Girls Shelter

Hey! So I don't have any videos or pics this time... but coming soon :)

I just wanted to let you know about the new girls shelter we are about to open in downtown Kathmandu. We have been talking to a young girl in that area living mostly on the streets and working as a prostitute. Through weeks of couselling and getting to know her more, we have asked her to help us to help the other younger girls living on the streets as either prostitutes or beggars. This girl, Saru, has been very open and wants to help. We rented a large office space in the heart of downtown; a perfect location for the girls to come. It will be a place to come and learn, play games, make art, and share their problems with a counselor. We so far have two volunteers who will come to help teach and counsel. Once I get all the supplies the next couple of days we will begin to invite the girls to come in. Me and the two volunteers went today to plan everything out and to pray over the office space and surrounding area. While we were there, a young girl from the next door "Exotic Massage Center" came in to ask what we were doing. She now wants to come and learn during the class sessions. How exciting!! So please pray for my new friend Saru that as she helps us she will be more and more changed by the Love of Jesus. And pray for the girls who will be coming and for our volunteers. We are still looking for a full time staff person who can be there everyday.

So along with keeping up with my work for the Child Sponsorship program, I will be focussing on this project for the rest of my time here.

Ummm... ok, that's all for now!

Easter Fun

Today I travelled with my friend Shova to Bhaktapur to do an Easter program for the kids there. These are the children I have recently put on the website to be sponsored so be sure to check that out as well. I decided to do a video update this time, so enjoy!

Daughter Project Promo Video

Hey Everyone! Here is a video for Global Family's Daughter project. Enjoy! (made by Mike Thezier/ http://web.mac.com/mike.thezier

The Daughter Project

Hey! Just thought I'd give you a quick update and tell you about a project we have going on to help the trafficked girls of Nepal.

This past week we had our Family Care training, so our staff from India joined us here in Kathmandu. We went over everything Global Family is doing, why we do it, and what we want to get done. We have lots of new children to be sponsored now. I have entered them in on the website if you are interested. http://www.myglobalfamily.org/.

Next week I'll be visiting our children from Bhaktapur and hopefully I'll be able to do an Easter Program with them.

Ok, that's all that's going on for now. I've included what Jennifer Jensen has written about the Daughter Project below.

Talk to you all soon!!

Hello everyone!

The Daughter Project is underway here in Nepal. This is a project to prevent the trafficking and abuse of Nepali girls. Every year, it is reported that between 5000 to 7000 girls are trafficked from Nepal into Indian brothels. This project addresses the issue of human trafficking at its source. These four components give hope to girls and their families before it's too late:

1. Awareness - 9 outreach teams that target at risk communities work along the Nepal/India border to inform families about the dangers of child trafficking. This is done with the help of Daughter Tool Kits including CD's, flip charts, and 'hotline' cards in 9 different districts.
2. Rescue - In cooperation with local authorities, these outreach teams will rescue girls being trafficked. Reconciliation with family is the desired outcome, however, this is not always an option. In that case, we care for the girls in Rescue/Refuge centers while we find families who will take them in.
3. Family Care - Global Family has made a commitment to the long term care of up to 100 girls who are unable to return to their own families through the course of this campaign.
4. Business Training & Micro-Finance - The aim is to increase a family's monthly income by $8 which will enable them to keep their daughter(s) at home.

In 2009, we expect to bring awareness to hundreds of families, rescue over 300 girls, place 100 girls into our family care program, and help many families increase their monthly income through small business initiatives.

Please consider being a part of this project. It costs approximately $375 to rescue a child...our Daughter Project budget for 2009 is approximately $37,500. We need your help!

100% of your donation goes directly to the child, and all donations will be receipted for tax purposes.

Global Family Care Network
P.O. Box 1138
Toronto Dominion Center
Toronto, Ontario
M5K 1A0

Thank you for your partnership,
Clark & Jennifer Jensen
Global Family Care Network
http://www.myglobalfamily.org/

Well Adjusted

Hey! I just sent out a newsletter so I'm pasting it all below! Look for more updates soon :)

I arrived in Kathmandu Nepal on Tuesday March 17th where I was greeted by Clark and Jennifer Jensen (the kids were still in school) along with their intern Ricky. As Clark drove the truck away from the airport I was immediately immersed back into the Southeast Asian lifestyle; filled with traffic, noise, stray dogs, temples, busy street merchants, and lots, and I mean lots of pollution! Oh, and I didn't mention that there is power only 8 hours out of the day! Despite all of the craziness, I’m happy to finally be here.
I have my own room in the Jensen home. Clark and Jennifer have two friendly kids, Court, their 13 year old son and Charity, their 15 year old daughter. We have lots of fun together.

As most of you know, I am here working for Clark and Jennifer’s organization called Global Family. After a few days of adjusting to my new sleeping schedule (when it’s day there it’s night here!), I was ready to get back to work. This last week has been a lot of organizing and meeting the Nepali staff at the office. Now that I am settled into a routine I am ready for what lies ahead.

I have been given the responsibility to run the child sponsorship aspect of Global Family. In our Family Care system we place abused and abandoned children into a loving family. These children are each supported by a sponsor in the US or Canada. I keep track of the children who are sponsored and still need a sponsor. This week I am adding 20 new children to our website. These particular children come from the ragpickers slum, the poorest of areas in Delhi. They pick and sell trash for a living and cannot go to school. With our help they are able to attend school and get the care they need. If you are interested in sponsoring a child go to the website or you can email me for more info!

We have several things taking place in the weeks to come. I will of course be working on the sponsorships and website. In addition I get to spend time with the boys in the street kid program. They come to a Nepali couple’s home for a hot meal, shower, games, and to learn basic reading and writing so they can enter the government schools. The goal is to get them off the streets begging and picking trash, and into school and back with their parents if possible.
We also have a slum school we just started outside of Kathmandu. There are only 10 students but we are working to support more. This week will be my first visit to see those kids… I’m very excited!
Until my next newsletter, please continue to check my blog for updates or keep a look out for emails. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions: jmarabito@gmail.com

*In the first picture is Shobha and I, she is a very sweet girl who works in our office, the second picture is of Charity and I in our room

Back to Nepal

Once again I've let way too much time pass to update this thing! Since October, I have already gone home to the states and come back again. I went home on November 23rd and arrived back here in Nepal on March 17th.

I'm back working with Global Family (www.myglobalfamily.org). I will be travelling back and forth between Nepal, India, and the States. Since this is my first week here I am still adjusting time wise and getting settled in my new home with the Jensens. They have become my second family.

Anywho, in the next week I will have a better idea of what's going on and will update more. Until then, I am missing everyone! Please feel free to email me... I love emails!! :) jmarabito@gmail.com

Ok, bye for now!

I love fall...

It's fall! But there are no colorful leaves here in Delhi :( But I did have some pumpkin pie!!

Oh my! These posts keep on getting further and further apart! Hmm... let's see if I can somehow summarize the past few months :)

August: Tina and I moved outside of Delhi to Gurgaon. It's a developing City in the state of Haryana, just south of Delhi. It's another world out here! Shopping malls and businesses everywhere, but the old village life is still hanging on with random sections of tents and huts right next to these gigantic buildings. Strange sight for sure.

We tried to make it to Delhi a couple of times a week so we could still teach our students. I miss them so much! Tina ended up leaving the end of August to live with her mother and help run our girls home in Hemachel (that mountain village I lived in during the month of May). She's incredible, because she has also started ministry with the Nepal church near her home and is having the older girls from the family help lead Sunday school.

September: After Tina left, I went to stay with Clark and Jen at their home in Nepal. They are trying to start the same system they have here in Delhi up in Kathmandu. I was able to see their new office and one of the children's homes they are supporting there. This home takes in street children who are addicted to drugs and are left to beg on the streets. They try to rehabilitate them and if possible get them back to their homes and in school. Hopefully they will soon be able to start the family care system there as well.

Let's see... that's brings us to October! My summarizing wasn't too bad :) When I returned to Delhi (Gurgaon now), my new roommate Charlotte arrived from North Carolina. She has been so wonderful. We got to work on the curriculums and also preparing our guestflat for the teams we have this fall. The first week of October we had an AMAZING team from New Orleans come. Charlotte and I were completely blown away by their hearts to serve in ANY way they could. They were a huge encouragement to our children and a few other ministries we support. Also, since Charlotte and them are all from the south, I was surrounded by the phrase "Y'all". Sooo funny. (one of the pictures is of them, Charlotte is the one in the sunglasses... AKA Sharon Stone;)

This next week we will be working hard on our curriculum as well as preparing for a medical team we have coming next week. I'm really excited about that. They will be doing a huge medical camp in one of the slums we work in (where our first refuge center is). We will also have them a few other places in Delhi. This is going to be so great for the people, especially since they have been affected by this crazy economy stuff. After that we have one more team coming to do some work with the children as well as a conference for the pastors' wives. AND SOON AFTER THAT... I'm coming home! :)

Oh gosh, it almost feels unreal that I have been living here for so long. But even more unreal that in just a short time I'll be back at home. Please continue to keep India in your prayers. As some of you know from my emails, there is much persecution going on right now. Many Christians are losing their homes, villages, and their lives. The government is finally taking an active role to bring aid to these people as well as to the victims of the flood in Bihar. But I know God is doing something incredible here, and I am daily humbled to be a part of it. Oh, and of course remember the children in your prayers as well. Their areas in the slums have recently been receiving threats linked to foreign involvement type issues. The staff is doing well to keep them safe and continue in their daily activities.

Oh, so the first pic is of the Louisiana team. The second is of two beautiful girls I got to hang out with while the team ministered to widows. And the last one is of Tina (my Nepali roommate) and I at the new slum school.

Random Note: I am allergic to Mangoes. I love Mangoes. But apparently my lips do not feel the same way :(

Randomer Note: It's festival season and I woke up today with a carnival in my front yard.