Thank You! Thank You!

I am now in Istanbul. I left Nepal early this morning. I can't believe my time in Nepal is over for now. What an amazing experience!

As part of the disaster relief, PRC has distributed 110,000 pounds of food (mainly rice and lentils), 6,000 pounds of salt and oil, enough tarpaulin to temporarily house 5,500 people. One medical team treated 300 patients and John, with the help of Amrit, saw about 250. Medicines for about 500 were given.

This doesn't even include their daily work of rescuing and caring for the trafficked and abused!

I want to sincerely thank all the staff for their tireless and ongoing efforts. Founders Shanta and Min, amazing coordinator and team leader Suman (pictured) and the rest of the amazing team I had the opportunity to assist: Amrit, Ramkumar, Prem and Binod. And to all the kitchen workers at the shelter who fed me so, so well. Thank You! ... and thank you for allowing me to be a small part of your work!

I also want to thank all the supporters. None of this would have happened without you! Let's keep the good work going!

Photos from the Rescue Center

Just a few photos I shot at the rescue center. I actually didn't shoot many of the girls. They deserve a little privacy

Rescue in India continued

Monday a few team members are traveling to India. They will be securing the release of the eight who were trafficked. They received some pictures and info (sorry, for security reasons I cannot share the images).

The biggest issue with their release is proving citizenship. They were trafficked without paperwork or passports, or fake ones. Now the challenge is proving they are Nepali.

Team members are also traveling to the villages of the eight who were trafficked to confirm their identities. Once their identities are confirmed, they will be brought back to Nepal.

Adding insult to injury, the chaos, confusion and further financial hardship caused by the earthquake can be used to the benefit of the traffickers. I'm sure these aren't the only earthquake-related trafficking cases PRC will encounter.

Can't Complain

Seeing how so many Nepalese work, I surely have nothing to complain about. These women just walked up a mountain hill and they were just chatting along the way, amazing!

The Rescue Center

I wanted to show PRC's center facilities. It is a beautiful place.

The top picture is the main house. The first floor is living quarters for the rescued girls, their kitchen, dining room and small living room. Upstairs it's the quarters for staff and visitors.

The middle picture is the other main building. It has a couple of offices, a classroom and storage. The garage is also used as a classroom, sewing training, temporary sleeping quarters, basically anything except parking a car.

The bottom picture shows just a piece of the garden. They keep so many different plants and flowers. Their are also two areas where food is grown. They plant a variety of crops throughout the year.

This place is a little oasis.

Love Listening

This evening I had a special treat. I was in my room and several of the girls at the rescue center were outside laughing and joking. It was so wonderful to hear them that I just sat back and listened. The sound of fun needs no translation!

John & Chris

John (image 1) and Chris (image 2), the other two Americans volunteering just left for the airport. Thank you both for all you've done to help!