News

Master of the Moon

I have just published a Kindle version of a novel I have written called Master of the Moon.

Synopsis
What is the truth about love? What, indeed, is the truth about anything? A Brahmin astrologer points Frank in the direction of answers to these questions, but he discovers that there’s more to love and truth than meets the eye.

Drawing on the author’s experiences as a UN volunteer in Kathmandu during its hippy heyday in the late ’60s, Master of the Moon interweaves two narratives: a search for love against the backdrop of an exotic and unspoilt Kathmandu valley, and a search for truth on a pilgrimage to a holy lake in the mountains.…

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Newsletter 2012 (No. 10)

 

December 2011-November 2012

10th anniversary edition

It’s true! We’ve been around for 10 years helping children from poor families or none get an education in the Himalayas. It’s been a demanding but rewarding ten years. Our achievements are briefly recorded below. The fact that so much can be achieved by just one executive director in the U.K. (with advice from his fellow non-executive directors) and a handful of helpers in India and Nepal is testimony to the immense power of modern computing and the internet.…

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Extracts from Wendy Garrity’s personal blog

 

I taught for 2 months at Shree Lali Gurans Primary School, mostly English, but also pre-primary maths. The teachers varied in their response to me. Some seemed to tolerate the non-Nepali speaker, others took the opportunity to improve their English and learn anything they could from me.

There was a sizeable gap between the level of English in the students’ textbooks and reality. How they have been passing the exams each year, I’ll never know, but I guess out here the exams are all conducted in-house, and there are no checks on how much help the teachers might give during the exams!

…

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Nepal ranks high in Asian corruption rankings

Republica Online reported on 5th December 20102 that:

“Nepal has remained one of the world´s most corrupt countries, with Transparency International, a global corruption watchdog, ranking Nepal in the 139th place out of 176 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

According to a TI report released on Wednesday, Nepal has a score of 27 in CPI. The score of zero is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 as least corrupt.

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand are named the least corrupt countries with a score of 90 each in the CPI, while Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia with a score of 8 each have been ranked the most corrupt countries in the world.…

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Charlotte Cotton writes about her time at the Spituk monastery school, Ladakh

Thank you Jim, for having given me the most beautiful and unique opportunity in the world. I feel so priveliged to have spent some time with the young monks in Spituk monastery, Ladakh. The experience was so incredible, so fascinating, quite literally life changing. I savoured every minute and took this world so different to what I know and am accustomed to in with all my senses and wished it would never be over.

The set up was such a happy and caring one.…

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Working as volunteer at the Tikse Lamdon school (Sept – Dec 2012)

My name is Lila, I am a 23 years old French volunteer, and I have been working in Tikse Lamdon school for almost 3 months. I started working here in early September 2012 and am staying until early December.

I really enjoyed my time in Tikse, where I found the sweetest children I have ever met, even when they are teenagers… The school welcomes students from LKG to Class 8 (5 years old to around 14 years old). As for the village itself, Tikse is a most beautiful place, surrounded by snowy mountains and a magnificent Buddhist monastery, which some people call “the second Potala of the world”.

…

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The state of Nepalese primary schooling

Click on this link to view a youtube clip in which Al Jazeera’s Subina Shrestha reports from Parsa district of southern Nepal. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp0pqtF_8t0  What it says about the state of primary education in Nepal is revealing and depressing. Poor and corrupt school management is a very real problem, letting down generations of Nepalese school children. and blighting their prospects. Despite decades of investment in education, almost four million people can still not read or write.

The report reveals that the Nepalese government plans to launch a campaign in December that aims to eradicate illiteracy within three years.…

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A vote of thanks.

It’s always good to get positive feedback. Here is what the principal of the JN Memorial Public English School says in a recent letter to me about HELP’s assistance over the years (in his own words):

“By getting fund from HELP we could make new school building and the poor village children are getting good education from this school and we do hope that this work goes for ever. Our school gives you vote of thank you to you as well as HELP family for the generous work.

…

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Flood relief

 Cloud bursts during the nights  of  3rd and 4th August  brought disaster to the Uttarkashi area of North India. Villages were washed away in the resulting flood waters from tributaries feeding the Ganges. 36 people died, and nearly 1800 people saw their cultivated land washed away and more than 1000 people suffered severe damage to their houses.

In spite of the damage done to  bridges and roads,  our local partner, the Serve and Share Association (SASA)managed to reach the area and  act quickly to set in train the following emergency support:

1.  …

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BHUTAN: TEACHER TRAINING WORKSHOP: 28 June – 3 July 2012

 

The workshop was funded by the Himalayan Education Lifeline Programme (H.E.L.P.) under the directorship of Jim Coleman and facilitated in Bhutan by Tshewang Choden, principal of the Druk School.

 

Participants
The participants were 17 teachers from Druk school, a prestigious private school in the capital Thimphu, and 7 teachers from three government schools – Babesa primary, Changbangdu Primary and Changzamtok Lower Secondary. There were originally 9 teachers from the government schools but two had to withdraw and their places were taken by teachers from Druk school.…

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I think HELP is the volunteer organization that I looked for for a long time. It is the most easily accessible and responsive organization I found on the web. I really like the self donation to the school and how independent it requires its volunteers to be, unlike many other organizations.
Michael WintersteinSt. Paul Primary School
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