I have the most amazing friends and family...

Last week I got an email from Bungamati Foundation Nepal asking if I might be able to find some sponsors to help put some rural village children into school.
Most of these children will be the first in their families to receive an education.
Without an education these girls are often child brides, work as laborers in dangerous jobs or sold as domestic servants or in the sex industry.
I have personally seen the difference that an education makes in third world countries.
I have been supporting 3 young Nepali girls for the last 5 years and have seen them flourish and transform into lovely young ladies.
These young girls are starting to see the possibilities for their lives that were not available to women of older generation.
This is huge as the more educated they are the better off they will be as they will marry later, have fewer children and be able to better provide for themselves and their families.
This education not only improves their lives but the whole village also benefits.
So.... after making a few phone calls and telling the situation- my amazing family and friends jumped into action and rallied around the cause.
Because of their generous support 29 children will be attending school in Bungamati Nepal.
There are still 10 children looking for an opportunity of a gift of education...

If you are interested in sponsoring a student, contact me at miaamicas@yahoo.com

Love Knows No Borders

I was looking for something to blog about today and my friend Connie sent me this wonderful video about Emmanuel, an orphan from Iraq.
People often ask me why I work in Nepal and this video will show you how love knows no borders.

Enjoy this beautiful young man and grab a kleenex!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQRf4g079UY

Two days ago Nepal was stuck by a 6.9 earthquake.  (See story below)
I have gotten a request from Bungamati Foundation Nepal to help them with an emergency preparedness program for their schools.
They are wanting to produce some emergency videos and burn cd's that can be distributed to the students at 14 village schools.
They are looking for donations of used laptops and video cameras to help with the production of this project.
If you or any one you know has any of these items you don't use anymore and want them put to good use, let me know.

NEPAL: Indian earthquake prompts 

“wake-up call”

Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN

Kathmandu Valley is largely unprepared for earthquakes

KATHMANDU, 19 September 2011 (IRIN) - A 6.9 magnitude earthquake on 18 September in northeastern India which also caused deaths in parts of Nepal and China, serves as a stark warning to the earthquake-prone region, experts say. 

“This is a wake-up call for many, for all of those indifferent to earthquakes,” Amod Mani Dixit, executive director of Nepal’s National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET), told IRIN in Kathmandu. 

“I am happy the earthquake took place, though I am sorry for the loss of life. I feel earthquakes are being forgotten. Now they are saying, ‘Don’t forget me’.” 

Reports say dozens of people were killed in the region - including 16 in India, six in Nepal and seven in Tibet. Scores more were reportedly injured by the quake, which was felt as far away as Delhi and parts of Bangladesh. The tremor was felt across 20 districts of Nepal. 

The main affected districts included Sankhuwasabha, Taplejung, Ilam, Dhankuta, Pachthar, Sunsari, Okhaldhunga in the Eastern Region, and Bhaktapur in the central region, Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Centre within the Ministry of Home Affairs reported on 19 September. 

The tremor in Kathmandu, though relatively mild, brought people onto the capital's streets, 272km west of the epicentre in India's mountainous Sikkim State. 

Some residents leapt from windows, a reaction experts say reinforces the need for greater preparedness - in particular what to do and what not to do before, during and after an earthquake. 

“This generation has never experienced an earthquake like this before,” said Umesh Prasad Dhakal, executive director of theNepal Red Cross Society (NRC), urging the need for increased earthquake preparedness and awareness. 

Read more

Health sector focus for earthquake preparedness

Training schoolchildren in earthquake preparedness

Haiti wake-up call for earthquake preparedness

Densely-populated Kathmandu facing increased earthquake risk

International earthquake exercise planned for April

Kathmandu Valley has a history of major earthquakes every 70-80 years. The last big quake (8.1 on the Richter scale) was in 1934 and killed 10,700 people. Scientists say major seismic activity is inevitable; the city has been bracing itself for “a big one” for years. 

According to NSET, if an earthquake of the same magnitude that struck Haiti in January 2010 were to hit Kathmandu, some 200,000 people would die, 200,000 would be severely injured, some 1.5 million would be made homeless, and 60 percent of homes would be damaged beyond repair. 

And while some experts believe the 18 September quake was a seismic energy release which could help avoid such a scenario, others warn against complacency. 

“At the moment we are not very sure whether or not this will be repeated,” said Rita Dhakal, humanitarian affairs specialist with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “Regardless, this is a signal for Nepal to be prepared.”

Nepal’s most recent big earthquake was 6.8 on the Richter scale in 1988 and killed 721 people. 

“We were lucky this time the tremor was mild. If it was a stronger earthquake the destruction could have been massive,” the NRC’s Umesh Prasad Dhakal said. 

Over 16 major earthquakes have struck Nepal since 1223, the last occurring in 1988, according to the 2009 Nepal Disaster Report by the government of Nepal and the Disaster Preparedness Network-Nepal (DPNET). 

A message of hope from Stefanie Nielson

Last night I had the chance to met an amazing young women named Stefanie Nielson.
She and her husband are survivors of a plane crash leaving them severely burned on most of their bodies. Although they have suffered thru more pain then I could ever imagine possible, both she and her husband Christian have the most amazing attitude and faith.
As I listening to her talk about hope, family and her gratitude for having the experiences that this accident has given her, it made me realize that everything does happen for a reason.
Stefanie and Christian have something wonderful to share with the world.
They are out there sharing their story and message of hope.
We all will go thru struggles in our lives and learning how the Nielson's turned a bad situation into a positive one is a story worth sharing.
If you want to learn more about them, check out her blog nieniedialogues.blogspot.com

9-11...So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.

I have been watching documentaries of 9-11 this weekend, and am overwhelmed by the dedication of the firemen and citizens of New York. 
They are a great example of faith and love. Its amazing how good can prevail through such tragic time.
Thank you to all our military past and present, may God bless you and keep you safe.
Here's is a beautiful poem by
BILLY COLLINS, poet laureate of the United States: This poem is dedicated to the victims of September 11 and to their survivors.

"The Names"

ARTICLE TOOLS

Print

Email

• Share

Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.

A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze,

And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,

I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened,

Then Baxter and Calabro,

Davis and Eberling, names falling into place

As droplets fell through the dark.

Names printed on the ceiling of the night.

Names slipping around a watery bend.

Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream.

In the morning, I walked out barefoot

Among thousands of flowers

Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears,

And each had a name --

Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal

Then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins.

Names written in the air

And stitched into the cloth of the day.

A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox.

Monogram on a torn shirt,

I see you spelled out on storefront windows

And on the bright unfurled awnings of this city.

I say the syllables as I turn a corner --

Kelly and Lee,

Medina, Nardella, and O'Connor.

When I peer into the woods,

I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden

As in a puzzle concocted for children.

Parker and Quigley in the twigs of an ash,

Rizzo, Schubert, Torres, and Upton,

Secrets in the boughs of an ancient maple.

Names written in the pale sky.

Names rising in the updraft amid buildings.

Names silent in stone

Or cried out behind a door.

Names blown over the earth and out to sea.

In the evening -- weakening light, the last swallows.

A boy on a lake lifts his oars.

A woman by a window puts a match to a candle,

And the names are outlined on the rose clouds --

Vanacore and Wallace,

(let X stand, if it can, for the ones unfound)

Then Young and Ziminsky, the final jolt of Z.

Names etched on the head of a pin.

One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel.

A blue name needled into the skin.

Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,

The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son.

Alphabet of names in a green field.

Names in the small tracks of birds.

Names lifted from a hat

Or balanced on the tip of the tongue.

Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory.

So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.

...WOMEN OF THE YEAR!

Our sweet Maggie Doyne is up for Glamours Women of The Year... Cast your VOTE!

Nominated by Morgan Giordano, 19, Bernardsville, N.J.

Why Maggie is amazing:

Five years ago, Maggie Doyne, then 18, took time off before college to travel the world doing service and cultural projects. Twenty thousand miles later, while working at an orphanage in India, she encountered hundreds of children left parentless and homeless by Nepal’s civil war. Touched by their stories, she decided to use all $5,000 of her babysitting savings to help them; she appealed to her hometown and was amazed by the outpouring of support. In 2007 she opened a shelter, the Kopila Valley Children’s Home, which now houses 40 orphans in Nepal.

But she didn’t stop there: Last year Maggie opened a primary school that serves 250 kids, providing not just schooling but also health care, basic medical treatment and a daily nutritious meal. Maggie’s work has been recognized widely; among the awards she’s received is $100,000 from dosomething.org. This past October her photo appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine, her story an example of what Nicholas Kristof calls the “DIY Foreign-Aid Revolution.”

In her own words: “I want to create a world that I want to see everyday, and I think that we have the power to do that.”

Read More http://www.glamour.com/women-of-the-year/2011/maggie-doyne#ixzz1XUnM3meS

Maggie Doyne- A Modern Day Mother Teresa

I have a new friend named Maggie Doyne.
She is a Modern Day Mother Teresa.
Maggie runs Kopila Valley Children's Home and School in Surkhet, Nepal.
She is the most amazing person I have ever know. While girls her age were reading fashion magazines, dating, going to college and all the other things young American women typically do, Miss Doyne was busy building an orphanage for the children of rural Surkhet.
Maggie has won lots of awards and has had lots of publicity but none of this would change Maggie's drive or focus. She is truly dedicated to her children and her mission. I wish that everyone would learn of Maggie Doyne and share her story with all the youth in your lives. The world is a better place because of Maggie Doyne.
Prepare to be inspired....http://blinknow.org/

This is what my life has come to?

It's official, "I'm old!"
My son got hit on his brand new bike last week, trying to cross the street in front of his school. He's ok but probably wishes it never happened. Not because of the accident but because I have become the "Safety Patrol Crossing Guard!"
OH Ya- You know the look. Bright yellow safety vest, Big STOP sign and tomorrow I get the official Whistle.
I keep telling everyone, It's not a career choice... just doing my volunteer duty, until they find someone who wants the job. Which my son hopes will be real soon!
It's been kind of fun actually, a bit dangerous, but fun.
The cars (or drivers I should say) are crazy out there... I'm thinking maybe a little "moon walk" or some robot moves might get their attention.
I don't know what the kids think, but they try not to make any eye contact with me, in hopes that I won't talk to them.
I have made it my personal goal to get everyone of them to say hello and they are starting to crack...
Yesterday was crazy tube sock day, so I did the official voting as they walked by.
One of the kids won a great big stick on Mustache as an award for the best socks and he wore it today.
I asked him if I could borrow it.
I'm thinking I might wear it with my sons Mall Cop Halloween Costume...
With me in my "Blart" getup directing traffic, I am sure the Principal will get my replacement, real soon!

I feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk...

I finally have a blog!
Do you remember how "Navin R. Johnson" was so excited to see his name listed in the phone book?
This is how I feel, "I'M A SOMEBODY!"
I started the business Mia Amicas Globally over 6 years ago and people have been asking me ever since- if I have a website. I am "techno challenged" but decided it was time to buck up- get out of my comfort zone and learn something new.
My son talked me into getting an apple computer and I have to say- it's pretty exciting. I am actually starting to figure this out. Last week, I worked and worked, took notes, sweated, more notes, sweated even more, watched some videos and still more notes until finally, not only did I get my website up and running but I am also starting this blog.
One small step for man, one giant leap for me!
Maybe I'll go online and order me some "Rosetta Stone- Nepali"
Miro Nam Cara Ho....hum? Maybe next week!