Sisters reaches out to Nepal

Sisters Elementary School was transformed Friday evening into a colorful international bazaar for the Ten Friends Himalayan Holiday, with hand-crafted items for sale from the heart of Tibet.

The cafeteria hall became a bustling marketplace for shoppers looking for special gifts to support the educational endeavors of the group founded by local educators Mark LaMont and Rand Runco. Ying Yang incense sticks, Buddha Eyes calendars, copper and silver bracelets, silk purses, wool hats and prayer bowls caught the attention of browsing visitors while soothing Eastern music played and the savory smells of spiced curries wafted from the kitchen.

Kimberly and Andrew Gorayeb of Sisters came to support the cause and try on warm winter hats.

"Our son William went to Nepal this summer and in my view, it was the most valuable experience of his life so far," said Andrew. "It changed him, and I mean that sincerely. This is such a great cause and they do it all for the people over there."

Mark LaMont, co-founder of Ten Friends, was excited by the huge turnout and enthusiastic support.

"Lots of people are here to shop, some will stay for dinner, some won't. We've had these fundraisers in the past at the high school and this is a more intimate venue and something different," he said. "Sisters is where this project came from and where most of our member support originates and where we recruit kids for our intern trips in the summer. Sisters is our home town, we have supporters in Bend and elsewhere but this is our base and where people have kept it alive."

Much of the merchandise for sale was brought back in backpacks and carry-on luggage from their last journey, to save money on shipping it back. Everything from winter gear, gloves, jewelry, prayer flags, bags of tea, journals and wool pashmina scarves. All very inexpensive, useful items you can't find anywhere else, helping the Nepali economy and providing a unique gift for someone.

Volunteer Jennifer Barton cooked the delicious Tibetan-style dinner offered to guests and has been a chef at Mount Everest camps.

"I was a caterer for two base camp expeditions where I Iearned to make the traditional Nepali food," she said. "Tonight we're serving Dalbhat, a lentil curry rice that the Sherpa guides eat, Momos, which are little chicken-vegetable dumplings, Tandori chicken and Naan bread. The real key to the fare is all the relishes and chutneys. I'm so tied to the culture and their food and have that connection."

"The focus and goal of this event is to support our Himalayan education center in a village called Khandbari," said LaMont. "They're 16 girls from isolated agrarian regions in Nepal with stone houses with open fires, handpicked to live in our hostel we rent and support their education at this small university. It's 45 minutes away by foot, and the girls are aspiring to be the first female teachers in their village, and we support their dreams for the future. It costs $1,000 each for their education, food and lodging and that's very cheap. This will get them through another year, and we hope to raise the $16,000 by the end of the year for them."