​Thank you to all those who watched the private screening of ‘I am Belmaya’ arranged by The Nestling Trust. Proceeds received by TNT will help fund a pilot programme, set up by Helpful Development Society – Nepal (HDS-N). This women’s NGO is working in coordination with the local government in Bhaktapur, to improve the welfare of disadvantaged/marginalised mothers and their children by offering the women life skills, and needlecraft training.
In collaboration with the Municipality, HDS-N has a long-term commitment to provide safe shelter for those women and children, who are victims of domestic abuse and violence. The aim is to promote independence by providing the tools for them to meet their own needs, and those of their children.

(Photo curtesy of United Nations)

Nepal has received a delivery of COVID-19 vaccine under COVAX facility. It is an international initiative coordinated by the World Health Organisation and partners.

The following article was published in the Himalayan Times on March 07, 2021.
'Nepal is getting a total of 13,000,000 doses of AstraZeneca/ Oxford vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India under the COVAX facility. From among the total doses of the vaccine the country is getting 348,000 doses of vaccine tomorrow. "We will receive the first batch of the vaccine under the COVAX facility tomorrow," said Minister of Health and Population Hridayesh Tripathi at an interaction in the capital today.
 The vaccine received under the facility will be administered to people above 55 years of age. The government is launching its vaccination campaign in the community level from tomorrow by vaccinating people above the age of 65 years. After 10 days those aged between 55 and 64 will get the vaccine.
The government has aimed to inoculate 72 per cent of the total population in the vaccination campaign.
The country had launched its COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 27 and has vaccinated 429,705 persons with the first dose of the vaccine, which is 1.4 per cent of the total population.'


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TNT is delighted to offer our supporters the opportunity of a private screening of the internationally acclaimed film 'I am Belmaya' before release to the general public later this year.
TNT has teamed up with Sue Carpenter and Belmaya, co-directors, of this inspirational film to help support the empowerment of oppressed women and girls in Nepal.

Click on the link below for more information and Tickets:

 https://tnt-belmaya-screening.eventbrite.co.uk 

Domestic violence is a widespread problem in Nepal. Despite laws against it, cultural, economic, and religious factors reinforce male dominance and female subservience so thoroughly that it is common for women and their children to be victims of violence and abuse with many being forced to leave their homes. Cast out by the husband’s family and no longer able to return to their birth family, women are alone with no means to provide shelter, food, or clothes for their children. The streets are their only option with all the risks of further abuse, trafficking, hunger, and drug abuse. It is common for children search rubbish dumps for plastic in exchange for a few rupees for rice instead of attending school.

.The Nestling Trust will use funds raised to assist a pilot programme aimed at reducing the number of women and children, facing life on the streets. Those who have fled domestic abuse, or single mothers, will be offered training in sewing skills so they can support themselves and their children.

8th March '21 is International Women's day - proceeds from the film 'I am Belmaya'  can help break the cycle of poverty and despair for women and their children in Nepal.

See it Online - anytime between the hours 6p.m. Sunday 7th March ’21 and 11p.m. Monday 8th March ’21 (Greenwich Mean time) choose at time to suit your Time Zone.

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Christmas can be a very difficult time for many and especially so this year. We would therefore like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who have supported The Nestling Trust in whatever way throughout the past year, so that  our vital work in Nepal has been able to continue.
May the Christmas blessings of Peace and Love shine throughout the world, so that suffering can be eased as a New Year dawns.

The BigGive 2020 ends tomorrow 8th Dec. '20 at 12.00 midday. Thank you so much to all who have already donated. Should anyone who has not seen this wish to help fund The Children’s Home Sustainability Horticultural Project please click on the link to donate before tomorrow midday.
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a051r00001fHRuyAAG

For more details about the project please check out our website www.nestlingtrust.co.uk

The Children’s Home Horticultural Project
‘Grow our own’ nutritious food, self-sufficiency, and sustainability
 
In a year when we have been unable to hold our normal fundraising events this 'Match Funded' Big Give Christmas Campaign  provides a great opportunity.
 
Please help us reach our £10,000 target
One donation Twice the Impact! 
 
The project will improve the sustainability of our Children’s home in Sarangkot by providing organic fresh fruit and vegetables for the Home and local villagers, as well as generating an income to offset other expenditure such as clothes, education etc. Land at the home is exposed to adverse weather and as a consequence crops in the garden often fail. Water supplies are scarce and unreliable. Fruit and vegetables have to be bought at considerable cost and at some distance.
 
The project involves building protected ‘pit greenhouses’ which will provide fresh produce for the home and local villagers but also training opportunities and work for those who have lost their jobs as a consequence of the pandemic.

Proposed site for the 3 Pit Greenhouses - below the playground area of the Children's Home.

Children's Home livestock would provide organic fertiliser!

Bijendra Aryal, Nestling Trust director in Nepal has been to visit Bikram Bhadel, a pharmacist whose workplace is opposite the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu. The visit was the result of the Nestling Trust seeing the following article:
(https://apnews.com/c1cd52ef723a5435aef7dd339a99af23?fbclid=IwAR0Gxd19tIvWBVWXC1aq6qQT7EfSJmWToDNIy52bVDjzewfB6dTb9E_Ii28)
The following was reported:
 KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — From his pharmacy outside Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Bikram Bhadel saw what happened when coronavirus lockdowns closed the facility’s cafeteria and nearby cafes.
“Every day I watched the patients, their families, doctors and other health workers struggling to get a good meal,” Bhadel said. “They were already having a tough time and the food situation was making it worse. This is where I decided that I need to step in and help out.”
He took 1 million rupees ($8,333) out of his family’s savings. And with the help of his friend Indra Kumar Newar -- a taxi driver who had no work in recent months due to the lockdowns -- he rented a vacant restaurant across the street from the hospital, bought groceries and hired a few helpers.
Now, at one of Nepal’s largest hospitals, more than 200 COVID-19 patients, doctors, nurses and workers get hot, tasty and nutritious food three times a day.
“I have heard there is no medicine for the COVID-19 patients and the only thing to do is to take care of them and give them health food to help recover and regain their immunity. This is what we are trying to do to help,” Bhadel said.
The meals are vegetarian, prepared after consulting with nutritionists. They offer a combination of rice, lentil, beans, vegetables, fruit and salad for brunch and dinner, and snacks in afternoon.
They begin their day early in the morning. preparing hundreds of meals. Food is packed in disposable packets and carried by Bhadel and Newar to the hospital reception area, where the staff eagerly awaits.
“The doctors and health workers have been working risking their own lives and away from their families. It was time to do something for them when they need them,” Newar said.
Staffers work and stay at the hospital for a week on duty and then another week in quarantine before they are allowed to return home for a week off work. While they are at the hospital, their only access to hot meals has been what the team delivers.
Nepal -- which has 49,219 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 312 deaths -- first imposed a lockdown in March, which lasted for four months. A second lockdown was set last month in nearly half the country when the numbers kept rising.
Bhadel and Newar estimate they spend about 50,000 rupees ($416) a day for groceries. They have hired 11 cooks and helpers, all of them paid minimum wage and are regularly tested for the virus.
Families, friends and neighbours have donated food, money and supplies. Bhadel and Newar have paid the rent for three months.
“We are hopeful the situation will get better in three months,” Bhadel said, “but if that does not happen, we will continue our work.”

KATHMANDU:  The Health Ministry has reported 1,325 new cases of coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours taking the national tally to 64,122.

Today’s reported infections in the Kathmandu valley is 59.05 per cent of the country’s total cases.
11 more Covid-19 fatalities were recorded on Saturday bringing the total nationwide death toll to 427. Despite the escalating figures the government released the lockdown in Nepal on Thursday. Thousands have already lost jobs and livelihoods due to the lockdown which has been in place since March.
It has been reported in the Himalayan Times that 400 Nepalese people per day are risking the high prevalence of Coronavirus in India (cases now estimated as 90,000), and are returning in order to find jobs.

​The girls are taught cooking skills and love to prepare Nepali food. Today Panipuri is on the menu, a delicious recipe of chopped mixed vegetables and spices inside a pastry crust.