Author: Jennifer Mathews
Koh Chang Thailand and Lonely Beach
July 22, 2018Koh Chang Thailand Koh Chang, a province located in Thailand is absolutely breathtaking. No place on earth can compare to the white, clean beaches, abundant sea life, parks, forest and vegetation, villages, caves, animal sanctuaries, Buddhist temples, markets, restaurants and affable people. It is undeniably one of the best, if not the best holiday destination […]
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Is Thailand Safe to Travel Alone?
July 17, 2018If you’ve read my blog before you know that I am a traveler and travel alone quite often. It started around 2006 while I was going through my second Divorce and working at my first real corporate job. Before then I had been a single Mom for many years and was quite content with going […]
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Tika Nepal! How did that happen?
April 28, 2017During my second visit to Nepal, I spent three months getting to know the people and the country very well. Among the people were some of the shop owners along the Lakeside strip that is popular with the tourists in Pokhara. A, sort of, dedicated area that the people of Nepal have come accustomed to […]
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Jeff, Ramita, Paru and Sankhu
April 26, 2017Jeff I got to know Jeff and the Community Development Network (CDN) during the summer of 2016 after an introduction was made by a mutual friend. Jeff has been working in Nepal since 2014 and has accomplished a lot through his research around Education and implementing computer labs surrounding Kathmandu. Ramita After getting to work with Jeff […]
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Hidden Paradise – A Hotel Built from the Generosity of Guests
March 15, 2017Hidden Paradise Guest House is a small hotel ran by a friendly Nepali family in the hills of Nepal just north of Pokhara. Guests enjoy the quiet surroundings and the view of the lake that Pokhara nestles on. What a lot of the guests don’t know is that the place is managed by a very […]
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Building a Home in Nepal – Very Tough Lessons Learned
In March of 2016 I planned to build a home for Nisha, Manish and their little girl that live at Hidden Paradise in Pokhara, Nepal. In August of 2016 the process of building that home had began and continued until we ran out of funds that Nisha could drum up, I contributed personally, and that friends […]
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An Update on Building a Home in Nepal
October 9, 2016In March of 2016 I planned to build a home for Nisha, Manish and their little girl. In August of 2016 the process of building that home had began. Nisha messaged me on Facebook while I was working at my contract position in Seattle, WA (earning money for the home and my living expenses) to […]
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Working with Community Development Network (CDN)
September 4, 2016During the summer of 2016 I had 4 goals set for myself to accomplish before flying back to Nepal to continue my work there. I had reach all of my goals but one. I wanted to start a non-profit status in the U.S. but was finding it challenging. What started as a project in Nepal […]
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Building a Home in Nepal
August 30, 2016I first met Niisha in November of 2015 while traveling to Nepal with a group of volunteers. We arrived in Pokhara Nepal two weeks after our time in India building a Chicken Coop as a lay over before we headed into the village of Arnakot to complete the final stages of the computer lab the […]
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The Nepali Scholarship Program
August 28, 2016In May of 2016 I had visited my close friend Niisha’s village in Nepal and gotten to know the people there. During my visit I felt a desire to help the children attending the local school and Niisha and I talked about helping more of the students and people as much as we could. One […]
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My Goals for the Summer of 2016
August 5, 2016After traveling to India and then Nepal in November of 2015 I fell in love with the country of Nepal so much I decided to extend my trip by a week, and booked another stay for 2.5 months early in 2016. During my time in Nepal March through May I got to know Nisha, her […]
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A School in Nepal – Igniting Self Reliance
July 20, 2016On March 31, 2016 I visited the village my close friend Niisha Kshetri grew up in along with one of the guests staying at Hidden Paradise with me, and now considered a good friend Kim (from Quebec). At the age of 17 Niisha was married to Manish who both work at the family run Pokhara hotel just North […]
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Getting Money to Where it Should Go
May 24, 2016My Path in Finding The Best Place to Donate to I Don’t Trust Big Organizations When I was a child I have always wanted to help others. Watching the Christian Children’s Fund commercials where they ask you to just donate a few dollars a day and how it can make a huge difference in a child, […]
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Tibetan Pony
April 20, 2016In November of 2015 I found myself volunteering in Nepal for a couple of weeks. During that time, I ended up falling in love with the country and extended my stay an extra week to get to know the people I had come to know better and enjoy more of what Pokhara and Nepal had […]
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Just In Time – Nepal’s Fuel Crisis is Coming to a Close
February 14, 2016With just a few weeks before i leave on my next adventure to Nepal, finally, there is some good news, and it is not just “cheap gas.” The Madhesi have changed their position on a closed border. The blockade has lasted about five months, closing the India-Nepal border, effectively reducing medical supplies, petroleum products, etc. […]
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Arnakot Computer Lab Nepal Project 2015
December 21, 2015[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]In November of 2015 myself and three other female volunteers traveled from India to work on the Computer Lab Nepal project. After spending two weeks in India’s Odisha recovering from hostility from […]
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#BackOffIndia – Growing Concern Over the Nepal Fuel Crisis
December 11, 2015[fusion_builder_container backgroundcolor=”” backgroundimage=”” backgroundrepeat=”no-repeat” backgroundposition=”left top” backgroundattachment=”scroll” video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” bordersize=”0px” bordercolor=”” borderstyle=”solid” paddingtop=”1px” paddingbottom=”15px” paddingleft=”0px” paddingright=”0px” menu_anchor=”” equal_height_columns=”no” hundred_percent=”no” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]As ethnic groups bicker over constitutional wording, […]
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Would You Pay $15 per Gallon for Gas?
November 21, 2015That’s what the people of Nepal are paying for their Petrol (what us Americans call “Gas”). I arrived in Khatmandu on November 2, 2015 after two weeks in India building a chicken coop in the Odisha state. The taxi cabs were outside waiting for customers to drive to their destinations. Kara, Katherine, Barb and myself […]
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The Trials of Building in Odisha India
November 13, 2015Upon arriving at the site where we were to begin building a chicken coop that Orphans to Ambassadors donated to Rural Life Development Society in Biswanathpur, Odisha India we were greeted by the local men and women. The local village women were dressed on traditional sarees that were brightly colored with floral patterns and traditional […]
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I’m Being Treated Like an Indian Princess
October 29, 2015Upon our arrival in Biswanathpur, Odisha India we were greeted by 5 beautiful Indian women. Two were dressed in jeans and a nice top and the other three in traditional Indian Sarees. They each took my right hand in theirs and with one light raise they “shook” my hand, bowed their head slightly and said […]
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