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HOPEFUL HOME KATHMANDU
Children's Orphanage in
Kathmandu captures the heart of trekkers!
Story of Vanessa Higgott from
Thornton, Canada.
When
I arrived at Hopeful home in October, Shanti and Uttam
Chepang had arrived just the week before.
They had been brought to the home after surviving on their own for almost
3 months. Their mother murdered
their father, so when she was arrested, her children were left to fend for
themselves. When the manager of HH
heard of them, he sent someone to find them and bring them to KTM.
When
they arrived, Shanti was wearing only a cloth, and
was covered in sores from her malnutrition.
They think she is 4. Uttam,
her brother, they think is 9. He
too had many sores, but his were not on his face in plain view, so he was able
to go to school right away. Shanti
needed a couple of weeks to let her face and head heal.
Despite
their tragic story, they were two of the most happy and inspiring little souls
that I’ll ever meet. She was
constantly singing and dancing around, with the brightest smile.
Uttam was just thrilled to have the chance to
go to school for the first time in his life, at the age of 9.
Shanti had never had shoes on her feet, and I
bought her a pair of little Mickey mouse flip flops.
She had trouble at first walking in them.
Each
day that I was there, my heart became increasingly filled with her spirit. I
offered to sponsor her as soon as I learned that she hadn’t already been
sponsored. I knew she would become
a part of my life. She fell asleep
in my arms each day, and although she didn’t speak any English, her dark
soulful eyes looked deep into mine and understood.
Whenever she smiled, my heart fluttered.
I’ve never known what it could be like to love a child, not being a
parent myself. But this was
something so precious.
When
I left a week later, she still hadn’t attended school yet, but the manager
sent me some pictures of her later in her school uniform. I
hear that she is enjoying it.
Many
of the children at HH touched my heart. They
were bright, compassionate little people who were very interested in sharing
stories of our respective homelands. Many children had no last names, as they
didn’t really know where they came from.
They were street children, brought to HH by police.
Many never spoke of their parents, and many were abandoned by single
parents, unable to care for them. In
all, there were almost 40 children when I was there, but I understand that they
have taken in at least two more, who are in need of
sponsorship.
One
story that I’ll never forget, is when I took Siva, a young boy, shopping for
paint and brushes to make the greeting cards. We
passed a shop that had soccer balls, and I asked him if he would like one to
share with the other children. His
reply was simple, “no thank you miss, we have one at school”.
I was amazed. Any other
child that I had met back home, would have said ‘yes’ whether they had 12
already, or even if they really didn’t want it.
Nothing was taken for granted.
We
made the greeting cards which I mentioned in one of my emails from KTM, and I
when I returned I raised over $200 selling them to colleagues & friends. I
sent the $ back to HH. They were
thrilled and have since sent me 2 more collections of home made cards for me to
raise money with. I am happy that
they are understanding that they can raise funds for
themselves, not just rely on donations. I
wanted them to understand that they were helping themselves.
This
orphanage, like a few that I had looked into, do not
seek adoptive parents for the children. With
the adoption system in general being so corrupt, and
with the high incidence of child labor (and even
prostitution) they do not trust that the children will be cared for.
So instead, they keep them at HH, educate them and they can leave when
they are 18 years old.
To
sponsor a child for one full year, it costs $650 US, which covers their school
tuition, uniforms, medical care, and other living expenses. I
pay it once a year, by electronic transfer to their bank in KTM.
It is a several year commitment if you find someone who is interested.
I have committed to sponsor Shanti until she
is 18 years old.
As
I mentioned before, these children, especially Shanti
and Uttam have become such a focus in my life.
I am consumed by my efforts to find school supplies, toys and clothes for
them. My colleagues bring me in
their childrens’ clothes that they’ve outgrown
and I shop for them as I would my own children.
Guy
did not share this with me, and he knows me well as a person who doesn’t
usually like children. I don’t
like most North American kids that I encounter as I am frustrated by their
feeling of entitlement. They expect
things. These kids were different.
So when I mentioned to him that I would like us to consider adopting Shanti
and Uttam, he was actually receptive.
Again, having not met us personally, it’s hard for you to understand
just how selfish we are. We love
doing OUR thing when we want. We
have been married almost 8 years and have never really figured out how kids
would fit into our life. It may
never happen. But for the first
time in our lives, we were contemplating parenthood. I
really wanted these kids in our life.
We
visited an adoption agency in
Toronto
,
who was completely discouraging, and we found that NO licensed agency in
Ontario
handles adoptions from
Nepal
.
It is just too difficult a country to navigate.
Long story short…after much soul-searching, we decided to pursue it no
further. They will always be a part
of our life, even from afar. WE
plan to plan to travel to
Nepal
again. I felt I would be imposing
what I want on them, when in fact they have a good home already at Hopeful Home.
They are well cared for and they have many friends. I
will continue to love them from here, knowing that they are happy and healthy.
I
probably unloaded a lot more on you than you expected.
I just get so passionate when I think of those little guys.
And there are so few people that can understand, the way I am sure you
can. I really appreciate your
vigilance in gaining exposure to these kids.
They are amazing little people, from whom we can all learn some
outstanding lessons. They gave me
more than I can ever repay. Though
I will continue to try.
Thanks
for ‘listening’. I will try to
find out the names of the two newest arrivals.
I know that they are brother and sister also.
Vanessa
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