September 25 was an auspicious and very special day at the Eco Home for Orphans in Nepal.  The long awaited opening of the Happy Shepherd’s Cottage was celebrated with fun and festivities.  Built in loving memory of Anonie Skaper by her daughter, AAI volunteer and AA flight attendant, Romy Skaper, the Happy Shepherd’s Home is just steps away from the orphans residence.  With three bedrooms, full bathrooms, a living/dining area and kitchenette, it is a perfect place for our volunteer teams. The beautiful views of the valley are a bonus. We can comfortably house six or more volunteers on AAI missions!  Enjoy this video of the opening ceremonies. 

Together we spent hours and hours shopping in the crowded stores of KTM to furnish the Happy Shepherd’s Cottage.  It was a fun…and exhausting!  The Happy Shepherd’s Cottage is now waiting to welcome AI volunteers who hopefully will enjoy it as they enhance the lives of the EcoHome children for many years to come  Join us in 2018! 

Kate Jewell, Nepal Mission Coordinator.

Here is a letter from Romy Skaper

Hello Team Nepal;

It is my first morning back home, and I did not want a day to pass before thanking each and every one of you for the tremendous effort in  bringing the dream of the Happy Shepherd’s Cottage to reality!

It was much more than I could have  ever imagined, and it exceeded my expectations on every level. I had engaged in several fundraising effort’s before leaving the States in order to purchase furnishings and supplies for the cottage. Kate, Abhaya and I shopped with vengeance and were able to accomplish quite a bit at a reasonable value. We had planned on another round of shopping once we saw the cottage and could determine more accurately what was needed. However, many of the shops were closed due to the holiday so I left the remaining funds with Kate as well as a corresponding list of needed items. She will do a bit more shopping when the shops re-open and if there are any funds remaining,  she will hand those over to Bibhu with a list of remaining purchases to be made.

Additionally, I had a brief meeting with Bibhu where I pledged $1000 a year for the next five years for the ongoing maintenance and operating costs of the cottage beginning in 2018. It is my desire that after five years our program of volunteers will be strong enough to make the cottage not only self-supporting, but produce additional funds to help support the Eco-Farm and the children.

We also experienced such a delightful time with the children and we are working on future programs to give them life skills. We held a class on hospitality which would serve them in the travel/trekking  industry as well as airline, hotel and food service. The children were  very receptive and practiced  their skills on us for the remaining days of our visit. We are also working on bringing in a volunteer British hairdresser who teaches a 4 to 5 day class and issues certifications to those students who successfully complete her course. While on site, I began to lay the groundwork by doing a brief hairstyling demonstration for the ladies, but the certification would be open to both ladies and gents:))

Again, I cannot express my sincere gratitude for all of the hard work and dedication to this project. I look forward to what the future brings and am truly blessed to have such strong leaders and mentors in my life.

Namaste and God Bless,
Romy