The project is off and running!

Hello to all supporters of the orphanage appeal, and a very Happy New Year!

It's the start of 2012, and the start of the regular progress updates about the orphanage project in Darjeeling of which you are a very generous supporter. As such you are helping us to make this vitally important project a reality, and together we will achieve the rebuilding of the Kripasaran Orphanage to ensure that the 100 young people living in the two existing separate orphanage buildings have a safe and suitable home to live in long into the future.

So what's been happening in Darjeeling? After much searching the charity found a great firm of structural engineers based in the local area, who spent the last month doing soil evaluation tests to make sure that the foundations for the orphanage are built deep and strong enough to cope with the fact that Darjeeling is in a landslip and earthquake zone. Now the results of the tests are back, the architect is working with the engineer to finalise the construction standards to allow detailed and up-to-date costings to be prepared, We still hope that with the available money held both here in the UK and in Darjeeling that it will be possible to start construction of the foundations before onset of the monsoon makes this impossible.

At the same time, a project management team has been brought together who will oversee the build and make sure that the project runs as smoothly as possible. They have a vast range of expertise and are mostly India-based, with two of the UK-based trustees also being members of the management board who dial in to meetings on a regular basis to keep in touch. They will be providing us with progress reports on a regular basis and I will of course share these with you as the project progresses. It will be a learning experience for everyone involved, and I look forward to being able to blog about each exciting development as it happens on the ground.

If you know anyone else who would be interested in either joining the 100 Darjeeling Children Appeal (and having their name added to the plaque of donors in the completed orphanage building) or just donating to the cause, please let them know that they can email info@darjeelingchildrenstrust.com, go to our website at www.darjeelingchildrenstrust.com or even make a one-off donation on our justgiving site, at www.justgiving.com/dctappeal.

To look at older blog posts, use the date labels on the right-hand side of this page to jump back through previous updates, and follow the life of the project as it develops.

I'll be in touch soon, but in the meantime welcome to the project and thanks to each and every one of you!

Penny
Trustee, Darjeeling Children's Trust