By: Abby Fabiano, RVCC Rotaract club.

My experience in Nepal so far has definitely been one I will never forget. I am glad that I have decided to take part in this humanitarian mission in order to gain personal growth regarding my knowledge about the lives and cultures of others.

Visiting various schools and giving out school supplies to children has been something I am grateful to have taken part in. While at an orphanage a few days ago, we decided to give the children some of the snacks we had brought with us from America. We did not have much, but we watched them split up all the snacks amongst themselves and the smiles on their faces were unforgettable.

One of the highlights of the trip so far was one night when we were out, and I started talking to some Nepalese children. I was petting their dog and they started asking where I was from and were amazed when they heard I was from America. They were asking what America is like and were so eager to take a picture with me. Seeing how much the Nepalese value Americans and other cultures just as much as their own was very cool to experience.

One last moment of the trip that has also stood out to me so far was during the end of one of our long bus rides. We were all very tired from travelling to Kathmandu from Chitwan in a small van, and towards the end of the ride we all started singing random songs that our group knew. We were quickly surprised when we noticed a few of the Nepalese on our bus had joined in. A sing-along on the bus had then started and we were all enjoying ourselves and felt a nice bond form between us and the others on the bus. We all hope to continue to help and give back to others in the future, especially after seeing how different life is halfway around the world.

for more information about the US-Nepal Humanitarian Project, please visit http://www.theashaproject.org.

My experience in Nepal has been far more amazing than I could have imagined. My first few days here was spent with the Rotaract member of Newroad Pokhara. In Pokhara I had a really great time seeing the beauty of the Himalayan mountains as we went boating and had a picnic on the top of a hill where the view was unlike anything I have ever seen. I really enjoyed learning about the culture of Nepal at the picnic with the Rotoract members in Pokhara. At the picnic we learned how to dance in Nepal as well as played games that were a lot of fun that we have never played in our country .

I have really enjoyed the impact that the service projects we do have on the people here in Nepal. For example, we joined with the Rotaract club of Ratnanagar to paint the walls of an orphanage and to distribute blankets to the children. We could see the children as well as the Rotaract members of Ratnanagr were very thankful for our time dedication towards the project. The children at the orphanage seemed sad that we were leaving so us 5 Rotaract students from America dug through our backpacks and gave the children at the orphanage all the food we had. Although it wasn’t enough food for all the children, the children counted the food and split it among each other and were all very happy. Aside from  the orphanage we have also distributed blankets and school supplies we gathered through donations in America to various schools in Nepal. When we went to the school in Chitwan it came to a surprise to me how the students have to get to school everyday. Getting to the school can be an hour trek everyday, and we found the trek to be very difficult and exhausting. I could never imagine getting to school the way the students in Chitwan do everyday.

Overall, my experience has been unforgettable in Nepal. I am very grateful for how welcoming everyone in Nepal has been for me and the four other Rotaract members from the RVCC Rotaract club.  The Rotaract members in Nepal have been great hosts for us and I have made so many new friends!    Emily Fabiano

So far, my trip to Nepal has been filled with long bus rides through the Himalayas and many Rotarian service projects and programs. One of these programs stands out the most to me however. Today, myself and the RVCC Rotaract Club along with the Rotaract Club of Ratnanagar visited a local Orphanage in Chitwan. We painted there recreation room with quotes and inspirational messages and then distributed blankets to every child there. As myself and the 4 other members of RVCC Rotaract were leaving, we all decided to put together all of our food we could find in our backpacks- granola bars, cheez-its, Goldfish, fruitsnacks, and other various food items. We all ran back up to the kids holding the food we had gathered together and told them to all split it and share. As we now walked out and said goodbye, we passed by a window where we saw all of the kids dividing each granola bar into peices and each goldfish for someone and it was truly amazing. These are children who have an unfortunate situation and could have kept more food for themselves but they instead chose to share it as we had asked. It was truly heart warming and is something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

As a whole, Nepal trip has been great so far. It has been full of the most welcoming and wholesome people I have met. It has been a great experience and I definitely plan to come back in the future to continue with Rotary work.

5 RVCC Rotaract students are having a great time discovering new culture and having opportunity to be a true global citizen as part of the International Youth Exchange program with the Rotaract clubs in Nepal. These Goodwill Ambassadors were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Branchburg and The Asha Project, USA-Nepal. http://www.theashaproject.org. Thank you everyone for your support.

You probably wonder how can $500 loan change lives in Nepal?

Our past programs have proven that one small loan can change a family.  Several loans can strengthen a community and Thousands of small loans can transform an entire Village.

With the Rotary International’s $95,000 matching grant, Rotary club of Branchburg and Rotary club of Mahabouddha hopes to change many peoples lives in Nepal.  With a small $500 loan can buy a new tool, a machine, or a shop in the marketplace—millions of the world’s poor and low-income people have taken advantage of small loans to improve their lives. Over the past three decades, people have used these loans, known as Micro Credit, to launch new enterprises, create jobs and help economies to flourish. Poor people have proved time and again that they are able to repay these loans on time.
What is it?
The Asha Project’s Micro Credit program is founded on a novel idea that education and financial support, not charity, provides the surest way out of poverty for poor families, Rotary Districts 7510 USA and 3292 Nepal in collaboration with the Friends of Nepal- NJ established the “Legacy of Hope Micro Credit Project” to provide Nepal earthquake victims with $100,000 worth of micro credit loans. As a result, these people will gain knowledge and a source of income for themselves and their families.

This project will empower and provide hope for hundreds of people in Nepal to take control of their lives, improve their family’s standard of living and provide what every family wants for their children — hope for a brighter future through better nutrition, health care and most importantly education.

Our project hopes to provide one loan . . . one person . . . one family at a time.  The Branchburg Rotary is providing real hope and opportunity for a better future for the people of Nepal.  If you like to learn more about the project, please contact PDG Tulsi Maharjan at trmaharjan@gmail.com

A group of five RVCC Rotaract club members volunteers will be travelling to Nepal on a Rotaract humanitarian mission.

The volunteers, who are travelling at their own expense, will be working to help many Rotary projects being conducted after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.

The group plans to build toilets, help at the youth center. They will also paint schools and distribute school supplies to poor children in Nepal.

Tax deductible donations are also encouraged to support the Asha Projects’ various projects being run in Nepal and checks can be made to the Branchburg Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 5135, Somerville, NJ 08876.

You can visit http://www.theashaproject.org for more information about the mission and projects.

2018 Humanitarian Mission visit with the Micro Credit Loan distributors.

In hopes of getting more Rotaract students to be involved with the Rotary, the Rotary club of Branchburg has started a new program called Pathways to Rotary, where Rotaract members can become members of our Rotary club. We envisioned a future where Rotaract members will work with the Rotarians to promote the ideal of peace and understanding. Pathways to Rotary is also a great way to for Rotarians to ensure the future of Rotary. Through the program, the club employs Rotary’s guiding principles to bring vocational service to life by giving members opportunities to use their professional experiences, leadership and skills as mentors to guide young people in building a successful future.

We recently inducted 5 Rotaract members to our club. Our district has waived their dues and we do not charge Rotaract members to have a breakfast with us. Ten years ago, I initiated the process to charter the Rotaract club of Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) and served as their first advisor and helped establish the club. The first Rotaract club president of the RVCC Rotaract club is now professor at the college and a member of our club as well as the RVCC Rotaract club advisor. Some of the Branchburg Rotary Club’s initial program with Rotaract involved in mentoring programs and humanitarian projects in various countries, such as sponsoring them to go on a Humanitarian Mission to Nepal in early 2017. Once the Rotaract members discovered the benefit and joy of being members of our Rotary club, they started to attend our meetings regularly.

We started with 5 members, now there are more than 10 Rotaract students who are interested in joining the Rotary club. When I explained the Pathways to Rotary concept to our club members they were very receptive to the idea.
Our Rotaract members have supported all our club projects including organizing, planning and implementing the packing of 50,000 bags of food every year since 2012. They are constantly helping our club and neighboring clubs with many programs and activities.
Rotary founder Paul Harris once said, “The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again.” Our club believes that in our new Pathways to Rotary story demonstrates how today’s youth can help to make a difference, given them an opportunity to serve along with the Rotary club members.

via LEADERSHIP PROGRAM for Rotaract members in Nepal

Would you like to participate in our LEADERSHIP PROGRAM with a Certified Leadership Speaker, Coach & Trainer at The John Maxwell Team?  The Asha Project will be conducting LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS in Kathmandu and Chitwan with Ms. Barbara Christie, a member of the Asha Project during her trip to Nepal.  Interested people contact us at trm7510@gmail.com

ASHA is the Nepali word for “HOPE.” When we think about what motivates us to serve,we are drawn to this word, which is the name of my current mission, The Asha Project. To us, hope and opportunity are really at the core of the Rotary’s mission. Providing hope and opportunities to people in Nepal who are less fortunate is what motivates us.

Hope and opportunity brought me to America 45 years ago and I always wanted to do something for those less fortunate people in Nepal. Now, my son has joined me as an E-club member in our district to assist with this project. We will be taking our 3rd humanitarian mission in early February 2017. While there we will also celebrate the Silver Jubilee of our humanitarian work in Nepal.

For over 25 years, Rotary Club of Branchburg and District 7510 has been working to provide hope and opportunities in Nepal through many international grants,scholarship funds, micro-credit loans, training programs,and collaborative partnership projects with many community organizations to create a new network of people.

We formally created The Asha Project in response to the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal. In March 2016, we traveled to Nepal with the goal to rebuild homes. When we visiting a rebuilding project, we spoke with many people in the community and they told us that they were interested in opportunities to work cooperatively with other organizations.
We realized that house building was not enough. For a country that has spent decades dealing with political turmoil and economic instability, we recognized that simply resetting life what it was like prior to the earthquake was only the beginning.

This is why the three pillars of the “ASHA” project are: building homes to help create stronger families, creating $100,000 microcredit loans for a prosperous future and to grow micro-businesses, and providing scholarships for under-represented ethnic groups through our Rays of Hope scholarships for a brighter future.
​We are furthering our collaboration by sending eight Rotaract students to volunteer in Nepal during their winter break. We also recently welcomed a student from Nepal to complete his Masters program in Health management as part of the Global scholar program. We are also working on several digital divide computer projects to connect these students with the outside world as part of the Rotary District 3292’s Total Literacy Project.

ROTARY MAKING A DIFFERENCE

With our patience and persistence, we have been able to complete many humanitarian projects in Nepal. With greater collaboration and cooperation with many other non-profit organizations we hope to build homes, provide micro credit and scholarships for the people of Nepal. With everyone’s support, hard work and dedication many children in Nepal will have opportunity to be what they wish to become. Let’s spread the message that though Rotary we can provide “HOPE AND OPPORTUNITIES” for millions of people around the world and that’s what Rotary has done through the Rotary Foundation in the past 100 years.

http://www.theashaproject.org

Sebastian’s Story

One unique highlight of the trip was when we arrived at a school about an hour outside of Pokhara to distribute forty some-odd bags of school supplies. The children looked weary as we sat in the hot sun for hours but after giving each of them supplies they seemed to perk up one by one just as did their parents as they watched. A nice ceremony was done to hand the children the supplies which made it feel like an even more special time. Each school was different in how they held these ceremonies and gave out the supplies but they were all so grateful and happy that we were there to help. These types of moments resonated within me as we made our stops to different service opportunities.

● Did you meet anyone who intrigued you or left a strong impression on you, and why?
Each part of the trip had its own flavor yet there was one thing we could always count on: an overwhelming kindness and helpfulness orchestrated by SujanRegmi. Without his continued support and his attention to detail I do not believe that this trip would have been possible. From orchestrating where we ate to getting someone to help me get to the Catholic church on Sunday afternoon, Sujan did everything with joy. I am extremely grateful to call him, and all the Rotaractors that I met over the course of the trip, my friends.

● What was the most memorable portion of the trip to you and why? 
The most memorable portion of our trip was our time in Pokhara. They were extremely welcoming and very organized in helping us get where we needed to go. Throughout or time there we went to different schools, conferences and sightseeing which were all amazing.

● Anecdotes of my trip
Another moment that has impacted me happened just after we ate at a wonderful resort a generous Rotary member hosted. After we ate we had to go outside the resort to wait for a bus. So close to what seemed like paradise yet the area we stepped into was nothing less than the slums. We sat down and began waiting for the bus and occasionally snapped some pictures of the people around us. Two young girls began to fill around 20 empty liters full of water. After a few moments I joined in and began helping them. The one aspect of this act of kindness was that there was no formal thank you’s, no picture taking, no formal ceremony ( which were all good and healthy); just a human helping another human. This moment was why I went on the trip; I have found that on this trip the informal acts of kindness not recognized by all seemed to be the most impactful moments in my own life.