First of all, thanks to all of you who responded so generously to our information about the plight of our Ama Ghar alumni. It is so sad for us to see these young people who have worked so hard to get an education and start a career see their hopes dashed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Your contributions have already helped them immeasurably; we are keeping in touch with all of them and wanted to make sure you have an update.
Those in the tourism industry, like Anish and Anabella, who are trekking guides, are most affected. Anish, his wife Daniela and his beautiful family (photo of one of their children above) have joined Daniela’s family in Humla, along with Daniela’s sisters Choppsang and Telau. They don’t expect any treks to take place until some time next year, but they are safe and sheltering with family until jobs open up again.
Po-Po, who is licensed in aviation traffic control, has joined her mother and auntie as there is little to no hiring in the aviation business at this time. Sushan, who is a television actor and Pushpa, who is a health care aid are both living in Kathmandu and we are helping them with basic funds for food and lodging while they look for employment.
Sabita is in Oman and was forced to resign her hotel culinary job. She is still allowed to live in her hotel apartment and has to pay for her own food; she is on a waiting list for a flight back to Nepal. We are helping her with her expenses until she gets home. The group in Australia (Manisha and her husband, Pratima and Laxmi) are doing well and are self-supporting at the moment. Laxmi has just gotten a new job while studying for her Masters and she is taking her exams online. Ganga is employed in Kuwait.
Srijana, who has been in lockdown in Milan, Italy, has her Master’s classes on line and when we talk to her she always remarks that she is learning so much. She’s always optimistic as long as she’s busy! We are hoping she will be able to go to Switzerland for one of the Ama Ghar Suisse fundraising events this fall.
Our Dr. Sarada KC is still battling on the front lines of Covid19 at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago. We worry about her but she assures us that she is doing fine but it is a daunting and exhausting job.
Those who have been working for a number of years are all doing well and managing on their own. They all stay in touch and we encourage them to stay positive.
The Ama Ghar mission has proven itself again, as Ama Ghar is a real home that the children can come home to! We couldn’t operate our Ama Ghar lockdown school without our alumni, like Sajan, who rode his bike to town with a check, and Ashok, who shopped for the four new laptops we had to purchase so the children could attend their classes via Zoom, then delivered them and set them up. Meena, Sandesh and Sangita are at Ama Ghar, teaching the younger children daily, as they have a very challenging schedule from 8:00 am. to 3:00 p.m. Ashim and Mangel are helping with organic garden plots that have to be re-dug. Subash, who is still employed with Good Earth architecture, is coming to Ama Ghar for a socially distanced visit soon.
