Lily Freake would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who came to her Christmas coffee morning in Old Buckenham last December. Donations went to Childreach International and contributed towards her fundraising target that supports ‘Big Build’ projects happening all over Nepal, to help build schools and help earthquake proof communities devastated in April 2015. From that event alone she received, overwhelmingly, over £600 towards her £2,300 fundraising target, and this was a massive help. She is so grateful for the generosity and support throughout her fundraising journey.
As a result of this help she was able, along with 26 other students from the University of York, Queens University Belfast, Cardiff University and Reading University, to travel to Nepal at the end of August to take part in just one of the many ‘Big Build’ projects. Unfortunately due to the late and torrential monsoon this season, they were unable to go to their original site in Sindhupalchok, an area badly affected by the earthquake. Instead, they went to the Meera Centre in Panauti, a small and rural Nepalese community about an hour and a half away from the capital of Kathmandu. As a group they spent eight days levelling and resurfacing the much needed driveway and main road access up to the Meera Centre, which acts as a pre-school, teacher training centre, medical and pre/postnatal centre for mothers and children of the village. They also helped to build a wall to support the foundations of the centre, to earthquake proof and protect it from any landslides caused by natural disasters or torrential monsoons that may occur in the future.
Not only did she get the opportunity to help build and support the ongoing efforts in Nepal, she was also able to reunite with Yangjin and her family. Yangjin lived in the small Sherpa village of Phortse, a Himalayan village in the foothills of Everest, in which her grandad founded the Phortse Community Project to help develop the community. As a young adult, Yangjin, with the help of Lily's grandparents Tony and Sheila Freake, came over to the UK to study for six months. Lily was so grateful for the opportunity to meet Yangjin after 13 years and this would not have been possible without the generosity of the people of Old Buckenham.
While Lily only spent what seems like a small period of time building in Nepal, each project contributes to a much bigger effort which is helping to rebuild Nepal and reverse the devastating effects of the earthquake. So once again she would just like to thank everyone who donated, no matter how big or small your contribution, it all went towards helping her get to Nepal, to help support and rebuild communities who have much greater needs.
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