 village women. In the last several weeks, over 100 pads have be sewn by the hands of village women. Your donations will purchase 1 locally made pad for NPR50 / NZ$0.65 / US$0.38 each. Local women can come to the sewing room anytime with their children to socialize, sew menstrual pads, and generate income. Reusable menstrual pads reduce pollution and waste in the village. They enable girls to go to school with no fears or worries through their menstrual cycle, thus enabling better education. A win / win for all.

More details will be coming in the next update (next month) with specific details for sponsoring a set of pads for a local woman/girl. The approximate cost will be $3-5 per set including 2 day pads, 2 night pads, a carry pouch, and instructions. Get in touch if you would like to know more. More details will be forthcoming.

Women’s health - Matribhumi smokeless stove project

Aim: Improve women's health and provide local income generation. 10 locals will be trained in the coming weeks to fully install Matribhumi ICS (Improved Cookstoves) in villages around the region. Each install takes about 4-6 hours and generates NPR800 in wages for the installer (man or woman). This has the potential to employ 10 local people earning up to NPR1,600 (NZ$20.68/US$12.28) per day. To put this in perspective, a skilled carpenter earns NPR1,200-1,400 per day. With substantial donations, this could create high-income needed jobs in Bhumlutar.

Cost to donate 1 complete stove: NPR3,000/US$25/NZ$40 per family (materials: NPR2,000, transportation: NPR200, labour/income: NPR 800)

Goal: Our initial goal is to install 100 smokeless stoves over the next 12 months. This number can grow exponentially with local adoption and our generous donations.

Local income generation: NPR800/NZ$10.34/US$6.14 in income per stove for a local villager, 100 stoves will generate NPR80,000/NZ$1,034/US$614 in income for local villagers, 1000 stoves will generate NPR800,000/NZ$10,340/US$6,140 in income for local villagers!

Carbon emissions reduction: up to 99% less smoke for women and children, one Matribhumi Improved Cookstove reduces 2.91 tons of CO2 per year in the atmosphere.

Highly efficient - uses 60% less wood (40kg weekly vs 100kg for typical wood stove)

Safety - minimal risk of child burns versus metal / rocket stove

Affordable - NPR3,000/US$25/NZ$40 per family

Easy to use

100% local materials - air supply disc made from recycled metal from Nepal, other materials 100% Nepali made

Maintains local traditional food culture (cooking on wood stove)

Local income generation - provides good paying jobs for 10 local village people

Matribhumi Improved Cookstoves (M-ICS) are supported by organisations including ICIMOD and UNDP. Full details (and videos) can be found here: https://www.mchulo.com/

Current fundraising needs/ambitions:

SMOKELESS STOVES

Donate US$25 / NZ$40:

1 smokeless stove for one family (US$25 or NZ$40 per family) - generates NPR800 (NZ$10.34/US$6.14) in local wages for a local villager

Smokeless stove for 5 familes (US$125 or NZ$200) - generates NPR4,000 (NZ$51.70, US$30.71) in local wages for a local villager

MENSTRUAL PADS

Reusable, washable, handmade in Bhumlutar by local women

We are working out the cost but will be between NZ$3-5/US$2-3.50 per kit (per girl)

Each kit will include 2 day pads and 2 night pads and generate NPR200 (NZ$2.58/US$1.54) in income for local village women

(More details to follow after village visit)

TURKEYS

One pair of locally raised and bred turkeys raised in Bhumlutar to a new family in Kavre district - this year we are expanding our highly successful program to other parts of Kavre

Donation:

NZ$20 / US$15 for one pair of baby turkeys, starter food and baby turkey medicine

NZ$100 / US$75 for 5 pairs of baby turkeys, starter food and baby turkey medicine

NZ$200 / US$150 for 10 pairs of baby turkeys, starter food and baby turkey medicine

WIFI

WiFi for Golden Bay Friendship Academy (12 months = NPR18,000, NZD$214, USD$151)

TEACHER SALARIES

Our awesome and dedicated team of Bupal, Kopila and Laxmi earn monthly salaries combined of NPR 46,200 / NZD$613 / USD $349. Make a donation today to help pay our awesome teachers!

Dheri dhanyabad for your continued generosity and support!

With Love and Namastes,

The committee of Golden Bay Friends of Nepal (Thomas/Taj, Rita and Kees)