It's been a while...

SO much has happened since our last post. Let's see:

On Saturday 3rd November we hosted Restaurant at Forsyth Cottage by turning our home into a restaurant for the night. Tickets were $40/person , which included a 5 course meal, beautiful background music provided by a professional pianist, my sister Janine Torriero, and a silent auction. A special thanks to Fletcher for bringing along some friends from Rotaract (who helped for much of the day in the kitchen) and for doing an awesome job of 'auctioneer' on the night! Also thanks to Michael and Jennie Bogicevic, friends of Fletcher's family, who surprised us by turning up with hundreds of dollars worth of beautiful organic fruit and vegetables for guests to take home and Bethany's school friends, Heidi and Courtney, who were waitresses with Rachel and Bethany on the night.

Fletcher (in the background) auctioning off items at 'Restaurant at Forsyth Cottage'

Our aim was to raise $2500 to distribute amongst the following places:
$500 to 'Little Sisters of the Poor' in Coonoor, South India

$500 to Freedom Firm based in Ooty, South india

$500 to Hope Trust Orphanage in Nepal.

$500 towards a "palliative care room" for a couple in Banepa, Nepal who house and care for many elderly men and women in their own home.

$500 for the local Rotaract group towards both their trip to East Timor and to go towards a micro loan (a small loan given to impoverished people to help them become self employed).

Thanks to everyone who came along, everyone who donated products for the auction, everyone who bought things from the auction and everyone who donated money....we raised a whopping $3398! So we were not only able to give the money above, but we able to give to many other people in need on our trip.

Little Sisters of the Poor, Coonoor, India

We spent a lovely afternoon here on January 4th. This was our 3rd visit with them and as usual we were amazed at how welcoming they are to outside visitors. We were given cake and cups of chai. You can really "feel the love" that the sisters have for the 100 or so residents in their care. They rely on donations from the outside and, as I have mentioned on previous posts, the nuns often go "door knocking" to raise money for basic things such as food and medical supplies. We were able to bless them with $500, which they were very grateful for.

All of us outside 'Little Sisters of the Poor'

Freedom Firm, Ooty, India

Currently, there are an estimated 500,000 minor girls in forced prostitution in India. These girls are tricked by false promises of a good job or sold by a relative into a brothel and then held as sexual slaves. Deeply wounded, these girls need counseling and a strong support network and are desperately in need of a basic education, medical care and vocational training. Freedom Firm provide all of these things. 

We visited Greg and Mala at Freedom Firm on January 6th. What an amazing couple! It was inspiring to see how completely dedicated to their work they are. Mark & I often say how much of a blessing it is to US to give to others...and on this occasion I can certainly say I walked away feeling inspired, blessed and completely encouraged. They were extremely grateful for the $500 we were able to give them and we brought home some beautiful jewellery, hand made by the rescued girls. We will be selling this at our next "Girl's Night In" on April 13th (details in next post).

Some of the jewellery for sale at our next 'Girls Night In'

Trust Orphanage in Banepa, Nepal

What beautiful kids!! We say this every time.....but every time we visit these children we walk away feeling so blessed. We gave them $500 but also donated almost $500 worth of medical supplies including much needed vitamins and toddler panadol/cough and cold medicine.

Mark playing chess with the older boys

Some of the beautiful boys & girls :)

Nat playing with the girls

Beth playing with a girl at the orphanage

Pastor NP & Bandana, Banepa, Nepal

This was our third time visiting pastor NP and his lovely wife, Bandana. We stayed with them for two days in mid December. Mark spoke at their church gathering on the Saturday morning and was presented with a traditional Nepali hat ("Dhaka Topi"). We were once again blown away by the sense of family amongst them all. Pastor NP and Bandana, along with many other volunteers, house, feed and care for around 25 elderly men and women. Part of the $500 we gave them was going towards a palliative care room, as many of these elderly are quite sick. We were also able to donate $300 worth of medical supplies, thanks to the generous donation from Peninsula Private Hospital, where I work. 

Nat & beth with 2 of the elderly women

Some of the beautiful women

The new 'palliative' room

Mark playing chess with the boys

Rotaract

Our eldest daughter, Rachel's, boyfriend Fletcher volunteers with Rotaract. Rotaract is a global organisation that empowers students and young professionals to create positive change in their local communities and around the world. In mid November Fletcher, along with other Rotaract volunteers, worked in an orphanage in East Timor. We were able to donate $500 towards this cause as well as to a "micro loan" (see above).

So a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you that helped us to raise the money that blessed SO many people!  It's about TEAM WORK :)

Much love from Mark, Natalie & family :)