Many members are aware that I have some sort of involvement with Nepal but they are not sure what it is , why I am involved,  how it started,  what we have achieved so far and what we are aiming to achieve in the future.  I thought that it would be a good basis of my talk if I concentrated on trying to answer these questions and some of the wonderful occasions that I have experienced and the truly inspirational people that I have had the good fortune in meeting.

I make no apologies that my talk has a high personal element, but to understand the title there is also a strong Rotary involvement with some members of this Club and a very inspirational Rotarian in Nepal.

For Ann and me, 9^th April 2013 was the saddest day in our lives. I remember well that phone call from her husband in Australia at 9.40 pm UK time telling us that our beloved daughter, Charlotte had died after fighting cancer for 3 years.

By comparison, 16^th January 2016 was one of the happiest moments in our lives. That was the day that we met and enjoyed the mutual love of our 34 adopted Nepalese grandchildren.

Whilst this talk today chronicles the intervening years between those two ominous dates, it is necessary to look back beyond Charlotte’s untimely death as to how Ann and I should have become so deeply involved with Nepal. Before doing so I would stress that I am not an expert on Nepal. We have visited Nepal only once and most of my knowledge has been gleamed from emails from our new found friends in Nepal and from the internet.

So the story starts with a meeting of the International committee of this Club, whilst I was chairman of that committee. In the aftermath of the cessation of the Club’s involvement with the Nagpur eye hospital following the successful conclusion of that project, it was the decision of the International committee to fund a number of small projects, where a little would mean a lot to the recipients. The list of potential recipients had been prepared, but then Sarah Perris intervened and spoke passionately of the need to support a small school project in Nepal. I can remember her words well. “Nepal is the second poorest country in the world and it was imperative that the committee supported the proposal.” The committee were convinced and Sarah’s recommendations were accepted.

Subsequently Rod, when he was chairman of the International committee took this to the next stage, by the Club funding projects introduced by the Rotary Club of the Himalayan Ghurkhas. In appreciation of the support of the Club, Rotarian Major Yam Gurung and his wife visited the Club, where they were hosted by Rod and Ann. That afternoon Yam and his wife had tea with the members of the International committee at the home of Keith and Peggy Ward. In the evening Rod and Ann had a wine and nibbles event and it was there that Ann and I first met Yam.

Yam had come to Nantwich not only to thank the Club for funding projects of the Rotary Club of Himalayan Ghurkhas, but to seek funding for more projects. Unfortunately the financial resources of both the International committee and the Club made this difficult to achieve.

Ann and I had run very successful businesses both at home and in the US and there were tax advantages in supporting charities registered in UK and USA respectively. Like so many Club members, we supported some well-known national and international charities. A big turning point was the death of my sister, a dedicated school teacher spending most of her life providing quality education to children in the deprived area of Liverpool and latterly Wales. Moira had never married and as beneficiaries of her estate, we wanted an outlet to contribute to her memory. Educational projects in Nepal seemed to be the logical way to achieve this and the Rotary Club of the Himalayan Ghurkhas provided the security that the money would be well spent.

Over the next 3 or 4 years we supported 9 projects for the Rotary Club of the Himalayan Ghurkhas with two more in the pipeline. I shall not elaborate on the details as for those of you who are interested these will be documented on a new website being prepared and is likely to be on line in early autumn.