Greetings to all our wonderful supporters.

It was good to be back with the children this spring.

The three-month political siege (which closed our nursery) was by now a forgotten problem and the winter’s bitterly cold weather had ended. I ask myself how the families keep warm with no heating in their homes?

The answer is many layered garments, beds stacked high with thick woollen blankets, and only face and hands washed until it starts to get warmer.

In February Jenny, with help from her friend Corrina, enlisted the new intake of children for 2018.

Our teachers Sharda and Sangita did an amazing job last year and have agreed to stay on this year. Now having a second class, we needed two new teachers and invited applications. Ann spoke with Manju about the applicants and interviewed each one. She employed Pratika, who had just finished her degree and Passang, a retired primary school teacher with 40 years’ experience. Pratika and Sangita will teach Level 1 class with children aged 2 ½ years. Passang will teach the level 2 class with Sharda.

Ann interviewed each of the new mums and visited the children’s homes. She is concerned that the main problem for some families is to have sustainable work. Three of the Fathers are presently unemployed and if they cannot find work, the family will move to a different part of Kalimpong – too far away for their children to attend the nursery.

We are in the process of finding work that the mums can do at the school. Manju has offered a room in the school and our Indian team are going to provide a work project. It will mean that they can bond together and earn some money giving them a little independence and hopefully enabling their children to stay with us.

Even when there is work, wages are shamefully low. Asish’s family runs a laundry. They have a single iron and a table in a room packed with piles of washing. Water is collected from a stream. They hand-wash everything and hang the laundry around where they live. Hard relentless work. No hot water, washing machines, dryer, or steam iron, and no delivery van, just huge bundles of washing on their back. Yet this family’s income is just enough to feed them. They remain below the poverty line!

Manisha has moved into Level 2 class and her little brother Manish has joined our Level 1 class, but her family are having problems. They have moved again! This time they have two rooms. Their entire furniture consists of one bed, one small paraffin stove, one plate and saucepan stacker. Their father travelled to Nepal to seek help from his family. To get to our nursery they have a steep uphill climb on loose shale and boulders just to reach the main road, where they can get transport in the rainy season. Several families have moved to get work and now live too far away to be able to bring their children to the nursery.

One young mum, a single parent is profoundly deaf. She has accepted a cleaning job in the school, kindly offered by Manju Lal.

Living day-by-day as our families do, they manage on two meals a day of rice and veg, and maybe meat once a month if they can afford it.

Transport is our highest cost. If we could afford a school bus we could pick up the children from the town – a big item on our wish list. Does anyone have the means to donate us a bus? Please call Ann or Brian.

Our second-year children now have individual whiteboards and are practising their lowercase alphabet and numbers in their new classroom. They have started drawing cats, spiders, fish and people. We have purchased a large whiteboard and chalkboard, which the children love to draw on.

Our voluntary trustees in the UK and India are working hard to make RTL a real success, BUT, and it is a big but, without your donations, our Happy Days nursery would not be able to flourish and grow.

All monies sent to RTL charity are spent on the children and their parents. Trustees pay for their own flights & accommodation. Our sons provide printing, we, Brian and Ann pay postage and all the Garden Party expenses.

Our next fundraising garden party will be on Saturday the 11th of August at Manor House Lodge, Old Minster Lovell, OX29 0RN.

You know that ALL your money is giving a wonderful opportunity to our little boys and girls.