Over the past few months, even as developed nations around the world push to vaccinate large swaths of their populations against COVID-19 and return to a semblance of normal, countries like Nepal have been gripped by a resurgence of the pandemic. As recent news reports have illustrated in alarming detail, Nepal is just now turning the corner from a severe outbreak due in part to a crisis in neighboring India.
In May, Kathmandu re-entered a full lockdown with strict quarantine protocols and schools and businesses once again shuttered. In a country with an already overtaxed medical system, slow governmental response, and a lack of widely available vaccine supply, the situation could not be described as anything other than dire. But, not all of the news coming from Nepal is so grim! Our Kailash Kids are thriving and staying busy in this new lockdown.
Despite the closure of in-person schooling, our students have been continuing with educational programming through the in house program at Kailash Home; recently, a group of young alumni returned to Kailash to serve as onsite mentors and tutors to our children, and apart from the academic help they provide, our alumni are fostering invaluable connections with their little brothers and sisters.
The children have also been kept busy with plenty of recreational activities including two newer pursuits, yoga and gardening! New Hostel in Charge – and Girl1 program coordinator – Tsering Dolker Gurung, along with Boy’s Home Parent Tenzin Damdhul, have been leading daily yoga & exercise sessions which we are happy to report, have been a big hit with all of the children.
Students and staff also recently gathered an impressive harvest of potatoes from the renewed gardens at Kailash Home. With two new greenhouses and expanded field space on the edge of campus, our agricultural program is flourishing, and we look forward to future harvests of pumpkins, cauliflower, and tomatoes among other crops. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of our friends at the COINS Foundation, this program helps ensure a year round supply of fresh, healthy vegetables for everyone to enjoy and gives our Kailash Kids invaluable learning opportunities.
As always, we continue to closely monitor the situation in Nepal and the Kathmandu Valley, and our staff remains in close communication with the staff at Kailash. This most recent surge in cases reminds us just how valuable our international MHF community can be. Without your generous support, we would not be able to provide resources like in-home tutoring or PPE for every child or daily exercise classes. Our Kailash Kids are happy and well because of you and the success of our Kailash COVID Fund. Every dollar you donate goes directly back to our children. Thank you for supporting MHF and Kailash especially as we continue to respond to a global pandemic that is unfortunately far from over in some regions of the world. It is our hope that one day soon we will be making plans to travel back to Nepal together!
