You gotta smile..................................

The end of another productive day painting and decorating at the Orphanage ....despite some injuries all are still smiling......you will note Colin is only waving with one hand as the other one placed in his pocket is too painful to lift ...he has fractured a bone near his elbow.(if you want to know how he did it read a previous blog entry about Graham eating a big breakfast and there is a clue there! .....................Helen we think has broken one of her toes...to quote(well nearly!) Harry and Paul "If it looks like a fracture and if it feels like a fracture it most probably is a fracture.....lets mark it down as most probably a fracture!......"

Today's Top Prize

.......goes to Kez for clearing out the food store , clearing it of all rodent droppings , cockroaches and spiders and  then painting it . His special forces training giving him the courage to carrying out this lovely task (and with a smile on his face.) Before and after pictures are shown above, although the first does not fully show the  dark damp and dirty conditions.

There's a rat in the kitchen what am I going to do!?

.......Or more accurately rather a large number of cockroaches, dodgy electrics in close proximity to gas cannisters used for cooking and a variety of scurrying unseen animals in the recesses of the food store adjoining the kitchen area.....so top of the class today were Helen and Sally who braved the conditions all day to deep clean and decorate the kitchen area....Helen is seen here taking a deep breath before entering and Sally is smiling nervously as she goes about her work..................oh yes mention also for John and Geoff who re did all the electrics and made it all safe !

Clearing up at the end of the day

As we cleared up at the end of the day I was going to post a photo of Anthony but he was so covered in paint you would not have recognised him....so here is one of Daz with a normal amount of paint on him for one who had been painting all day. In the background you can see Helen who when she wasn't painting or making net curtains was seen giving out sweets and chocolates to the children as they returned from school............Helen is a very kind person and this act of kindness was not just directed towards the children but was also towards Colin  to help prevent him from getting into any more potential problems!(see previous blog entry)

Completing the bedrooms

One of the finished bedrooms.....this may not be a colour you would choose but it is a popular colour here and one the boys(some pictured here) chose for their bedroom........ It was lovely to see the faces of the boys when they returned from school to see their bedrooms fully painted, rewired with lights,with net curtains in place and  fitted with carpets.............tranformed from how they had been before..............

Discussing the change of hair colour for Kez

Here some of the workers take an afternoon tea break and discuss the sudden change of hair colour for Kez...some take photos and others ponder if it is wise to take Dave up on his request for someone to help him fit more carpets tomorrow!

Images from the Orphanage......Kez turning grey

Here it is clear that working with Dave on fitting carpets is an ageing process ...Kez's hair turning grey during the afternoon !..and realising why Dave had turned grey at such a young age!

Images from the Orphanage

Here are some images from today as we continued to work at the Orphanage painting, decorating and carrying out some DIY...this first one shows John and Geoff sorting out the unusual wiring to provide new lighting in one of the bedrooms we have been decorating.........................Kamal is in the background supervising....

Painting the Orphanage and distribution of clothes from the barrels

Today was our first day painting at the orphanage. One bedroom was completed and we should finished the remaining three tomorrow. During the day some of the team left to go to one of the local schools to distribute some of the clothes.(we regularly send out secondhand clothes in barrels for distribution for the local community, schools, orphanages and for wider distribution across the country) Here  Katie and Gemma are pictured giving out some of the clothes to the children....if you look closely you can see the paint in Katie's hair and on Gemma's clothing. The other picture is Anthony at the end of the day of painting and you don't have to look too closely to see the paint smothered on his face!

Never accept sweets from strange men

Its wise not to accept sweets from  strange men, especially in the middle of nowhere halfway up a hill in Nepal. Despite the potential danger  these children are thankful for the sweets and it is only the lady on the left who is alert to the situation and helpfully takes some photos in case he is up to no good. Fortunately it is only Colin stopping for a rest as he ascends the 6,000 feet climb and the children leave safely with all his sweets!

View from 6,000 feet

Today we drove east out of |Kathmandu up into the Hills and walked up rather a large and steep Hill to the top where we had lovely views across to the High Himalayas. The conditions at the this time of the year mean they are visible for part of the day instead of surrounded by cloud. Two unusual sites on the way back......a rather large dead cow lying in the middle of the road with its four legs pointing rigid to the heavens and a goat enjoying a ride on its own on the top of a bus!

Quotes of the day en route to Kathmandu

Two quotes of the day on our journey to Kathmandu via Muscat, Oman.......
The first:  As we flew over Kuwait Army Veteran Kes thinking back to his service there back in 1991 looked down and turning to his wife Sally  commented "Nice to see Kuwait without all the fires burning!"...........
The second: Whilst waiting in Muscat for our connecting flight I was surprised to find out that one other person apart from myself has been to Oman. David Payne told me he had been here way back in 1985 involved in building a Palace for the then Prime Minister. Reflecting on his time in the country he said that the highlight was going  to a marvellous church...reflecting on this experience he commented that this was mainly because "It was full of young Korean women!"

Anyway we have safely arrived all a bit jet lagged but well.

Return to Kathmandu

Just about to return to Kathmandu. This time the trip is a bit different.....instead of a few of us going there will be 19. We are going to decorate and do some DIY at one of the orphanages, put a roof on a building which will act as a rooftop meeting room for students and do some DIY in the church building..... such as put  a door on the guest bedroom( always a good idea!) Updates to follow.............................