Our team is headed to Nepal March 23 to help make a difference .  We believe that together we can create the change our world wants and needs to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate in their communities and schools.

We have chosen to partner with the organizations below because we think they are doing a great job and that they can help us ‘ be the change’. We see you as an integral part of this change. Even if you aren’t physically with us on this first trip, knowing you support the mission, means the world to us, and to the kids in Nepal. All you have to do is join. It’s free.

We will be meeting with NepalSEEDS, focusing on one of their projects, Shree Manakamana School for the Deaf. This school provides an education to deaf and hard of hearing children in Nepal. Being deaf or hard of hearing  in Nepal means being marginalized and left with very few opportunities for a meaningful education. We plan on supplying touchscreen tablets, hearing aids, as well as helping them build a system to pipe water directly to the school for drinking, bathing, toilets, washing clothing and dishes, and growing vegetables on garden plots. A reliable water source will dramatically improve the children’s health and well being through better sanitation and nutrition. The water system will relieve the students from the physical demands of fetching water from a water source that is far away.

OlliNepal team member, physical therapist, Alexis Clarkson has  partnered with the Nepal Physiotherapy Association to provide an education seminar at the local university to promote specialized training and inclusion. NEPTA works with governments and educational bodies to try to ensure that a quality physiotherapy service is available when and where you need it.

We will be volunteering at local hospitals, including Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre for Disabled Children and The Self-help Group for Cerebral Palsy. HRCDR and Friends of the Disabled (FOD), a Nepalese non-governmental organization.

We’re also meeting with OLENepal to discuss a long term program involving AAC, tablets, and inclusion. OLE Nepal (Open Learning Exchange Nepal) is a social benefit organization dedicated to enhancing teaching-learning in schools through the integration of technology and to provide uniform access to quality educational materials across different geographic areas and socio-economic strata.

This is the first of many outreach programs for Ollibean. We hope that you can be involved, so we are making it super easy. All you need to do is sign up for our online community to help some kids that really need our support. For each new person that registers we will donate $2 to OlliNepal. Sign up and  Like us on FB  and you’re entered to win an iPad .

We have a choice, spend the money on advertising to get people to Ollibean, or believe that the desire to get involved and give back to others is more appealing  and long lasting than any ad can ever be. We know that once you sign up you’re going to love our community, and we need you here to make it great. We know we’ve got a lot to offer each other and we know we’re stronger together. So join us as we go to help provide supports for the kids in Nepal.

Let’s show the world that our community is what we all already know. A community that bands together like no other, that is kind and helps one another out, and a community that accepts help when we need it. It’s hard to explain to people who aren’t  involved in the community  that we can have relationships on Facebook or Twitter with people we’ve never met in person, because they instantly get it .  Let’s use the strength of our community to ensure that all  kids in Nepal have the supports they need.

If you’d also like to give, or would rather give money, that’s great, too. Some of our OlliNepal team members are raising funds. 100% will be given directly to benefitting programs, services, or supplies. We don’t have any overhead, all of our team purchased their own plane tickets and we are covering our own expenses.  Spark and Createch created our OlliNepal page, and are helping us spread the word.  So really, OlliNepal has NO overhead. Two of Spark’s own, Dulani Gunasinghe and Hunter Savage are an integral part of our team making the trip  to Nepal, and everyone at Spark is helping, through their time, creativity, manpower and funds. So every dollar you give, every dollar Ollibean gives on your behalf, goes directly to making a difference in Nepal.

*for every new sign up, Ollibean will donate $2 to OlliNepal,  50 new members = 1 tablet that can change a child’s life. Sign up for free from 2/1/2012 through 3/21/2012.

** Sign up and like us on  FB and your entered to win an iPad.  Winners announced the morning of our departure on March 23,2012.

Thanks, good luck and Welcome to Ollibean.

 

Half of the team! lauri, hunter, alexis and dulani