When & Where It All Began: One Sponsor’s Journey to Kailash Home
In this post Guest Writer and HYF Board Member/longtime Kailash Home Sponsor Brad Blum shares his recollections about his first visit to Nepal almost exactly 7 years ago.
Our plane descended toward the runway at Kathmandu Airport as the sun was rising. It was April 2015, just one day after a second major earthquake had shaken the people and destroyed buildings in this part of Nepal. We entered the open-air airport and saw wild monkeys running freely. I knew that Mount Everest was just a few days trek away. We were far from home and here for one reason — to make sure that Kailash Home had not been seriously damaged and to ensure all of the children there were safe.
For me, it was also a most special opportunity to meet for the very first time, the two wonderful Nepali children I’d been sponsoring since 2012 when they first came to Kailash. It was yet another return visit to Nepal for my traveling companion Micheline Kramer, the visionary and pioneering founder of the Himalayan Youth Foundation, but for me it was a first eye-opening experience.
Those familiar with Kailash might notice that these relief tents in 2015 were setup on the future site of our newest campus buildings — those wouldn’t be built and open for another 4 years.
Fortunately, the damage to the buildings at Kailash was limited, and the children were well, but everyone on campus was still sleeping in large tents because of the fear of after-tremors, one of which we experienced during our stay. In the following days, I fell in love with all of the children and developed an especially close bond with my two kids – a young boy named Yungdung, who had the nickname Badgi (or old man in Nepali), and Sonam, a beautiful girl just a few years older whose range of interests was nearly as broad as her infectious smile.
Even with the recent natural disaster and upheaval to their lives, the children were in a constant flurry of youthful energy, picking vegetables from the garden, working in the bakery, playing soccer (football in their language, as in most places in the world) and basketball. Some older children were training for a marathon. There were numerous dogs and even a cow living on campus. In short, life was still moving forward.
All of these children were here because they had been orphaned, or abused, or abandoned, or just simply, came from homes where their parents did not have the means to support them. It was, and is, a heartbreaking reality of the work of HYF. But to visit Kailash, you would never know it. These children embodied the Webster’s dictionary definition of happiness and generosity. If one of them received a small gift or found something of interest, they immediately wanted to share it with all the other kids or give it away to someone else. As little as they had had in their short lives, they never tried to clutch or keep things solely for themselves.
During my stay, Yungdung’s birth father had also made the long trip to see his son and in so doing, meet me. Though I was unsure how the introduction would go, he could not have been nicer or more grateful, saying humbly,
“I simply do not have the money to raise my son properly. You do. This home and his schooling and all his friends here mean the world to him.”
In fact, all of the children were grateful especially to be able to attend nearby schools, and every morning they noisily clambered into one of the yellow buses that had been paid for by funds from worldwide supporters of HYF. To this day, Sonam and Yungdung write me beautiful letters of how they’re doing, and I receive their school grades and updates just like to any “normal” parent.
Those two weeks abroad in 2015, changed my life forever. I had traveled to many places around the world, many times before, but I had never experienced a feeling like this. The children of Kailash may have often expressed their gratitude, but the one who was grateful beyond belief was me.
The two checks I write each year to support my two children at Kailash are the two easiest and happiest checks I write all year. Nearly ten years later, I still feel so privileged to support the Himalayan Youth Foundation and the children of Kailash as both a sponsor and, for the past few years, also as a member of the Board of Directors. If I could encourage you to do one thing this year, it would be to get involved with HYF — perhaps even to sponsor a child because watching a young person, who comes from next to nothing, grow into a wonderful young adult simply because of the invaluable opportunity you can bring to them is a kind fulfillment and joy I’m not sure it’s possible to find anywhere else.
Brad Blum has been an HYF Sponsor since 2012 and also serves on the Board of Directors. Brad is an influential visionary in the food & restaurant industry, and over his years traveling and living around the world, he has had the opportunity to experience and learn about a variety of cultures and living conditions. Brad is continually inspired by HYF founder Micheline Kramer’s vision and passion, and he believes that his Good Food for the Planet philosophy of providing food that both tastes amazing and is good for you, is something that can benefit all children, including those at Kailash.
