Something to smile about

Our two Kathmandu refuge kids who have been competing in the 5th National Games in Nepal (see my post of 8th April) completed their gymnastic events with no fewer than seven medals to their credit. Aman Tamang won three golds while Bijay Limbu won a gold, two silver and one bronze. Next stop for the lads will be the next South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) games in December but I'd love to see them at the London Olympics in 2012. That's unlikely to happen as the training here would be inadequate and Nepal historically hasn't entered a gymnastics team to the Olympics. I've considered sending them abroad (specifically to Hong Kong where there is a large Nepali community) to continue their education and training but that doesn't seem to offer the appropriate standard of training either. Does anyone out there have any thoughts?

Palden (see 1st April post) seems to be recovering in hospital and is now conscious and off his ventilator. Yesterday one of our staff managed to coax a laugh out of him for the first time. He is recovering quickly but it remains to be seen how complete that will be.

The National Games in Nepal

The Nepalese National Games started on Monday, the first time these have taken place in five years. Two of our Kathmandu children's refuge boys, Aman Tamang and Bijay Limbu, were taking part in the gymnastics events using skills that they learned the hard way through their time inside an Indian circus. After we freed them in January 2004 they chose to continue to train, attending the National Stadium in Kathmandu each morning before going to school. Today their efforts were rewarded with both boys picking up gold medals in the group event, and Aman winning a gold, Bijay a bronze in individual events. Two more gold medal events take place tomorrow so it's fingers crossed....