The Mendok Project: August 2011

Montag, 8. August 2011

We get started...

Last week we booked the tickets for the outreach this fall. With a small team of 5 we wil follow the invitation of our friends and be two weeks in Nepal. Mostly in Lupra where Mendok's school is located, but also at the Shushma Koirala Hospital in Sankhu.
We also hope that some friends from the US will be added to our team.
So far we start with the preparations: setting a date for Mendoks surgery, to plan travels in Nepal, check for places to stay... we are thankful for all kinds of support!

Dienstag, 2. August 2011

Danyabat!

That means "thank you" in Nepali - thank you to everyone, that helped with the cake fundraising on Sunday at CC Siegen. Either by baking or buying a cake. It was a great encouragement for our small team. You sponsered almost a whole flight on Sunday. :-) This week we are going to book the flights, again we are a little late for that. We will get the last available flights, but everything fits: 5 flights left for booking and 5 people going to Nepal
What's next: getting in contact with interplast because of the second surgery date for Mendok, the detailed travel plans and preparing for the time at Mendok's school.
We still need financial support. The flights in fall are more expensive, because it is one of the main travel seaosons to Nepal. The economic crisis also reached Nepal, namely with a little delay, but together with some political quarrels it is reason enough for the gas prices to rise. This makes travelling in the country more expensive, also.
But: if God opens a door, nothing and no one will be able to close it.

why we are doing what we are doing

Through experiencing love in action we wish that the people in Mustang will get to know the one who motivates us in everything we are doing: Jesus.
We want to do this by deepening existing friendships and establishing new ones. This wouldn't be possible without visits on a regular base. These visits include time in Lupra school and to accompany children, who need medical treatment.
More infos you find in Romans 10:14 and Romans 15:21b.

What we are trying to do may be just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. Mother Teresa

how it all started

While visiting schools and providing dental care in August 2010 we got to know Mendok. She is a student at Lupra school, a small mountain village laying about 10.000 ft altitude. The eleven year old suffered of a cleft palate, taken care of just rudimental when she was a baby. With the "Menok Project" we could accompany her to the Sushma Koirala Hospital in Sankhu near Kathmandu, where she had two necessary surgeries til now.
In fall 2011 we not only accompanied her, but went to Lupra school with a team to help with the teaching. This trip also brought us in contact with a small church in Sangala, a village close by to Kathmandu.
In April 2012 we were able to get Mendok to Kathmandu again where she had a final orthodontic treatment. A new task occured with Kunsang, a ten-year-old girl that also lives at Lupra School. As an infant she had heart surgery and actually needs check-up half a year. For this she has to go to Pokhara which is, depending on the means of transport, a one- or two-day-travel. We could help her with one first check-up this April and hope to find a lasting solution with the "Mendok Project" for Kunsang.
We also plan other travels for the coming year.
The travel expenses and helps are covered partly by ourselves, partly by donations.

for whom - people in Mustang

In Mustang, known for a long time as the "forbidden kingdom", most of the people living there are from the Thakali or the Gurung tribe. Mustang borders Tibet in the north. The old salt trade route winds its way down next to the Kali Gandiki, a river that craved over the centuries the world's longest and widest gorge into a fascinating mountain range. The Thakali and Gurung are both counted among the ethnical Tibetan people group; religion and believe systems have their origin in the TibetanBbuddhism and aligned close to it. At the same time the Thakali and the Gurung are counted among the so called unreached people groups, who do not or hardly know about the Gospel. Mustang is parted into Upper and Lower Mustang; Lower Mustang is well known for the Anapurna circuit and hosts many tourists. Going to Upper Mustang you will need an expensive permit. Also most of the Thakali and the Gurung just speek their own tribal language.