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Moved by kindness

Earthquake: Local effort sparked by Riley Boudreau's experience in Nepal.
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Gone: Like many others

When Riley Boudreau left his wallet in a Nepal bazaar, it was still there when he raced back later to search for it.

When Boudreau was approached by a homeless man in Nepal, he was not asked for money. Instead, the man wanted to know about his life.

When Boudreau and his co-volunteers were on a trek in Nepal and faced many challenges, including illness, their guide leader, Ram Timalsina, did everything possible to help them, including giving up his own medication.

When Boudreau was on a jungle expedition in Nepal, he mentioned his host family had given him curdled milk with his rice and lentils, and he was surprised how much he liked it. As soon as the words left his lips, the son of the family serving him took off running, house to house, to find him curdled milk.

These are but a few of the ongoing kindnesses Boudreau and his fellow student volunteers experienced while on a trip to Nepal to help at an orphanage and do a little travelling.

“Nepal is so helpful and so caring, it honestly melted my heart,” Boudreau says.

This kindness has moved him and his friend Isaiah Houle to take on the huge project of helping the villagers of  Khaki, where Timalsina lives, recover from the earthquake.

Enough mosquito nets, proper shelter, food and medicine are needed to get the village through the monsoon season, which has begun.

Timalsina, his brother and a few other leaders in the village estimate it will take $10,000 to make it through the monsoons.

Boudreau and Houle have been busy, working round the clock.

They spoke to their friend and former Salmon Arm resident Karissa Pukas, whose fashion and make-up videos on the Internet have attracted more than half a million followers. She is helping get the word out.

As well, they have spoken to Rotary, which has pledged $1,000 along with another $1,000 from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

To ensure that any money donated is used  for exactly what it’s intended, Boudreau has enlisted two other cherished and trusted friends to help oversee the project along with Timalsina, Ravi Chaudhary, who guided him through the jungle, and Krishna Raj Adhikary, who owns a hotel Boudreau’s group stayed in.

Boudreau is now looking for support. “We’re not just accepting money, we’re  accepting any kind of support. Whether it’s ideas for us, if they’d like to donate money or whether they have connections and would like to help,” he says.

To donate, go to the ‘Go Fund Me’ website at: www.gofundme.com/u7z6ak or email Boudreau at: boudreau_09@hotmail.com.

Boudreau continues to be inspired by how beautiful the  nature of the Nepalese people is.

By witnessing what’s possible, “I feel a much better person... I know the potential of goodness I can have,” he says. “They have no money, they have no food, their houses have been destroyed, their living is tourism and they have no tourists in Nepal now, they have no means to get money... Hearing how much they’re in need, having had my experience with them, there’s no way I couldn’t help – knowing they would have done this for me, ten-fold over.”



Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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