This post is being written from Doha airport; I am en route to UK for a week. I didn't feel at all like leaving Nepal this morning. My little daughter Alisha is quite ill with a combination of an intestinal infection and a secondary lung/sinus infection after a very heavy cold. Bev took her to the doctor this morning for the second time in as many days and she has now been prescribed antibiotics. She's very frail and not eating very much, repeating again and again her first word "mummy" as she staggers around the sitting room. Nepal is a very unhealthy country to bring up children no matter one's living conditions. It just seems to be a focus for nasty, unusual bugs. But I am sure she'll be OK now with a bit of "tlc".
Chasing funds is a perennial problem of mine, particularly as the work and the need seems to expand exponentially. The problem has become very acute after receiving news on Monday of our being turned down for a grant by the philanthropic foundation, ArtVenture (see earlier post). I'd been optimistic of at least receiving something from them, given that they had approached us in the first place, but that wasn't to be. The timing of the refusal is terrible as my application was for a grant towards art workshops for circus returnees that are due to start next week. We've only raised a comparatively modest amount towards the overall cost through public donations and I will have to press some panic buttons in the UK once I've got over my jet lag. I am determined though not to scale back on what we deliver to the girls and see that the expertise I have put in place as trainers doesn't go to waste. The girls are so reliant upon us getting it right and I don't want to fail them - just as so many others have failed them in the past.
