Namaste!

I'm going to Pokhara Nepal, Jan. 2008 for a year to volunteer at a hospital using my skills as a medical engineer. I will be adapting wheelchairs so that they are more usable in rural communities - a big challenge in a mountainous country like Nepal. I will be posting periodically to this blog with updates on my time in Nepal (and preparations for getting ready to go). Keeping in touch will be very important for me when I'm away, and I hope this blog will enable this to happen!

If you're in Toronto, on Tuesday Oct. 23rd, 6-8 pm, please join me at an information and fundraising Nepali dinner that I'm hosting at Church of the Redeemer in Toronto (location/directions). Email me to RSVP if you're able attend.

I'm going to Nepal through Interserve, an interdenominational Christian organization that enables professionals to serve in Asia and the Middle East. This organization does not cover expenses, so I am raising my own financial support for the year. If you are able, would you consider supporting me with a tax deductible donation? (My budget for the year's work is about $18,000.) Instructions for on-line donations can be found in the blue bar on the right.

This is an 'invitation-only' blog, which means you have to sign in to read it - a precaution recommended to me since I'm going to a country with some political instability. You are welcome to keep using the carol.nepal sign-in that you used to get to this point, however, if you have your own blogspot or gmail accounts, email me, and I can give you permission to sign on as yourself.

Namaste
(A Nepali greeting and farewell, meaning 'I bow to the spirit in you')