Over the last few weeks we have been overwhelmed by the number of well wishers and visitors that we have had coming to try and help us after the recent flooding.

The postal service has also re-opened and some of our kids were wonderfully surprised by a lovely blanket that was sent by some students in Singapore along with some clothes to help keep them warm this winter.

We want to express our gratitude once again to everyone who has stood with us during this difficult time. We appreciate it very much.

Today marks one year since we started our blog, we would like to thank all who not only read and respond to our posts but also pass them on to friends, family and co-workers.

Late last week in the midst of all our chaos Isobel finally returned home to the mission from Delhi where she has spent the last 5 months recovering from major spinal surgery. We are happy to say that all has gone very well and she is now able to stand straight, run, climb and play like all the other kids. Though she might require some adjustments in the future to her spinal brace the majority of the hard work is now over. We want to thank everyone who has helped out, written to and supported her and us during this journey the results of all of this can be seen clearly in the x-rays below.

In another positive note we are happy to report that the twins and Cynthia are also doing great. Saloni and Shavani have both now got enough strength and control to sit up, look around and have even begun to learn to hold their own bottles. Saloni has been struggling with a cough over the last few days but we are confident that she will get through it just fine.

Heavy rains in the Himalayas brought the worst flooding we have ever had here on the mission yesterday. In a period of less than 30 minutes the waters rose up over 6ft and flooded much of our compound in more than 3ft of water! All our hostels, houses and buildings were flooded except two, some worse than others. Fortunately thanks to some quick thinking by staff and children damage was kept to a minimum as possessions, clothes and bedding were placed up high on furniture out of the waters reach. Some of our grain was damaged when the storerooms flooded but the damage will not be known until the weather clears up and we can empty out the grain bins.


Almost all of our staff houses were flooded, several under 3-5ft of water... many of the surrounding villages were worse off... some areas were 5-8ft in water. In our area the most common material for building houses is a mixture of straw and mud which meant that many people were left homeless as their houses simply washed away.


In general the people of our local community do not know how to swim and so even 4-5ft floods can be life threatening. Using ropes and life jackets our staff and some government officials were able to save all who were stranded. One of our mission boys, Bimal, a capable swimmer was washed away when he tried to help a young girl who was caught in the flood. Bimal managed to get to a telephone pole where he was able to hold on until one of our staff members could rescue him. About 10 others including some elderly were trapped and forced to hang on to a power pole until we could get ropes


As far as we know there were no casualties in our area though we did hear that a school nearby collapsed killing 18 students inside... also several others died in villages other than ours.

Flood waters have now gone down but locals now have a problem with everything being wet, cold and contaminated with flood water (which contained lots of pollution including septic waste). Dry wood for lighting fires not to mention dry ground is going to be difficult to find for at least 48hrs. Dead livestock scatter the ground around the village and the clean-up process will possibly take weeks.

This last week or so has been a very difficult time for us, sadly our Director Mrs Maxine Shipway fell very ill and had to be rushed to hospital in Delhi. She has been in Intensive Care for over 10 days now and though she is improving she still has a way to go. A massive infection in her body is the cause of the problem and the doctors have been doing everything they can to treat it.

Maxine Shipway our Director

As if that was not enough our new car that we purchased late last year was stolen while one of our staff members was in Delhi with Maxine. In the car was some passports, a laptop and a reasonable amount of money/valuables. Our insurance should cover the cost of the car eventually (it could take 4-12 months to get back) and applications are being made for the mission passports, but the laptop and valuables are gone.

In a seemingly endless supply of 'problems' one of our other staff members was involved in a head on collision with a truck when his taxi driver fell asleep at the wheel -thankfully no one was hurt... and to top it all off we have been having non-stop rain for over 30 hours and now our campus is flooded!

Rest assured we are not letting any of this get to us. We believe that difficulties shape and strengthen you and that all challenges can be overcome in time! Thank you to all who have supported us through this difficult time.