May 31, 2001.
Dearest friends,
Child Haven was very pleased to welcome a new child to our large family today: Arjun and Binita are the
happy parents of a healthy baby boy! Binita had a caesarean section after
the failure of induced labour, but is recovering well and is very excited
about her first son. All of the Child Haven volunteers and staff are
ecstatic at this wonderful news!
Child Haven is also very proud of the athletic accomplishments of Junu Giri. At the district track and field
competitions, Junu won a gold medal in javelin (beating the national
champion by one meter), silver in the 100m dash and bronze in the 400m
relay. We look forward to her performance at the regional competitions!
Junu is surely a wonderful role model for the younger children!
Due to a national strike, the Child Haven school was closed for three days this
week. As a result, the didis and volunteers worked extra hard to entertain
the children: we organised daily rotations of arts and crafts, sports,
walks, library time and TV time to keep the children busy. Also, several
volunteers took a group of children on a hike to visit a nearby monastery.
The children have now returned to school and the restoration of a normal
schedule has been a relief to all! Although there were minor disturbances
as protesters moved through neighbouring Tin Chuli, Child Haven was
thankfully unaffected by the riots and violence reported elsewhere in the
country.
Child Haven was sad to say good-bye to our Australian
volunteers, Tracey and Peta. Tears were shed at their farewell tikka
ceremony, but Child Haven will always remember their energetic and creative
contributions. Tracey and Peta were also responsible for the acceptance of
3-year old Kalpana to Child haven: the daughter of alcoholics, Kalpana was
subjected to severe abuse and was found lying unconscious in the street as
the volunteers walked through Boudhanath. Kalpana's physical injuries have
healed completely and she is now happily adjusting well to life at Child
Haven.
On the same day, another three year old girl, Shreejana was
admitted to Child Haven. Shreejana's mother was abandoned by her husband
to care for 6 children on her own, so we were happy to accept Shreejana to
ease her difficulties. The Child Haven volunteers are now an all-Canadian
crew: with the arrival of Helen Tran this week, we now have 6
volunteers.
Now that the children have returned to school,
the volunteers are busy with homework classes and extra classes for arts,
sports, library, music and drama. This Saturday, Child Haven is looking
forward to a running race, with prizes for excellent performance and
participation. Matthew and Shannon have been running with the older
children each morning and expect a great competition!
Well, that is
the end of the latest Child Haven news – we hope all our friends are
happy and healthy!
All the best,
Arjun and the Child Haven Nepal family
Our Story
Bangladesh
