How it all began...
Barbara Datson
Founder of C.H.A.N.C.E for Nepal
In 2002 I set off to India with a backpack and a lonely planet guide for an adventure, never anticipating what a voyage of self discovery it would be and what it would lead to!
I left my children in the capable hands of my loving husband in the knowledge they would at least get beans on toast once a day and hoped that he would become more adept in the kitchen by my return.
Arriving in Delhi without anything booked was a challenge in itself and fairly overwhelming having never travelled on my own before. For me, India is a magical place full of vibrancy, colour, smells (not always pleasant) vitality, strength, optimism, and poverty. It‘s exciting and occasionally scary especially as a lone traveller.
After a few days of city life, staying in backpackers hostels, some more scary than others, I headed north to Hardiwar, a very spiritual place on the Ganges. Here, life was quieter than the capital, Delhi. Hardiwar is an extraordinary place of magical charm. I became more confident, and ventured around soaking up the atmosphere and making friends with the local people.
Everything was a new experience, the culture, the spicy food, the language and the climate. Dreading falling sick with the inevitable Delhi Belly I survived on oranges and bananas for the first few days until the overpowering delicious smells of the different spices enticed me to be brave. After a few wonderful days in this wonderful place I set off again heading north to Rishekesh, still on the Ganges, which my Lonely Planet Guide recommended and was made famous by the Beatles in the 60’s. I loved every minute in Rishekesh and enrolled on a Meditation and Yoga week, both new experiences for me and by the end of the week I had learnt the basic principals of meditation and was able to stand on my head! It was in Rishekesh I met Ines von Rosenstiel, now a dear friend who was on a year’s sabbatical from a teaching hospital in Amsterdam at which she was a paediatrician. We became great friends and she asked if I would like to head north once more to Dalam Sala, home of the exiled Dalai Lama, for the Tibetan New Year. Getting there on an overnight local bus was an experience in itself with our backpacks tied to our ankles should we doze off.
Ines and I trekked in the mountains, visited temples, and received Buddhist teachings, one after another of new experiences. Before I left India, Ines asked if I would like to come to Nepal with her the following November and be part of a medical team checking children in Kathmandu, a programme which she had started two years previously with a friend. I didn't hesitate, and came back to England after my wonderful experience in India to start a fund raising campaign to raise money for the medical checks as my contribution to the children in Nepal. I raised £10,000 that year, and have gone on to raise in excess of £85,000 to date for the children in Nepal.
Ines later founded Medical Checks for Children in 2006 as a charity although had been carrying out medical checks prior to gaining charity status. What started with one medical team in 2001 now has six medical teams, one in Northern India and four in Nepal. Now I head my own medical team as part of Medical Checks for Children to Pokhara, 100 miles East of Kathmandu. You can view the Pokhara Mission under Medical Checks for Children.
Since going to Nepal in 2003, I have become involved with another wonderful charity called Shenpen which is a non-profit making Nepalese charity run by volunteers. Its projects include education, health, street children, vocational and an anti-rabies vaccination programme for stray dogs. For the past three years I have been their chief fund-raiser.
Please see Latest News page for how the money raised here is used each year to help the children in Nepal have a brighter future.
Gaining charity status in April 2007 has put my past efforts on a professional footing. I now have the support of three excellent trustees: Mike Telford, Tony Robin and Ken Rushton. We have now raised in excess of £175,000 by fundraising and generous donations.
Everyone, if motivated and passionate enough, can change the way things are. For me, the experience in Nepal has changed me for the better. It has been a most rewarding, humbling and challenging experience and one I am committed to for many years to come.
My long term dream is for Shenpen to have their own medical centre and orphanage. This is the future, and dreams do happen as Frank has become a master at poached eggs on toast too!
Barbara Datson
C.H.A.N.C.E for Nepal
