Pegasus Children’s Project provides a caring home for street

children, orphans and kids from extremely poor backgrounds in

Kathmandu, Nepal. With around 80 children under their care, the

dedicated staff all live on site in a close-knit community.

The hostel is located in a peaceful countryside setting on the

outskirts of Kathmandu right next to the beautiful Sunderijal

forest. It has been purpose built around the needs of the children

with safety and security, study and play, as well as health and well-

being at its heart.

The Pegasus Children’s Project charity here in the UK provides

regular funds to the hostel. We are committed to supporting the

day to day running costs of the hostel and supporting each of the

children as they grow up within the community.

This UK registered charity is run by a small group of volunteers.

We visit the hostel when we can to check on things. Regular

donors and sponsors enable us to send a contribution out to the

hostel every month to meet the hostel and schooling overheads.

This year’s newsletter is focusing mainly on the aftermath of the

terrible earthquake that hit Nepal on 25th

April 2015, and brings

you updates on the current situation at the hostel and news on

how we have responded so far.

Emergency response from our supporters has been amazing, and

yet we still have an awful lot to do. There will be a long-lasting

effect from such a major disaster, and we need your support.

We still urgently need new sponsors; you can help

to turn around a child’s life, and give them an

opportunity to be all that they can be.

Individuals, families, schools and businesses are

helping us to provide many children with a better

start in life. To find out how you can help, please

visit our website:

www.pegasuschildren.co.uk

And keep up to date with all the latest news on our

Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/PegasusChildrensProject

The Pegasus Happy Home - surviving disaster

Newsletter from Nepal - Summer 2015

The April 2015 earthquake killed more than

9,000 people in Nepal and injured more

than 23,000. At magnitude 7.8, its

epicentre was east of the district of

Lamjung. It was the worst natural disaster

to strike Nepal since 1934.

Hundreds of thousands were made

homeless with entire villages flattened.

Aftershocks continued for many weeks

afterwards causing further damage and

widespread fear amongst the population.

Traditional building structures suffered

terribly (see picture left), and vast numbers

of people are now surviving the monsoon

under canvas.

Our earth-domes survived pretty well

(picture right) - read more inside….

Earthquake aftermath - a story of contrasts

Since the terrible earthquake in

April this year, we have been in

frequent, regular contact with

Kinley D Lama, our Project

Director at the Pegasus Project

and School. We asked him to

share with us, nearly 3 months on, how life in Nepal is now.

Here is what he told us:

To be honest, it is quite difficult to think clearly or make

proper plans at the moment. We have so much to do, but

the system and climate are conspiring against us. I think it

will be several years before Nepal finds its feet again.

Your generous financial support in the immediate

aftermath of the earthquake has meant that we were able

to do perhaps more than most before the monsoon,

making sure all our children and staff have dry and

reasonably comfortable accommodation.

The boys have moved back into the large domes that are

all replastered and waterproofed, with better ventilation.

So they are very happy and comfortable.

The girls, however, are not so lucky yet. Their dormitory

was in the 3-storey brick building and that needs major

repairs - the addition of support pillars and some sections

of walls need completely rebuilding. So the girls are

squeezed into some domes that were previously being

used as stores.

It is wonderful how well the domes survived the

earthquake, and we feel really lucky to have this amount

of accommodation. But we are really missing our 3-storey

building, which was not only the girls dormitory, but also

the dining and study hall.

But then, when we compare ourselves with the masses of

people who are still living in tents, under tarpaulin shelters

and other makeshift arrangements, we realise our good

fortune; especially now the monsoon is upon us.

As we travel from our

hostel, down through

the local village, and on

to the school, we see

how deeply affected

people are. In the city

centre, every available

bit of space is occupied

by tents. Imagine how

dreadful it is to live like

this through the

monsoon season; it’s

either so hot that they

can’t stay inside, or

raining so they have to huddle inside because most of the

tents aren’t waterproof.

In our village, many houses were utterly destroyed, and a

few people were killed. Quite a few of our neighbours

have managed to dismantle their fallen or cracked houses

and, using the rubble, have managed to build temporary

shelters. But it is certainly not a permanent solution.

Soon after the earthquake, we distributed food parcels to

our neighbours, using some of the emergency money that

you sent us from the UK. This was a welcome relief in

those first few desperate days.

Another side effect of the terrible situation here is the

costs of commodities have gone up. Since the

government has no control or monitoring set up, it looks

like this is the way it will stay for the foreseeable future. So

our overheads have risen considerably at the hostel,

putting quite a big strain on our finances.

I am trying to be especially watchful to see what the

psychological impact is going to be on our children. So

far, all the children seem to be coping incredibly well -

eating, sleeping and playing normally, and now back into

the swing of things at school.

Our children are quite lucky because, although they all

experienced the huge, long shaking of the earth, and the

many aftershocks, they didn’t witness any terrible

destruction first-hand.

However this is not the case for so many Nepali children.

We are starting to come under pressure to take in more

children. The Education Department and local village

development committees have already sent us 4 new girls

and 3 new boys., aged between 6 and 12.

All of them have been made homeless and/or orphaned in

the earthquake. They have been brought to the city from

the remote regions, and are having a tough time coming

to terms with their sudden change of circumstances.

All of these new children urgently need sponsors.

Living through a major earthquake - a first-hand experience

Newsletter from Nepal - Summer 2015

This time last year, we launched our Capital Repair Fund to

make sure we were able to provide a long-term

maintenance and repair programme for our 40 iconic

earth-domes. Eight years on from their construction, it

was clear that some refurbishment was necessary, as well

as some technical improvements to the ventilation

arrangements and drainage to enable them to perform

well in the wetter and hotter times of the year.

In February 2015 (just 2 months before the earthquake),

our trustee and chair of our maintenance committee paid

a visit to the project to carry out a detailed assessment of

the repairs required and prepared a comprehensive report

on this as well as a full financial and skills review.

Just as we were about to launch a major fund-raising

campaign to fund the refurbishment priorities, the

earthquake struck. At first, we feared that we would be

right back at square one. But as communications were

gradually reconnected, we started to get the news that, in

fact, the earth domes had done exactly what they were

designed to do - they were intact, and no-one was hurt.

What a huge relief.

The conical design and absence of weak points is intended

to give the building good earthquake resistance - but this

is their first real test, anywhere in the world. And this has

led to a huge amount of international interest in their

performance and discussion about their suitability for the

huge rebuilding programme that Nepal now needs.

They weren’t in perfect shape however. The integral

structure was sound, but some of the wall render had

cracked. Some floors had developed cracks as the ground

shifted under the domes. And most worryingly, some of

the terraces had slipped and shifted, leaving us with the

risk of significant erosion and further damage in the

monsoon rains.

So we embarked on an urgent fund raising campaign

immediately after the earthquake, and so far, thanks to an

excellent response from our supporters, we have been able

to send an extra £5,000 to the hostel to pay for emergency

repairs, and an extra £2,500 for emergency stocks of food

and supplies for both the hostel and the local village.

With a hastily assembled

workforce, and supplies of

sand, cement and rocks, we

set about repairing

retaining walls, improving

the waterproofing between

the backs of the domes and

the terraces, replastering,

crack-fixing and painting.

There is quite a lot more to

be done, and we haven’t

even started on our brick

dormitory building yet - by

far the biggest project.

We estimate that we need to spend a further £20,000

on the remaining repairs. We have already raised

c. £7,000 of this amount, but still some way to go to hit

that target. For information on how to help this

campaign, please see our facebook page.

Naintenance & Repairs- Trustees’ Report

News from our hostel

Relief Nissions - a little help to those less fortunate A number of charitable organisations approached us in the

weeks following the earthquake and asked us to organise

some relief missions into the hardest hit, remote areas of

Nepal. With funding for food parcels, the hostel playground

became a food packing zone. We hired a bus, and a number of

the older children and some of the staff set off for targeted

villages in the countryside.

On the first trip, Kinley described what he saw as a very tragic

sight with houses looking like they had been destroyed by a

huge hammer falling from the sky, rather than shaking ground.

Since its earliest days, Pegasus has had a motto of “giving

back”, with children taught that it is not just about taking hand

-outs for themselves. This is our motto in action.

One student, Chandan, told us that it felt very good to be able

to volunteer, but they had seen some truly tragic scenes.

Since the very start of Pegasus

Children’s Hostel, Champa Didi has

been our wonderful head cook. She

has run our small kitchen and

produced huge quantities of great food

for all the children every day. She is

truly a miracle worker.

Her four children are all grown up and

now it is their turn to look after their

mother.

So with enormous gratitude, we are bidding Champa Didi

farewell as she starts her well-earned retirement. Kinley

and Karma hosted a farewell dinner for her in July with all

the staff.

Pegasus Children’s Project Ltd

UK Registered Charity No 1110469

Long overdue, we have replaced all the bedding at the

hostel. Thanks to the generosity of our funders over the

last few months, we have been able to significantly

improve the comfort and cleanliness of the bedrooms.

A fond farewell to Didi New bedding for everyone

How to

support a

Pegasus child

We always need new, regular sponsors as well as one-off

gifts to help us to maintain our critical support to the

hostel. Any amount given regularly by standing order is

always hugely welcome - this year more than ever before.

Please do get in touch with us if you would like to sponsor

a child or fund raise for us.

One-off donations can be made into our Paypal or bank

account - details on our website:

www.pegasuschildren.co.uk

Email us at info@pegasuschildren.co.uk for a donation pack

or fund raising support.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our facebook

page: “PegasusChildrensProject”

So many thank you’s! This year we hardly know where to start with our thank

you’s. You have all been so wonderful, and the children

and staff all want you to know just how much they

appreciate your support.

So many of you have been astoundingly generous, and

there have been some fantastic fund-raising events and

sponsored challenges. Follow us on Facebook to see news

from our fundraisers and progress on our campaigns.

Another great academic Year!

The Student Leaving Certificate

(SLC) is the key stepping stone for

Nepali youngsters - equivalent to

our GCSEs. All our school-age

children attend the Pegasus English

School in Jorpati, a 30 minute bus ride from the hostel.

Kinley, our director also runs the school.

The SLC exams took place just before the earthquake and

the results were published on 17 June. Out of the 41

Pegasus school students that sat the exam, 7 passed with

Distinction (+80%) and the rest all achieved 1st Division

(+60%).

This is a stunning achievement for the children and staff.

In the country as a whole, the pass rate is only 48%,

which means that over half the 547,000 children in Nepal

didn’t even achieve this critical stepping stone.

We are very proud of the

Pegasus academic record, and

send out our thanks to the staff.

School is more or less back to

normal now, except that we had

to remove the top floor of

classrooms due to bad cracks in

the walls. So we are badly short

of space - yet another project!

For further information or funding enquiries, please contact us at info@pegasuschildren.co.uk