Firstly: A Massive Thank You!

Firstly I just want to say a massive thank you to all those that have donated, I'm now up to £520 and I'm really grateful because I cannot think of a project or a country more deserving. I have been here two weeks now and finding time to myself has been difficult, hence it's taken me a while to post a proper blog entry deserving of my time here. It's taken me all of a week to become settled in Nepal and that is all due to my arrival at Maitri Griha, the daycare centre for disabled children. They've all been so welcoming, so kind hearted, which seems to be the Nepali way. They say here that a guest entering their home is to be treated like a god or goddess. An example of this was told to me by another volunteer, working at a village, who stayed with a family who normally shared one bed, husband, wife and three children. For this volunteer they gave up their double bed and mosquito net and the entire family slept on the floor without a mosquito net. I have learnt that this is just typical of Nepal and the people here. It's a completely different culture here, it's pretty standard to see a man walking whilst carrying a giant refrigerator by a strap to his head.. I have learnt so much being here for just a week, it is actually mind blowing and overwhelming at the same time and I feel as though I have only scratched the surface of what it is really like here. For such a kind and generous race of people there is so much poverty, corruption and now the earthquake disaster, yet if you came here you will see happy people willing to give up their only luxuries never complaining about how hard life is. This is just something that I just really respect. Although I have learnt to never ask a nepali for directions, they never seem to know where to direct you and would much rather give you wrong directions on purpose instead of saying that they don't know - It is unbelievable how many times I have found myself lost due to this exact reason!

I went to my first Nepali rock bar - Purple Haze, the likes of Pink Floyd and Iron Maiden live covers sending the whole place into a frenzy of screaming, singing and dancing. Also found my love for Nepali language rock music. It's the first time I have been approached to be told that I had been "called" and handed a napkin with a confession of love and an offer of a date by a Nepali guys friend.

The children at Maitri Griha are just amazing, not one of them has a bad bone in their body, just the kindest and happiest children that I have met. Every one of them suffers from Autistic Spectrum Disorder, as well as other disabilities intertwined. They are shunned from society and at every opportunity I see people in the nearby houses staring at the children through the fence, yet not one of them is unhappy or unwilling to work hard during lesson time.