R Star Foundation vowing to rekindle Hope in Nepal

Published November 27, 2015,   by STUNEWS

“Listen to Mustn’ts, child, listen to the Don’ts.

Listen to the Shouldn’ts, the Impossibles, the Won’ts.

Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.

Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.”

~Shel Silverstein

Hope for the women and children living in “The land of earthquakes” looks dim and more remote than ever. On September 21, while still trying to survive in the wake of last April and May’s massive earthquakes, India enacted an embargo cutting Nepal off from all supply lines: leaving women and children without shelter, blankets, fuel for cooking/ heating, or medical care. Winter and freezing temperatures are imminent. Many will not survive.

Here in Laguna Beach, activist Rosalind Russell has a different vision for the future — a bright one. One where the embargo is lifted and she is able to travel to Nepal and hand deliver desperately needed supplies: blankets for those without shelter and funding to help rebuild homes (16,500 houses were lost. Only about 50 homes are still habitable after the earthquakes). But, this is only the beginning. She also plans to bring something special to the children to help provide hope for a brighter and more educated future — Kindles. Yes, those magically bright, low powered hand held devices that can contain an entire library’s worth of material and information.

There are a lot of impossibilities here. Many medical facilities have shut down. Basic supplies, medications, blood, oxygen and saline are almost non-existent. Currently, women and children are living without shelter or fuel for cooking and heating. Women and young girls without shelter have no protection from predators. Rape and robbery are rampant and the suicide rate is up by 10%. To make matters worse, earthquakes of 5.3 and higher continue to strike causing fresh panic and increased anxiety. Hope seems about as nil as one could imagine.

However, Rosalind is used to achieving great things when faced with the “impossible”. Her R Star Foundation and their “Women helping women and children in Nepal” mission have a remarkable track record.

Over a 12-year period Rosalind personally served and radically transformed the lives of people in 48 villages by hand-delivering 15,000 pregnant goats to the women of this most needy and remote region of the world.

This is where she built The Top of The World School and provided micro financing to groups of 25 women (regardless of caste) for personal investments. Prior to the earthquakes, children at The Top of the World School were scoring in the top 10% of all Nepalese school children, and for the first time women had access to a sustainable income source as well as the political power to improve the lives and futures of their children. What could be more hopeful than that? Rosalind and her R Star Foundation have accomplished a lot, but after the earthquakes their work has only just begun.

Submitted photo

Children at the earthquake damaged Top of the World School in Nepal

Besides the blankets, Rosalind is now especially excited about her plan to collect and distribute Kindles for the school children. Kindles are one of the few items that she can personally transport and feels they are a most necessary part of her mission. It is not only a way to advance the education and technical skills of the children, but they will also provide a world of content and access to a light source.

Rosalind says, “The gift of a Kindle would lift and elevate the children mightily. Having lost a considerable amount and witnessed horrific changes, I see the contributions of Kindles as hope, which otherwise appears slim to them.”

As soon as the embargo is lifted Rosalind will return to the small villages of Nepal to deliver Kindles, blankets and funds to rebuild homes. Donations are now being accepted and volunteers are at the ready loading Kindles with everything from See Spot Run to Shakespeare.

R Star is 100% volunteer run, and 100% of the proceeds go directly to women and children living in Nepal.

You can help to make Rosalind’s mission more impactful by donating directly to R Star before Rosalind returns to Nepal. Visit www.RStarFoundation.org for more information. To donate directly online, visit https://fundraiser.processdonation.org/Fundraiser/donate.aspx?fid=9I4HE6375C