Tuesday 17 April 2012

HELP

I have just returned to India, Siliguri west Bengal, from Nepal. Where I am staying with my Indian family, I call them this as they are more than friends, more like family and really enjoying all being together again.

I did not make anything of the sort of journey that I had imagined, dreams of being able to keep going and see as much of this planet as possible, but it has been just as rich with the places I have seen, cycled through and all the beautiful people I have met, which now inspires me to put these experiences to good use in the form of an exhibition. 

I am hoping to return to Ahmedabad to put on this exhibition, where I met an artist who belonged to a society of photographers and artists, they, after seeing my sketches from the journey I had been making urged me to put on an exhibition when I finished my journey and returned to Ahmedabad. 

Since then I have been involved with a charity organization called Hamro Chahana Nepal (HCN), they are working to help various under-privilaged areas of Nepal, these remote villages desperately need access to education and health and this has been their work building schools and setting up health awareness programs. 

HCN organized for me to live in one of these villages, Darpuk in the Palpa region of Nepal. I stayed with a community called 'Bote' people for 1 month to experience for myself their way of life. It was very interesting for me, these people live a very simple life relying on fishing and farming to sustain themselves, but because of a new dam that has been built their fishing has suffered, which was their only means of income. Most of the men now have had to leave the village and their families to try to find work elsewhere, putting more pressure on the community especially the women who are left to raise their families alone. 

I was made very welcome by these people, and stayed with them for 1 month making sketches and taking photographs to portray their way of life. After I returned to Katmandu I then continued to work on some bigger paintings, that I hoped would be part of this exhibition to be sold and the money given to help this organization to continue their good work. 

We held a press conference in Katmandu to start to put this idea in the media. I displayed all the paintings and sketches I had by taping them on the walls of a small room from where I had been working, actually it was a room where one of the NGOs, 'Ganesh' was living and we had become good friends from working in the field together and he gave me much assistance and help. 

Everyone seems to love the pictures and the idea that I am trying to help and generate donations, but to take this to the next level and actually put on an exhibition is where I need more help and support. 

As it is I am at the end of my travels. I have had a fantastic time cycling, seeing so many things and meeting so many good people, especially the ones in these remote areas, small villages that welcome me into their homes, give me food and shelter, with the only interest to share a little time together and experience some cultural exchange,  these moments for me have been some of the most simplest yet most profound and beautiful moments, so for these people I would like to try to help and give a little back if I can. 

As I said I am at the end of my journey so my resources are very low, in fact I am actually spending the money that I put aside for my flight home. This has been causing me a lot of pressure especially as peoples hopes and expectations get raised, but I am determined to finish what I started, so I have been thinking a lot how can I put on an exhibition? Such questions as: 

HELP……………! HELP……………! HELP……………! HELP……………! HELP……………!


  1. How am I going to mount and frame these pictures
  2. Where can we display them, as we need to hire a room
  3. It needs to be advertised somehow to get as many people as possible to come and see the exhibition and hopefully sponsor or bid on a painting.

I am no Van Gogh yet, so I realize I cannot expect to put a high price on these paintings, but I am hoping to push the idea that the paintings are just a token to be given to people who are interested to help and support these people by offering as much as they can, so I thought about a charity auction at the end of the exhibition to sell the paintings, would be the best way to go about generating the maximum amount of charity. 

Please if anyone has any advice, information or know anyone that can help, or interested to bid on these paintings it would be a greatly appreciated and a perfect end to my travels. 

Please could you pass on this message to any of your friends or contacts, or anyone else that may have some connections that will answer my prayers and help to make this exhibition a success, and more importantly to help this organization continue their good work. I can then return to France with great satisfaction in my heart which would be a perfect end to this adventure. 

Hoping and praying for support of any kind.

Saturday 7 April 2012

Press conference




A press conference was organised by Hamro Chahana on the 6th April 2012, 5 members of the media were invited to take an interview about my involvment with HCN, to ask questions about my journey, the exhibition and to see a small display of the pictures that I had started working on these past few weeks, shortly after returning from Palpa.

Everything went very well, HCN got some good coverage and media attention that can only help to put them more in public awarness and hopefully generate interest from new sponsors.

 Two of the most prettiest journalists I have seen arrived which added to my nerves and I was asked questions about my journey and my involvment here in Nepal with HCN,  luckily I was not too distracted and managed to answer all their questions, so thank you to these media representatives that showed up and helped to create more awarness for this charitable cause.
There is still much to be done, certainly more paintings for me to produce, that I will be continually working on over the next two months, but more importantly I need as much help as possible with the organisation, promotion and support from potential investors.

Please if anyone can help to advertise this charitable event, promote and generate potential investors, it will be a huge help to these under privilaged people of Nepal.