The Mendok Project: März 2012

Dienstag, 27. März 2012

Itinerary for April

You can plan many things in Nepal - but since now everytime everything was almost within the plans. And this is the itinerary planned for April:
Starting in Frankfurt on Sun, April 1st and arriving in Kathmandu on Mon, April 2nd. I will have a brief meeting with our friends from Sangala church at the airport and then taking an inland flight to Pokhara. There I spend one day to confirm all the dates before taking off on Wed, April 4th for the mountains. There I will visit Lupra School and our friends in Muktinath and of course finish all preparation for travel and treatment with Mendok and Kunsang and their families. This is the weak point in the communication chain - we just hope that they got all the necessary information. Though there will be some time in Pokhara to check.
Going back to Pokhara and Kathmandu will be around April 8th. We have to be at the hospital the latest on Wed, April 10th. I will have some time with Mendok and the friends from Sangala church before leaving late at night on Fri, April 13th for Frankfurt.
If you like to have - the planned - news letter (you never know how the power supply will work): info@projekt-mendok.org

Montag, 5. März 2012

The next trip to Nepal...

...will start soon. One month ahead from today I will be on my way from Kathmandu to Pokhara.
This morning I called the hospital in Sankhu to confirm the appointment for Mendok. The dental treatment for Kunsang is also set. What still has to be done is to confirm that all the persons concerned will get the necessary information. This is every time an adventure of its own. But my feet are starting to itch now... :-)
Dameria for the Mendok Project

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.