Update from Nepal: Heather meets with Yubaraj and our “Kathmandu team”

Heather O’Neal from Of Global Interest had a chance to meet with Yubaraj, Basu, Puskar, and Phurbu in Kathmandu on Thursday, September 21. She wrote a description of that meeting and the additional hours she spent with, but asked that I not publish it here because she’d feel she had spied on them if they were to read what she’d written. She had only good things to say, but I want to respect her feelings about that and have written a summary of her email here.

Heather made several positive comments about each of our Kathmandu-based partners – that Puskar was nice and outgoing; that Phurbu was kind and gentle, and that Basu was nice and kind and good with money – and I got the same positive feedback from each of them about Heather. I have the overall impression that we’ve really assembled a great group of people who have Yubaraj’s best interests at heart, and who enjoy coming together for this project we’ve created. Heather and Puskar both enjoyed learning that they had a little project in common: it turns out that a few years ago Heather submitted a film to a festival that Puskar had organized.

After talking over coffee, Heather and Yubaraj spent some time together exploring Kathmandu. They went to Pashupati Nath temple before going bazaar-shopping, where Heather bought Yubaraj a sweatshirt-jacket and pants. She wrote that Yubaraj is “cute as pie” and that they had a nice time together. Leaving him, she said, she felt badly, not knowing whether he had any money or what he would do with his time (it felt good to let her know, when I wrote back, that some of the money we sent along to Basu was spending money for Yubaraj). She also wrote about Yubaraj’s father: “I learned (and maybe you already knew) his father is a porter in Kathmandu but seemingly not in touch with the family – a common circumstance here - leaving the village and not earning enough money to return or to send money back regularly, etc. Hard one.”

I’m very grateful to Heather for making the time to get to know Yubaraj, Basu, Puskar, and Phurbu. It’s invaluable, to have this kind of feedback, and it’s truly the next best thing to being there in person! I’m relieved, too, that she had such a favorable impression of each of the people involved in this work. It’s a wonderful confirmation that the right people for this kind of work can be found, and that we’re on the right track with what we hope to accomplish for Yubaraj and his family!