One year later the home was bankrupt due to severe financial mismanagement. The disreputable owner ran away in fear of being arrested, also his abandoned wife hired someone to kill him! The children were going hungry so in January 2007 I took a deep breath and assumed full responsibility for the home, managing it from Germany. For several months I struggled to keep bad people from trying to get control of the home (they must have thought it would be a potential ‘gold-mine’!) but now I have an effective new governing board and excellent new staff.

The house was really dark, dirty and badly equipped but is newly renovated, clean and beautiful. We still need to mend some windows. There is new furniture- the old beds housed many cockroaches! The children were often sick because of a bad diet and poor hygiene but now they are happy and healthy. They go to good schools. Our 10 children, aged 5 to 16 yrs are either orphans or from impoverished families. We will soon take in three new young children, a boy and two sisters who are orphans and unwanted. We are always being asked to take more…

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. There are many needy children e.g. victims of the civil war, from slums or Tibetan refugees etc. Hundreds of girls have been taken as slaves to India, many for prostitution. Some are only 9 yrs old. (See ‘You-Tube’ documentaries: trafficking and child sex workers). We will open another home for girls ‘at risk’ as soon as we are able to. We thank God for His provision and trust for all our future needs.

We carefully prepare the children for independence and adult life. They all help with jobs in the house, which they usually do while singing! We aim at excellence in all areas and to be a good example to the other homes in the district, some of which are avoidably inadequate. In a recent inspection by local government officials there was much praise for our achievements and high standards. PCH is fully registered and is accountable to Pokhara local government, to Grace Social Welfare Society (Nepal) and to International Christian Fellowship (Frankfurt).