Help Nepal network raises funds


BY SUVECHA PANT

MELBOURNE, Australia, July 28 - On Sunday night, lovers of Nepal gathered at a small Nepali restaurant in the bustling city of Melbourne to raise funds for development projects in Nepal.
Help Nepal Network�Australia (HeNNA), the Australian chapter of HeNN, celebrated the annual Help Nepal International Fund Raising Day in this city. The program here raised over 3000 Australian dollars.

But, this was just a small part of the global efforts on fundraising for Nepal. Around US$ 11,000 (Rs 825,000) has been generated from celebrations held in London, Moscow, Sydney, Melbourne and Rome over the last week, agency reports said.

Raju Adhikari, President of HeNNA, said that the event this year raised 100 times more funds as compared to the year before. This is the second year in which HeNNA has organized the annual Help Nepal Fundraising Day here.

In Melbourne, around 130 people participated in the dinner-cum-seminar/cultural program. There were also Nepalese products like the khukuri, a portrait and Sherpa clothes on display, which were auctioned during the function.

It was a delightful evening with music, dance and sharing of experiences in Nepal. Similarly, in Sydney, HeNNA was able to raise roughly 1940 Australian dollars.

In Russia, according to another report, around 200 Nepalis gathered in a Moscow suburb on Saturday and further events are being organized in Boston, New York, Vienna, Christchurch and Kathmandu in the following two weeks.

HeNN was established in late 1999 with the aim of encouraging Nepalis and those who love Nepal around the world to to help Nepal�s development.

Meanwhile, HeNN-UK, in a statement received here Tuesday, said that over 300 Nepalis marked the day with two separate events in London where the Nepalese Ambassador to Britain, Prabal SJB Rana, praised the work of the network and encouraged more Nepalis to join in the campaign.