Some
of us more mature folk might remember our elders complaining about walking miles
in the snow to the old school house, but I’m betting that all of them had the
luxury of walking on a bridge to cross rivers!
Earlier this year, we told you about the projects we initiated this year in
Nepal. We are happy to say those projects are going well. Unfortunately, for
every group of women we help, there is one that we cannot because of lack of
funds.
For
this reason WELNepal has added members to its board of directors.
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| WELNepal's New Board of Directors |
Sadly,
we have said our goodbyes to Diane Hanson, WELNepal’s first treasurer. Diane
helped make WELNepal a charitable organization and kept all aspects of our
organization running smoothly. We missed Diane before she even left.
Shortly
after Diane’s departure, we welcomed Suzanne Campbell to the board. Suzanne, a very busy and successful project
manager and interior designer, is generously giving her valuable time to
WELNepal
George
and Eva Kostiuk, WELNepal’s most generous donors, have also joined the board. Both
bring years of experience from positions at other boards and will help us
better the lives of women in Nepal.
Jennifer
Stephenson — who traveled to Nepal earlier this year to visit Everest Base Camp
and some of WELNepal’s projects — has also joined us on the board. I always knew
Jennifer to be a most capable and tireless volunteer at our benefits. What I
didn’t know was of her years of experience working on boards of other
charitable organizations.
Bonnie
and Jerry Good, although not board members, have agreed to act as wise council.
Bonnie and Jerry have organized the support of many young women’s educations at
the Mary Ward School in Kathmandu.
We
know the support and expertise of our tremendously passionate and capable new
board members will help WELNepal
flourish and continue to teach even more women’s groups how to read, write and
be a force for positive change in the beautiful Chitwan region of Nepal.
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| Steam Whistle |
Those
of you who have attended our annual autumn benefits know that Steam Whistle has
been providing us with their wonderful beer for the past eight years. This
year, we are going to throw our annual party at the Steam Whistle Roundhouse. For
those who have been there, you know what a great venue it is. Those of you who haven’t taken a tour of the
brewery or stopped for a beer are in for a treat.
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| More beautiful Steam Whistle |
The
biggest treat of all is that Steam Whistle has donated the use of their space for
free. We are extremely indebted to all
the folks at Steam Whistle for their generosity.
I
know it’s early, but please mark down Monday, Oct. 20 on your calendar — the
date of our next benefit bash! Come to the Steam Whistle Roundhouse to enjoy wonderful
food, great entertainment, good company and pride in knowing how much your
attendance is helping women in Nepal.
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| Tribe MayaFire |
Speaking
of great entertainment, belly dance troupe Tribe MayaFire is holding their 5th
Annual Spooky Souk Benefit for the women of WELNepal on Saturday, Sept. 27 at
the lovely Staircase theatre in Hamilton,
Ont. If you enjoyed being entertained by
Tribe MayaFire at our last four benefits, you’ll really enjoy them and many
other talented belly dance groups at the Halloween-themed Spooky Souk!
Also,
while we’re talking about parties, all you GTA-ers should make your way down to
Nathan Philips Square on Sunday, Aug. 17 at 2 pm for the Nepalese Canadian
Community Service’s Himalayan Mela 2014. It’s a wonderful
outdoor party that celebrates Nepalese music, food, culture and entertainment.
We’ll be there— so come out for some sunshine, dancing and delicious chicken
mo-mos!
