Let's put a roof over their heads!

A couple weeks ago when I was in Kathmandu before heading to Everest this man approached me as I was buying some gear for the mountains.. He overheard that I was looking to buy some used snow boots and told me that he works as a shoe-shiner and he had a pair at his house that he wanted me to come take a look at. Reluctant to follow him back to his house, in the little broken English that he spoke he told me how his infant daughter recently just passed away because he couldn't afford medical care and that he would give me a really good deal on the shoes because he was in desperate need for money. At his little one room apartment that he, his wife, his son and mother all lived in they served me tea and dal bhat and his mom even made me a bracelet from ancient Shiva beads. The shoes were a size and a half to big for me but he begged me to take them so he could buy his son books for school. They were actually good quality boots and I decided I could make them work with two thick pairs of yak socks, so I gave him 1000 rupees ($10) and with a big smile on his face I departed for the Himalayas.... After arriving back in Kathmandu yesterday, I wanted to return the shoes that I had gotten so much solid use out of over the last 2 weeks at Everest, as well bring him and his family some spare clothes and a couple thousand extra rupees. After the 20 minute walk from my hotel, I was in shock to find not much more than a pile of rubble in place of the cozy little apartment I sat drinking tea in 2 weeks prior. Despite some minor injuries, by some miracle the whole family got out okay.

There are numerous good charity sources out there if your intersted in contributing to help make a difference here in Nepal. But rather than making a subtle differnce for numerous people. If you would like to help me try and make a significant difference for this particular family who lost their home. I'm going to try and collect as much money as possible over the next couple days before I leave Kathmandu in an attempt to make as big of a postive impact as possible in their life. If your intersted in donating, whatever I'm able to raise, I'm going to hand deliver to them sometime in the next 48hours or so and I'll be sure to film it when I do so, that way you can see exactly where your money is going and the dierct impact it has on the people you're helping. Remember anything counts, a little bit goes a long ways over here!