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    The family at our favorite restaurant (The Asian Teahouse) here in Pokhara needs our help! We found the restaurant on our first day here in Pokhara. It is a small, one table restaurant down an alleyway that serves delicious $0.50 meals. The other restaurants on the main strip cost 5 times that amount for the same thing! We’ve come back at least once, sometimes twice, a day for the past 12 days. The reasons we keep coming back are more than just because of the cheap and great food (though it is amazingly cheap and oh…so…delicious). Each time we sit down for a meal, we feel a part of the family. The dad sits and practices his English with us. We discuss life, love, politics, healthcare, family, and a multitude of other things. He even gives us recipes to their best foods! We play with the children as they are always sitting at the table doing homework in the evenings. It’s an amazing find in this place where we know no one and miss our family dearly.

    They are a family of 5: A mom, dad, 2 beautiful little girls, and a 14-year old son. The dad was released from the hospital yesterday to come home and help in the restaurant. During his stay in the hospital, his wife stayed to tend the restaurant alone since it is their only income source. She worked there alone from 5am until 10pm as the family has for a long time. One of the little girls missed her birthday during her dad’s stay in the hospital. Now the family has no money to get her a cake, a TWIX, or anything. The dad, Shiva, seems to have the same ailment that Jen had last year when she had to have surgery on her left ear.  He will have to have surgery on both ears within the next 6 months. Last night he found comfort in knowing that Jen had been through the same thing. He sat at the table with us throughout our dinner and asked questions concerning the surgery that he will have soon (January 13th or 14th), the medications that his doctors prescribed (as we had informed him that Jen worked in healthcare), and about recovery time and when he could return to work at the restaurant. He is attending the teaching hospital here in Pokhara, which, by all accounts is the best around. In order to have the surgery by an experienced ear surgeon, it would cost too much for the family to afford. So, he is putting off the surgery until January at which time he can participate in student final examinations. A student will complete his surgery as part of their final grade for 1/2 price. This is still a massive amount for a family that scrapes by here in Nepal. Jen, having had this surgery, can only imagine (in absolute horror) how scary it must be to know that one can only have a necessary surgery if performed by a student in a third-world country…And that you have to do it twice! Because of this, we feel led to do something to help.

    The good news is that healthcare is relatively inexpensive by Western standards here in Nepal. The surgeries that Shiva has to have will cost around 12,000 rupees. Currently, $1 USD = 75 rupees. This makes the total cost of both surgeries  $160.00 USD. The cost of his hospital stay over the past five days is around 5000 rupees or $67.00 USD. We are on a mission to help with these expenses, if not totally cover them. This family has given us so much already: A taste of home when we really needed it 5 months into our trip, warm conversations on an otherwise cool night, laughter when the children have done funny things, great food at prices that have spared us our usual budget worries while here in Pokhara, and special soup to make Jen feel better when dealing with a bout of the “yuk, I feel awful’s”. So, after all that, here’s what we are asking of you, our friends, family, and faithful readers: Help us, help them. Give this family a Christmas gift that means more than any tube-socks or Polo shirts that we can give one another. We realize that money is tight around Christmas time, but we ask for a small amount to us in the Western world that is a HUGE amount to people here. We would love for you, the reader, to send us the whole amount, but realistically what we ask is $5, $10, or any amount that you see fit. You can rest easy knowing that this Christmas you really did something worthwhile, and this family can have an amazing one knowing that Shiva will be okay. Here’s how to help:

1. Decide that you want to help someone this Christmas.

2. Click on the DONATE Paypal link on the right side of the screen.

3. Enter a donation amount and press “Update Total”.

4. Fill-in your credit or debit-card information and press “Review Donation and Continue”.

5. Follow onscreen instructions from there.

6. Give yourself a pat on the back and go off to do more good deeds this Christmas season.   

     THANK YOU in advance for your time, consideration, and donation. And for being a reader, of course!