Financials update - August 2017

We have had lots of great news and success on the fundraising front since our last financial update in February.

We have received wonderful support over the last year from Pantheon, who donated £5,000 to YYY Foundation in May.

And in the same month we received £19,000 from the Mazars Charitable Trust to fund the building of a new Primary School and Community Centre in Hagam, Sindapulchowk, replacing the school which was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake.

Building work on the school will recommence once the monsoon is over.  More than 70 children from very poor backgrounds will use the new school when it is complete.  We are very grateful to the Mazars team for their generosity.

In all, the charity has raised almost £40,000 since last September, a fantastic achievement. Virtually all of that (98%) is being used for projects in Nepal, as our costs as a charity are minimal.  We are working with our friends at Mandala Organisation in Nepal, who co-ordinate all the school rebuilding work, to identify and plan our next school projects and will have more news later in the year.

Thanks again to Mazars Charitable Trust, Pantheon, Box School, Panache Picture House, e2e Challenge, the British School of Paris and the European School of Luxembourg 1, for their support and generosity.

Hagam - a village in need

During our visit in February 2017, we took a very difficult trip to Hagam, a village still in ruins.  We took a party from Leadership Challenges, who are heading up the first e2e Challenge cycle expedition in October November 2017. For all,  this was their first visit to Nepal and their first exposure to the destructive forces of the 2015 earthquakes and landslides. The jouney was especially difficult. The first two hours by road from Kathmandu were easy. The following three hours off into the hills took their toll on one of the vehicles that along with some of its passengers, returned to camp.  This track has been cut off for nearly two years but the welcome beyond was worth the discomfort, as the following personal account describes.

Travelling through Nepal as a first timer

Well, it's everything you think it might be, and more. Nepal, for a first time visitor who embraces a challenge certainly pushes the experience to the limit! My initiation started the day after we landed when we repacked our bags with the basics and headed out for a 3 day road trip by jeep to visit Barpak - the first earthquake epicentre.  It is also the end of e2e Challenge, the inaugural mountain bike expedition between epicentres, which gets underway at the end of October 2017. The first few miles on tarmac were quickly behind us as we continued for miles on dirt tracks.  This is the norm here and the only way to reach communities that are quite literally off the beaten track, many of whom have been cut off for months post earthquakes. The scenery is of course breathtaking and the welcome we received on arriving at villages where YYY Foundation has funded projects over subsequent journeys makes a little discomfort quickly forgotten. Our journeys pale into insignificance when compared to those made by hillside villagers daily - mostly on foot.

Mangala Devi - our best birthday present

This little school was totally destroyed in the earthquakes.  Not a brick was left standing but dedicated band of children still came everyday to learn. Their teacher made do with a few tables and benches in amongst the rubble.  While the view is outstanding, this open air approach wouldn't see them through the harsh winter. By the time YYY Foundation reached its first birthday Mangala Devi had a temporary shelter. By spring 2017 the new building with strong room and toilet block will be complete.