Quick update

Now that i am back in Pokhara, i have way too much time to spend on the internet as we wait to join the girls on the last part of their rafting training on the Lower Seti River...

Havent put together the rest of the trip yet, but i will sometime this week, so heads up.. here is just a quick update on some news we got from Inka..

After the trip we left the girls to go and begin the rest of their 5 week training, starting with 5 days on the Trisuli river, then going into a first aid training course, and then ending with a 4 day trip on the Lower Seti, where we will join them. It sounds like the girls have been doing awesome, and i know we are all excited to see how much they have progressed.

Soph talked to Inka on the phone the other night to find out that one of the girls, Radha, is apparently married! She ran away from her husband to do the training, and it sounds like she has been excelling on this last part of the training. When the girls spent a night in Kathmandu, she didn't show up the next morning for the rest of the training. Hence, Inka discovered she was married, and that her husband didn't want her to do the training.

Radha learning to kayak in the pool in Kathmandu. Photo from www.nepaligirlskayak.blogspot.com

Fortunatley, Inka is on the case and went to do a rescue mission. Haven't heard the results yet, but will be sure to update as soon as i know. I think that story just shows how important this training is for these girls, and maybe offers and example of the opportunity these skills will provide for them. For Radha to lie, and risk angering her husband seems like a big deal.

Hopefully, if these girls are willing to risk that just for the training, this program will have a good chance of surviving, and these girls will be able to really benefit from the skills they are learning.