It all began with Lars Olsen who was volunteering in Nepal for a period of five months.
Lars spent 5 months in 2004 working in two orphanages and teaching English at a local Primary School.
“I fell in love with the children of Nepal, those with no family, no possessions, no schooling, and yet they had this beauty about them – their ability to smile and laugh, when in their wake lay nothing but hardships, was tremendously uplifting for me. Here were children who looked upon life with simplicity and love, children that had developed compassion and wisdom at such a young age.”
Within that time he lived with a Nepali family who welcomed him into their home and treated him as a son. Lars worked at a local school teaching English to children from Grade 1 through to Grade 7. In the mornings and afternoons he visited two orphanages, the first being the ‘Balamandir Orphanage’, housing and feeding in excess of 350 orphans. Balamandir is the only government run orphanage in Nepal. The second was a much smaller orphanage called ‘Shree Mother Disabled Orphanage’, which is home to only 30 children of various ages, some of whom have crippling disabilities. During his visits to these orphanages, Lars played games with the children, taught them basic English, and distributed many necessary hygiene items that people from a Western culture take for granted: items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shoes, underwear, medicine, and most importantly, clean water.
There was one group of children that Lars and some other volunteers took out for a night stay at a hotel. The whole group had never encountered a doorknob before and thus didn’t know how to open it, and even more amazingly, none knew how to turn on a tap at a sink or shower. “I spent the whole night listening to them sing as they had baths and washed their hair for the first time in their lives. I knew then that this is what I wanted to do, I wanted to start an orphanage and help to improve the quality of life of those surrounding me. I had no initial plan, I just knew that I wanted to help, and my heart cried out for those children and their beautiful innocence.”
Establishing the Children’s Home
While in Nepal, Lars decided that he wanted to start a new orphanage – to give the children of Nepal a chance to thrive in a loving environment. In his travels, Lars met Shova Singh, a Nepali woman who had a history of helping out in many different orphanages in Nepal. Shova also shared the dream of creating a place of safety and love for the children of Nepal. And so Forget Me Not Children’s Home was born!
A committee was formed in Nepal and a constitution for the organization was drafted. Lars then returned to Australia in September 2004 to find out how to establish the organization in Australia. In March 2005 the Nepali government approved the constitution – finally Forget Me Not had become a reality (on paper, at least!).
By this stage support had also been slowly growing in Australia. Dinner and a chat around the kitchen table at Lars’ sister Mietta’s house had spurned into action both Mietta Olsen and Kate van Doore (who both sit on the Management Committee and both lawyers). After some research, the trio soon had many ideas on how to structure the organization in Australia. It was decided that we would start the organisation in Lars’ hometown of Hervey Bay, Queensland.
At this point, the trio approached the local Hervey Bay newspapers who were keen to publish the story. Our initial news article called for a public meeting in the local Hervey Bay area to see if anyone in the community was interested in helping out. With over 45 people turning up, we realized that there was a great passion in the community for helping others.
With so much support, we decided to form a charitable association called the “Australian Association of the Forget Me Not Children’s Home”. Our constitution was prepared, with Kate spending many hours on paperwork and red tape, and finally in September 2005 we became a fully fledged incorporated charity!
With all the red tape done and dusted, we then turned our focus to another exciting event – raising enough money to open our children’s home!
Opening the Children’s Home – 2006
After many fundraisers in Australia, Lars returned to Nepal in January 2006 to oversee a very special moment for Forget Me Not – the opening of our Children’s Home. Lars and the Nepali Committee set about hiring staff and getting our rented premises ready for our new arrivals. Our first six children arrived on the 29th January 2006 – Ruma, Anita, Barme, Alisha, Rupa and Namrata. With six little girls sheltered in our Children’s Home, Forget Me Not had become a physical reality and we were excited! People in the community were also excited to be able to undertake the responsibility of sponsoring our girls.
In July 2006, our first visitors traveled to Nepal to experience the Children’s Home firsthand. Their experiences were detailed in journals sent back to Australia every few days – a tradition that has been followed since – allowing other members of Forget Me Not to walk the journey with them.
The vision grows – 2007/2008
By 2007, the number of children had reached 12 and number of staff was four. Our rented premises were getting cramped. We decided to move to bigger rented premises while we were saving enough money to buy. The Nepali Committee organized for us to move to a large four storey house in a suburb called Old Baneshwor. Our new house was able to accommodate more children – and by the end of 2007, our number had grown to 21 children!
In July 2008, we took the exciting step of employing Lars Olsen. Lars’ role as CEO of the organization sees him spreading the Forget Me Not message to any organizations, schools and conferences. In order to support this venture, we have sought specific sponsorship of Lars’ wage as a new sponsorship category. This means our fundraising efforts still end up where they are needed most – with our children. If you are interested in sponsoring Lars’ wage, please find the details on the Sponsorship page.
Fundraising
In order to provide stability for our children, Forget Me Not constantly fundraises. From sausage sizzles and raffles, to Tombolas and Balls – we are kept busy! Our largest event of the year is the annual Forget Me Not Ball. In 2006, we ran a Masquerade Ball which raised $17,000. In 2007, with the kind support of Kingfisher Bay Resort as our host sponsors, we raised $31,000. In 2008, once again with the kind support of Kingfisher, we raised an enormous $41,000! And after a mammoth effort in 2009, we raised a staggering $166,000! This money goes a long way to securing the future of our children.
The Eco Village becomes a reality – 2009/2010
Our initial vision in Nepal was to open a Children’s Home; and then set about raising enough funds to buy land and build our very own home on it to cater for 60 children. We set ourselves this goal as a 5 year plan. We are very proud to announce that in July 2010 we will have been registered for 5 years as a charity and we are well on the way to achieving this goal.
Having bought land in July 2009, we will commence building our Eco Village project (Stage 1) in March 2010!! We have joined forces with Rotary Australia World Community Service program to bring the Eco Village to fruition. This partnership with Rotary enables us to give tax deductible receipts for Eco Village donations. We will also run two Eco Village trips a year (for which all expenses are tax deductible) to build the Eco Village in Nepal. We can’t wait to get started! For more information on the Eco Village Project, click here.
The Ugandan Love Project – 2010
From January 2010, Forget Me Not spread our wings to the distant shores of Uganda where we now have 39 new little faces in the Forget Me Not family. We are currently searching for sponsors for these children. For more information on our Love Project, please click here.
The Future of Forget Me Not
The team of Forget Me Not are committed to giving more than we take in this world. We are committed to providing lost children with hope, love and a safe environment. We are committed to spreading the message that together our hands really can help. Each one of us can make a huge difference in this world. The possibilities are endless!!
We continue to work with passion and enthusiasm to give these children a better life. Why not join us in this journey?
