Sundhara

A very distinctive and attractive feature of the Kathmandu skyline is the Dharara tower in the district of Sundhara. I have a lovely view of it from my office window and I photographed it this morning from here looking resplendent in the Spring sunshine. Fashioned in a Mughal style it is much newer than it might look. It was originally built by a Nepalese Prime Minister back in 1825, perhaps as a symbol to any visitor, friendly or unfriendly, of the nation's wealth or power. However Mother Nature had something to say about that and it took a tumble in the great earthquake of 1934 having to be rebuilt from the two storey stump that remained.

Not far from the base of the tower lies the Sundhara Bakery Cafe, a branch of Nanglos. Inside the cafe you can find not only a rather nice plaque explaining the history of the tower (right) but enjoy one of the best smoothies in town. As per some of the other bakery cafes it employs disabled staff members who would not find employment anywhere else. The reason for my visit last Thursday was to investigate the possibility of mosaicing a wall at the cafe at the invitation of Nanglos, with the mosaics to be made by our deaf school leavers in Bhairahawa. It is going to be a massive undertaking but a challenge that everyone can rise to, not only artistically but also in finding the funds to complete the task. I look forward to filming progress by stages later on in the year.

Special Olympics

For the last six or so years my Trust has been supporting a disabled daycare centre in Butwal, southwest Nepal. It's a great place - set up in 1995 by a group of parents of disabled children. These include former British Army Gurkha Captain Bishnu Shrestha, whose daughter Kalpana has cerebral palsy. Each year we provide 100% funding for the centre's home visit programme that provides outreach to those disabled children who are physically incapable of coming in to attend the centre on a daily basis.


Yesterday I heard that Chandra Prasad Pun, 20, (right) from the centre has been chosen as one of 14 people to represent Nepal in the forthcoming 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games being held in Shanghai, China from 2-11 October 2007. Chandra has been selected for the 200 metre race and the relay event in China having won many medals and trophies in his preferred 200m and Shot Put at National Level events in Kathmandu over the last couple of years. Chandra now comes to the daycare centre every day, where he has learnt some English and how to make some money by making candles and envelopes. Other children also learn to sew whilst physiotherapy and speech therapy are also available for those that would benefit from them. Initially Chandra accessed these services through the home visit programme which we fund. This has been such fabulous news for us as the funder and I wish him every success at the the Games.