My home town shows their support- Yehaaaaaaaa

For those of you who have never heard of a place called Methven- it is a small town located at the foot hills of the Southern Alps, and is the ski town of Mt Hutt. The snow has been cranking this year but also cranking is the support for the Nepali women.

Methven Lions club have given a very generous donation - so a huge thank you to all its members. The Lions Club has helped many people with many different projects for many years and continues to be an extraordinary organisation.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to:

- Greg and Hillary Turnbull
- Graham and vivienne Campion
- Terry and Stephen Leggart

for their generous donations as well.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

- Hester

2 down 4 to go, thanks to Canoe and Kayak

There are 6 of us from the Kiwi crew flying out from NZ, this means we can take 6 kayaks. Thanks to Canoe and Kayak, we now only need to raise enough funds for 4 kayaks, as they are donating two towards the project.

But wait there's more...................................................... not only are they donating two kayaks, but all the gear to go with them, paddles, spray decks, helmets and buoyancy aids. This is a massive contribution towards the project and means more gear for Nepali Girls to learn in.

We are extremely grateful to Canoe and Kayak for this generous donation. They have also offered great discounts on any gear we buy for the Nepali Women, so with two less boats to buy, we will hopefully have enough funding to purchase a bit more gear.

There will also be an article in the next Canoe and Kayak Magazine, which is due out in November.

Once again, a huge thanks to Canoe and Kayak for all their support with this project

Emi and her Mumma working those needles

Emi Earle, part of the Kiwi crew, is over in Ireland at the moment, and has been working super hard with her Mum (Anne). The duo has been crocheting beanies frantically over the last couple of weeks in an effort to raise funds toward the project. They have done a fantastic job, raising $270 by selling the beanies. Thanks to all the staff at the Belfast Adventure Centre who purchased the styley hats, and also to the crew at TIDES who will now be sporting the brightly coloured beanies.
Thanks so much to Emi and Anne for all their late night crocheting. Those beanies aren't quick to make and they only had limited time. Emi is of to India in the next few days for an exciting adventure where she will make her way across the country and boarder to meet up with us on the 12th of November in Kathmandu.



The Belfast Adventure Centre crew in Ireland showing of their new winter wardrobe

Sun Salutations

Whitney has been saluting the sun for the past few months with the many Yoga classes she has been teaching. She leaves for Nepal in two weeks and from all the people attending her classes, she has made US$1000 towards the Nepali Girls project. With this she will be able to buy a bunch of gear that will be donated to the Nepali Girls Kayak Club. So a huge thanks to all those people who attended Whitney's Yoga-ing and to Whitney who spent many many hours of her time teaching the classes to fundraise for this project.



Here is a photo of the lovely lady herself, looking very comfy in her kayak after all that Yoga

Beach Front or Lake Front

Things are going pretty well with gear although we still need 5 kayaks. Not taking all of these over would be a wasted opportunity. So with 6 weeks left to go and no kayaks so far, Anna and Myself decided to organise a raffle. With the help of Tongariro River Rafting, Wet n Wild (Kaituna), The Wall and Basement Cinema Rotorua and our Families donating the use of their batches, we have come up with a sweet raffle.

Anna has worked extremely hard on design and the making of the tickets, so all we need to do now is sell them.

They are $5 each and all the money will go directly to the purchase of kayaks for the Nepali Girls Kayak Club.

1st prize: The choice of two nights accomodation at a lake front batch in Taupo or a Beachfront batch in Ohope.

2nd prize: Whichever the first place winner didn't choose.

3rd prize: The option of a rafting trip for 2 on the Tongariro river with Tongariro River Rafting or A trip for two with Wet n Wild on the Kaituna River.






4th prize: Whichever the 3rd place winner didn't choose.

5th prize: 2 passes for The Wall (rock-climbing) in Rotorua and 2 movie passes for the Basement Cinema.



So if you are keen to buy a ticket, flick an email through to nepaligirlskayaking@gmail.com and we can sort it out.

A huge thanks to everyone who has contributed prizes to this raffle, because without your help this raffle would not be possible.

Sophie

A whole bunch of paddles and more

We have just received an awesome donation from Josh Neilson and his whanau. 5 paddles that have taught Josh to kayak over the years will be passed on to the Nepali Girls Kayak Club. In the bunch of paddles, there was even a nice small and light crank shaft (perfect for a small Nepali Women)

Check out Josh's blog at http://whitewater-koa.blogspot.com/ he also having a film festival next friday the 19th in Auckland which is to raise funds for the softpower health clinic in Uganda. All the info about it is on his blog

Thanks heaps Josh

NEWS FROM AFAR

Monica Gokey from the states has received 12 spraydecks from a company called skirtworks, a small family owned business, so that will be a huge help towards stocking up the Club

Inka has also received a donation of two kayaks from KAJAKTIV which is awesome, so along with the two boats donated by her she has four.

More gear coming in

Whitney Hansen, from the states has just received a donation of helmets from PRO-TEC. They have donated 12 ACE white-water helmets (pictured above), which is awesome for the Neplai Girls Kayak Club.

Monica Gokey (coming on the trip) has a sweet little donation box set up at a kayak shop called Potomac Paddle Sports in MaryLand (U.S.A). She has had heaps of donations so far including about 12 spraydecks. Here is a picture of the drop box.




North Water have donated about 11 throwbags for the trip, they will be shipped to Nepal too, which means more room to carry other gear. Very exciting.

Here is a little glimpse of the article Inka had in the Sweden Outside Magazine, she is now over in Nepal beginning the selection process for the training programme and sorting out lots of logistics.

Ferg's hooking up the goods

We have some really exciting news!!!

Fergs Kayaks, who are a kayak shop and more, are going to donate to the Nepali Girls Kayak Club 2 paddles, 2 buoyancy aids and 3 spray decks, which is fantastic and really appreciated. Fergs are based in Wellington and Auckland and we wuold like to say a massive thankyou to them for helping out a great cause. I'm certain the gear will see many years of use on the rivers of Nepal. Check out their website http://www.fergskayaks.co.nz/.

News from Inka

Inka is off to Nepal in just 14 days to begin preparations for the training programme.


Here is something cool off her website


"Another cool email came in today. Deepak, who was my guide the first time I was rafting in Nepal now wants his daughter to become a kayaker and is asking me to teach her! This is exactly what we have been hoping for and it shows the wonderful change of mentallity in modern Nepal! :) And of course as he was the first one to guide me on a Nepali river I will be honored!
7 August 2008" Inka Trollsas

Inka in Nepal last time, (she is the front)

A quick update

A few days ago Inka received an email from a woman. She was the first Iranian woman to white-water kayak, 3 years ago. She is now part of the Iranian national womens slalom team and is hoping to come to Nepal with her 16 year old daughter to be a part of this project.

Whitney, a good friend of mine, who is from the states but spent last summer working on the Kaituna, has decided to come to Nepal. Currently she is teaching yoga classes and all the money made from them is going towards gear and funding for the Nepali Girls, so far she has made $400 which is fantastic

We have also had a new addition to the trip, Hayley Segal, a Kiwi girl, which is very exciting as she will be a great asset to this project.

A huge thanks to Hayden Bateman who is donating a spray deck and B.A, and to Steve Tudehope who is donating 2 paddle jackets a helmet and a drybag.

If anyone has gear lying around out there we will take anything, as every little peice makes a huge difference.

Thanks heaps for reading, Sophie

Also check out Inka's website by clicking on the link as she has lots of exciting updates too.