Flood donations - update 2 (Kathmandu)

Dear Friends

Just to update those who very very kindly donated cash and clothes for the victims of the recent flooding.

We were in contact with the CDO of Darchula District where we wanted to donate. He stated he would oversee the distribution if we could only get the goods to Dhanghadi. We tried the airlines - they would take only 5kg for free (we had over 100kg of clothing). We contacted Unicef and Mercy Corp who basically both said the same thing - victims will NOT take used clothes! We heard that in some areas victims were refusing all help - holding out for more money from the government as compensation for their lost land. We were somewhat shocked at all of this. Everyone here donated willingly and yet our help was being refused or at the very least it was being extremely difficult to take the next step of getting goods to the right areas. In the end we took the decision not to contribute into the government fund for victims of disasters and decided if people did not want used clothes then we would give them somewhere they was really wanted.

We have donated the Rs11,000 raised through internations and some of the more suitable clothing to Heart Beat which deals with street children in Kathmandu. Below is something about this organisation. You can also check them out on Protected content or through Juju Kaji on Face Book. Juju has been working with street children for many years and is extremely dedicated to providing the right education (not necessarily through books) to these kids and trying to integrate them socially.

The remaining clothes are being given to the Nepal Red Cross to go into their general 'pot'.

Thank you once again for donating and I hope you agree with what we did. We were so frustrated and were beginning to feel like some high and mighty folks handing out unwanted crumbs! Now the donations have gone to those who are happy to have them!!!

HEART BEAT

Heartbeat is a non government organization that conducts social activities in diverse sector of the country through the participation and involvement of youth in different part of Nepal . The organization was formed in Protected content has been working in the field of arts and social issues since then. In Protected content was registered as a non government organization (NGO) in District Administration Office (DAO) and Social Welfare Council (SWC). In the initial phase the organization was mainly based on the field of arts and worked on the creative art exhibition in relation to the society. Heartbeat has already worked and exhibited more than 10 national and few international art exhibitions and also has conducted various workshops in arts. The organization has been working with various agencies, INGOS, Community based organizations, and youth organizations through the involvement and participation of youth from various sectors of the society. The activities conducted by the organization are mainly focused on the development issues of the society such as human rights, environmental issues, drug abuse, street children, education, poverty, child right, street kids and prison . The main focus of the organization is to empower the youths through the exposure to different social interlinked activities, capacity building through different trainings and involvement of the youths in the planning and intervention of the social activities.

Vision

Heartbeat envisions a prosperous society that is economically equitable, culturally plural, socially equal and inclusive.

Mission

Contribute for social development through interconnecting youth ,children and society