Ten Friends raises funds for Nepal

Ten Friends is inviting the community to attend their Fall 2008 "friend-raiser," on November 8.

Ten Friends is a local nonprofit that assists the people of Nepal by delivering stretchers, providing water filters, assisting orphanages with bunk beds, mattresses, linens and mosquito netting. They also provide school sponsorships for Nepali children who would otherwise not be able to attend school.

Ten Friends' recent projects include adopting the Himalayan Teacher Training Center that supports higher education for young women in rural Nepal. After completing a seven-year teacher-training program in Khandbari, Nepal, the women return to their remote villages to teach.

"This is an upstream solution to larger issues in Nepal including the inequality between men and women and the problem of village children being sent to larger cities for education", said Ten Friends co-founder Rand Runco.

There are currently 12 women who receive this opportunity. Through Ten Friends, their education, food and housing expenses are sponsored. Ten Friends would like to expand the center to include 14 or more women.

Ten Friends is also celebrating the successful relocation of the Hopeful Home orphanage in Kathmandu, Nepal. The children have moved to a new 10-room home in a safe and quiet area. This new home will provide rent-free security for the 40 abandoned and orphaned children currently living there, and generations of children to come.

With unstable funding, orphanages in Nepal struggle to pay for rent and food. The director of the Hopeful Home won't have to choose between food or rent payments anymore.

Ten Friends provided a large portion of the funding to purchase the house and make necessary renovations.

The organization also offers a high school intern program, taking Sisters High School students to Nepal, "which helps tie the projects to the Sisters community and is a really positive experience for young adults", said co-founder Mark LaMont.

Ten Friends has taken over 40 people to Nepal in the last eight years.

"Seeing the contrast in culture has left interns with a lifelong appreciation for the area that we live in and lasting ties to our friends in Nepal," said Runco.

Last year, interns spent the summer installing water filters, helping at the orphanage, trekking through the remote Ganesh Himal region, delivering medical stretchers, and assisting with cleanup projects at Siddartha Village in Kathmandu.

An important part of Ten Friends' mission is providing service-learning education to local students and increasing awareness of third-world problems.

"One of the goals of the friend-raiser event is to generate enthusiasm for making positive changes in the world," said LaMont. "At the same time, Ten Friends' projects require money, and we are also hoping to raise funds for our work in Nepal."

Ten Friends is seeking sponsors for the women of the Himalayan Teacher Training Center.

The "friend-raiser," to be held Saturday, November 8, at Sisters High School, will feature a silent auction, food, a video update that captures the culture and scenery of Nepal as well as Ten Friends' projects, and live music by Brad Tisdel.

Updates about Rand Runco's winter trip to Nepal will be provided, as well as photos and a recap of last summer's work. There will be several children's activities, and children are encouraged to attend with their parents. The event runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

For more information or to make a donation, visit http://www.tenfriends.org.