





Our time spent in Nepal, especially in the world of street children and physically impaired children, continually demands our attention and resources to manage and provide emergency care and support for the wounded and ill. Most often our help is for medicines and medical attention, which frequently includes financial coverage for hospital care and medical equipment for the disabled. We also purchase clothes, foods and simple supplies for the unfortunates we find living in dire, often life-threatening conditions. Even temporary assistance can save a life and change circumstances for the better.

A most rewarding cause is our continued help to a suffering, but noble group of elderly victims of leprosy confined to an impoverished colony outside the city of Pokhara. Abandoned out of fear by their families and ostracized by society, this remarkable community of infirmed, disfigured lepers carry on their lives with a force of resolve and faith. We have been truly fortunate to enjoy their friendship and appreciate the strength and good spirit they generously provide us, fully expressed by their smiles and joy in welcoming us as their friends. Our contributions are modest, but we improve their lives with gifts of sweaters, shawls, sewing machines, bolts of cloth, bedding, cooking stoves and improvements to their simple housing conditions. Especially significant are the rows of new cooking units and a new toilet facility. Both of these gifts were contributions were paid possible by VCN donors and have considerably eased and simplified the daily lives of all colony residents. Smaller donations of kilos of tea, sugar, powdered milk, fruit and biscuits are a cause of celebration for all of the residents and we provide these foods and items at every opportunity. Our greatest gift, though, seems to be the time we share together. Their friends are few and greatly cherished. We have paused this program because of it's location and the difficulty of maintaining regular contact.