“Tidings of comfort and joy”
As we approach Christmas, we are filled with thoughts and images of gifts, family gatherings and of that ‘comfort and joy’ that the season represents.
Several our committee and sponsors have visited Nepal in the last few months, the first time since the Covid outbreak, and we’re all delighted by the ‘comfort and joy’ that comes from the generous giving of all who support this life-giving work.
Christmas is also a celebration of birth and coming at the end of the year it heralds new beginnings; that’s exactly what your gifts represent to the kids in Nepal. We give them a chance to live beyond the confines of poverty, we give them a real opportunity for ‘life’.
Sponsoring a child gives that child a new beginning, and as we maintain a commitment from primary through to tertiary studies, we also enable that child to make a difference and break that cycle of poverty for the family and so too the wider community.
A gift that lasts a lifetime…
Raja, our director in Nepal, is like a proud father and shares in the joy these two students have as they graduate from university. One of the boys I first met when he was in primary school, and he had no chance of studying beyond year ten. However, with help from sponsors he, and many others truly shine as they are given an opportunity to reach their potential.
In many respects we follow the Christmas tradition of Saint Nicholas, also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. “In one of the earliest attested and most famous incidents from his life, he is said to have rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of them.” This is the work your donations support, and together we are ‘wonderworkers’, making a real difference in the world,
Single mums and vulnerable Children…
The iconic nativity story poetically captures the vulnerability of a small child and the ‘hopes and fears’ that accompany every birth. The ‘lowly manger in a stable’ captures the poverty of the situation: and for those of us birthed into a world of abundance and wealth this remains an iconic story. However, for those we support in Nepal it is a lived reality.
We are currently supporting 46 children and 16 single mums, for them it is like Christmas, for your generosity has given them hope instead of fear. Your gift is a gift of life that will last a lifetime and that in turn will bring light into the darkness of other’s lives.
Having recently visited the ‘manger’ of Nepal; I am inspired by the reality that our little can achieve so much. No child should be left without a loving family and without an education.
“A family of families”
Raja’s experience in the child welfare sector has led him to evolve a family centred approach to helping vulnerable children. Some of the children supported by IGWR-Nepal had no family connections when rescued from the streets of Kathmandu, and some had lost their parents; however, rather than an institutional ‘orphanage’ solution we created a family home with caring housemothers and at the same time sought to trace relatives and family connections for the children.
We are also supporting single mothers with children; enabling their children to go to school rather than have to work in order to help out with the family rent.
What has evolved is a delightful ‘family of families’; and the often-quoted proverb “It takes a whole village to raise a child” becomes a wonderful lived reality in ‘village’ that is IGWR-Nepal.
Take a moment to appreciate that you are part of this wonderful ‘village’; it is your gift that has given these kids the opportunity that they have so readily embraced.
Financially we manage, but things are getting tighter.
Funding our operations is very much like a tight household budget and each month we seem to have just enough for us to get through. The focus of our committee is to find additional sponsors that can ensure our commitments are fully underwritten.
Two new committee members are looking at establishing our ‘Single Mums’ support as a separate initiative that might enable us to seek funding from organisations directed at women’s empowerment programs. In the meantime, we need to engage new child sponsors, we need to bring more friends into the village.
IGWR Compliance and Transparency.
We are committed to ensuring that we achieve real outcomes with the funds that are entrusted to IGWR, and we strive to set a standard of practice that will ensure that we operate with a ‘best practice’ set of standards. We have our policies and practices available on our website, and are happy to receive questions, comments and suggestions from supporters that can assist us in making improvements.
Thank you for everything
One of our sponsors, took two pictures of the kids she has been supporting five years apart. It shows the joy of giving and it clearly demonstrates that our gifts make a real difference.
Thank you for the blessings you share.
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Thank you once again for making a difference.
We are empowered and inspired when we can actually see ourselves making a difference in the world. We have over one hundred “kids” that have ‘graduated’ through IGWR sponsorship and who now stand on their own two feet making their way in the world and often supporting others.
We’ve shared the journey with these kids from primary school, through the 2015 Earthquake, and now delight in seeing some of them married, some working overseas, and some working in hospitals, banks, hospitality and even running their own businesses in Nepal.
And the kids you are currently supporting are attending school, college or university because you have given them this opportunity. Who knows what they will go on to become and achieve!
Our team are heading to Nepal in September.
Due to Covid we’ve not been able to visit Nepal for nearly three years, and we’re looking forward to visiting this September and to seeing once again how the children are growing.
Zoom and photos have kept us ‘in the picture’, but actually being there is where we get to ‘feel’ the real value that ‘giving’ achieves.
Our visits are all self-funded and enable us to fully audit our project work and to determine with the team in Nepal where we need to focus for the year(s) ahead.
We will send another report following that visit and will also use our website and social media to ensure we can share with you some images that show what’s happening, what you are making happen!
Single mums need all the support we can give them.
We have been working with several ‘single mum’ families, some of their stories are on our website; these women have an amazing capacity to hold things together in the face of adversity. Our aim is to support their kids and to support them so they do not have to work such long hours and can spend time being (and enjoying being) mum.
It will be a privilege to meet these families on our visit and I’m sure will be humbled and energised by sharing time with such amazing people.
Financially we are keeping up with our budget.
Funding our operations is very much like a tight household budget and each month we seem to have just enough for us to get through. The GlobalGiving Bonus Day this year was a success; and we’re grateful for a donor who made up the shortfall between our target and what we achieved on the day.
Our regular monthly donors/sponsors really give us the security of knowing that we can continue to build on what we’re achieving, and with more monthly sponsors we know we could do more.
We are creative beings…..
Many of us feel that we’re living in uncertain times, Covid, Ukraine, Climate Change and many other factors have caused us to question some of the patterns of life that we took for granted.
However, the silver lining in the current stormy climate is that we are discovering that we each have a part to play in bringing about change. And “giving” is the very essence of our creativity.
“If doing the most you can for others means that you are also flourishing, then that is the best possible outcome for everyone.” [Peter Singer]
In addition to watching the news, I take time to look for ‘acts of creation’; and there are some wonderful examples of a growing evolution toward active participation in making the world a better place for all.
It is quite empowering to understand that we, each one of us, has a part to play in the unfolding of tomorrow.
Take a moment to appreciate that it is your gift that has given these kids the opportunity that they have so readily embraced. Without you they would not have the chance of a better future.
IGWR Compliance and Transparency.
We are committed to ensuring that we achieve real outcomes with the funds that are entrusted to IGWR, and we strive to set a standard of practice that will ensure that we operate with a ‘best practice’ set of standards. We have our policies and practices available on our website, and are happy to receive questions, comments and suggestions from supporters that can assist us in making improvements.
Thank you, for all you give, and for the smiles you bring to faces far away
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The pandemic has made our work even more valuable in Nepal.
“Child labor, child trafficking and even child marriages on the rise due to pandemic induced poverty. Based on the national data of Nepal’s Central Bureau of Statistics for 2021, among the 7 million children between the age of 5 and 17 in Nepal, 1.1 million (15.3%) children are subjected to child labor.” [https://www.nepalnews.com/s/issues/poverty-leading-to-child-labor-in-nepal]
What we have learned from Covid-19 is that we are very much dependant on help from each other, and that by caring for one another we not only help the other person, but we are also helping ourselves.
Our team in Nepal supported by sponsors from around the world is making a real difference in the lives of kids who would otherwise have no opportunity.
Your gift makes a real difference.
It is such a delight to see a child we met in year 7 now working as a doctor in Nepal, and it is such stories that inspire us to continue supporting kids and their families so that they too have an opportunity to shine.
IGWR is run by caring volunteers and that means that 99.52% of all monies donated goes directly to the operations of IGWR-Nepal
Over the last twelve years we’ve given well over one hundred children a future, children who had no chance of an education are now nurses, bank employees, hospitality professionals, physiotherapists and that year 7 schoolkid is now helping others.
We know we can make a difference, and more than that, we know that it is possible for individuals from around the world to change the very nature of the world. As governments focus on ‘defence budgets’ we look toward a better tomorrow, one in which we are all cared for, because we care for all.
Giving families the chance to stay together
Many of the kids we support live in a rented room with a single mum, and mum has to work in order to live, sometimes the kids are also forced to work.
But with our support, we can help both mum and her children, giving the kids the opportunity for good schooling and eventually breaking the cycle of poverty that the family are in.
Our budget for the year ahead is $137,555
And with the support of many from all around the world, we are confident that our work will continue and that the kids will thrive.
NEWS Highlights
1. Congratulation Ayog, Sachet and Suraksha for securing B+ in Grade 9 and Good luck for your Grade 10 studies.
2. Our ‘Foster Home’ for two special needs girls is beautiful. Sharda, mother to one of the girls, no longer has to work as we support her as full-time carer, and so the girls are blossoming in a family situation rather than the institutional care which was the only other option.
3. Seven girls will start college this year seeking degrees in business management, social work and hotel management,
4. And one of last year’s college graduates has just got married
I thought I couldn't make a difference because I was too small. [Greta Thunburg]
With your support we give these kids a chance, and we follow them through till they find work and can fly on their own. We make a difference, and in turn, so they too will make a difference and bring about a better tomorrow, one in which we can all rejoice.
So, thank you for sharing in making the world a better place for all.
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A New Year begins.
As I write this brief report on New Year’s Eve, I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering just what 2022 will be like.
Before we look ahead, a brief thank-you from Raja in Nepal summarises what we’ve done together in 2021, and that’s well worth celebrating.
“We at IGWR Nepal are lucky having you and your full support even this hard time. With your help we were able achieve our goals and we were able to help others in this difficult time.
With your help in 2021 we were able to complete following things:
We were able to achieve so much in 2021, especially considering the challenges of Covid in Nepal, and so we look ahead to 2022 with Hope, Optimism and empowered by the reality that together, even in difficult times, we can make a difference.
2022, what will be different?
The changing of years reminds us that the world is always changing; and perhaps we are slowly learning from the challenges we face.
“As global health leaders have repeated ad nauseum during the pandemic, no-one is safe until everyone is safe. Helping vaccinate the world is therefore a matter of national self-interest. Yet less than 3 per cent of people in low-income countries have to date received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose.”
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/assessing-australias-role-global-vaccine-equity
We are learning that “In Giving We Receive”, our own well being very much depends on our sharing what we have to ensure the well-being of others.
Our GlobalGiving supporters have already discovered this reality, and as we look to 2022, we might well expect our generosity to ‘infect’ others and so increase the possibility of bringing light and life to those who live in the shadows of poverty.
Our plans for the New Year.
Our budget tells the story of our commitments for the year ahead; we will make some adjustments early in 2022 when we have secured college places for some of the senior students and we’re also aware that circumstances in Nepal have created some inflationary price pressures, so the task ahead is very much a challenge for all of us.
Thank you for so much.....
Our Budget, Our plans and the Future for the children in Nepal are a reality that is very much the fruit of your generosity. We continue to be inspired, and each gift is a very real YES! that we can make a difference.
My personal plan for 2022; is to give the kids in Nepal the opportunity that my own grandkids already have.
We know that we ourselves are changed by what we give....
So, thank you for sharing in making the world a better place for all.
And a brief note to our Australian supporters:
After an exhaustive two-year validation process, we have been acknowledged and all donations (from Australia) will now be given Tax Deductible receipts.It is also a recognition of IGWR-Nepal's reputation and performance; we do make a real difference in people's lives and we do it as a best practice organisation.
A brief summary of the situation in Nepal.
We are still able to keep in touch with our team via regular Skype/Zoom meetings, but it is not the same as being there and renewing our sense of what a wonderful difference our giving creates in the lives of the nearly sixty children we care for.
We are very aware of the challenges being faced in Nepal and this quote from a 32-year-old woman sums up the situation:
Even if food items were available in the market, food prices were increased by 4 times, and we could not afford it. I have two children and I need to earn money each day to provide food to my family otherwise we have to sleep without food. I have no alternative source of income. In our community, we have 30–40 households that are severely affected by this. It is a really very terrible situation for poor families like ours.”
Raja and the team in Nepal are meeting these challenges daily, and have been ensuring our children are safe, cared for and home-schooled during the recent restrictions.
NEWS Highlights
1. We have consolidated our various activities to address the Covid-19 situation, and that’s reflected in the changed Project Title of our GlobalGiving project.
2. We have a new committee member for IGWR Inc. and are really delighted to have Dr Hillary Wallace working with us.
3. We are happy to announce that our recent 3 SEE ( YEAR 10 ) graduates have been Enrolled for year 11- and 12 at Bagmati college, Kathmandu. All thanks to your generosity!
4. We met all our commitments for the last financial year with an income of $126,411. The budget for the year ahead is $170,964 and so we now have a lot to achieve this year.
5. Looking after nearly sixty kids during a pandemic is an amazing challenge, but so far, they are all doing well, and maybe home schooling has been better than what the Nepal Education System offers!
Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher, can change the world.
Malala Yousafzai
Our story continues to shine in a world somewhat broken
The unfolding of the Covid-19 pandemic has given us all an unwelcome opportunity to look again at the future.
In a world filled with division, selfishness and greed the IGWR story stands against the tide.
We dream of a better future, and we participate in making that dream a reality.
The act of ‘giving’ is the act of creation; it is echoed in ancient wisdom around the globe; and yet we still hear of the major G20 countries hoarding covid-19 vaccines.
To change this ‘norm’, we need to change, and every act of giving and sharing is a step toward that change.
What’s next?
1. We need to share the IGWR story; our website and facebook pages are filled with the reality of individuals coming together to make a real difference. Please take a look, help us improve our story telling and share YOUR story, tell others of the ‘giving’ you are involved in.
2. We want to find more regular donors/sponsors to enable us to shine more brightly; and give more kids the opportunities we have had.
3. The GlobalGiving “LittleXLittle” campaign starts on September 13th, it is a wonderful example of “a little can make a big difference”. and it is an opportunity to add 50% to your gift.
4. Some of us who cannot travel to Nepal are donating our airfares to the work of IGWR-Nepal, it’s a great way to fly.... when you cannot fly! It would be great if this became a trend!
And know that we ourselves are changed by what we give....
So, thank you for sharing in making the world a better place for all.
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