Sometimes life just rolls along and there aren't huge developments or very many exciting things to report. Here is a short summary, in pictures, of the past many months!
Since June, the kids are getting weekly music classes in guitar, voice and piano (Picture 1) and they remain diligent in their studies (Picture 2).
We welcomed new members to the Redemption Foundation board at our annual meeting in September (Picture 3).
And with winter upon us here in the Kathmandu Valley - we got the hostel kids some extra blankets to stay warm! (Picture 4) 

The Nepal school system follows the Nepali Bikram Sambat calendar and we are two months into the year 2075. This year we have sponsored 57 children's education. Most of those children are from migrant brick factory worker families here in the Kathmandu Valley, but we have also started a sponsorship program in the far West of Nepal - in that place called Jajarkot that Naresh and the team visited back in January. 
We are grateful for all who have partnered with us financially to make this happen!

The kids wrote their last exam for the school year this past Friday (the school year in Nepal follows the Nepali calendar and runs from April to March). But before exams started we had a momo (dumplings) party and distributed some new summer clothes! 
The kids now have a three week break before school starts. 
Amazing to think that just 2 years ago we were starting out with Prativa Lighthouse Hostel and giving these kids access to consistent education. Thankful to all who have partnered with us in this endeavour!

In January we sent a team to a remote area in Western Nepal called Jajarkot. We wanted to make contact with a couple of schools in the area and see how Redemption Foundation might be of help in the future. In an effort  build relationship, we brought the students winter hats and spent time with the principals and teachers of a couple village schools. 
To start with, we are hoping to start a sponsorship program this April to ensure that children of low cast families (that are unfortunately still discriminated against in this rural location) have a chance to go to school. Please contact us (info@redemptionfoundation.org) if you want to be a part of seeing children's lives changed!

Yes, Christmas did come to our kids at Prativa Lighthouse Hostel - in the form of a new winter jacket for each of them! Many thanks to our generous donors that make gifts like this possible. 
With the new year come new hopes, dreams and projects that we are planning here at Redemption Foundation. We'll keep you updated through this blog - so stay tuned!

A small but important project we were able to complete this fall was building more toilets for some of our migrant worker families. A number of families that work in the brick factories (from December to May) remained in the Kathmandu Valley through the rainy season and built temporary homes on a piece of land that we have rented. As more and more families built these homes, the need for more toilets became evident. Thanks to some generous donors and the hard work of the folks living on this land, the toilet project was completed!

 In keeping with our commitment to provide opportunities for growth, Redemption Foundation sent one of our own, Lila, to a three day agricultural training workshop.
There he learned about the growing seasons of different vegetables, growing plants from seed, and tips to increase yield.  Over the late summer and fall Lila has put this knowledge to work, growing various vegetables around his home.  He and his family have been able to sell some of these veggies to local shops, and of course the Redemption Foundation staff has also tasted of the fruits of Lila's labour!

September 14th was Children's Day in Nepal, so of course we had a party at our children's hostel.  There were games, balloons, special snacks, a movie and chicken for dinner!