FALL 2018

Welcome to our fall newsletter and the last newsletter under the Jhamtse Canada banner. In November we received approval to change our charity’s name to My 100 Percent so look for our new website early in 2019. Our mission is still to relieve poverty in developing nations by providing the basic necessities of life to children and families who are poor and in need. We are now ready to do more of it across a wider platform.

LOCATIONS PROVIDED SUPPORT

During this year program funding was provided to the Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community’s general operating purposes.
We funded the Stay-in-School Nepal education support pilot program for school girls in remote Eastern Nepal in partnership with InREACH-Nepal. This program was initiated in late 2017 for the new school year. We sponsored 20 girls whose families would not otherwise be able to afford the local school expenses such as school uniforms, supplies and books. As the pilot program has reduced the expected local drop-out rates and increased the likelihood of children graduating high school, we have initiated our plan to increase the program to 100 girls by 2020.

We have provided initial seed funding to Civic Independence Development – Nepal (“CID”) to carry out the larger mandate and they have made application to the government to allow our program to be increased in 2019. The Executive Director of CID, Dr. Arjun Mani Guragain, was also responsible for the administration of the pilot project with InREACH-Nepal. Should any of our supporters be interested in sponsoring children in this new program please email Adarsh at amehta@jhamtsecanada.ca.

STAY-IN-SCHOOL NEPAL JOURNAL

Jeff Jenner recently went to Nepal to review the Stay-in-School Nepal program with InREACH and CID as well as visit the girls at their schools and homes in Eastern Nepal near Itahari. Some highlights are included below and the full text of Jeff’s journal will be added to the Jhamtse Canada website.

“On November 25th Arjun and I set off for Itahari about 25 km north of Biratnager in Morang and Sunsari districts of Province #1 in Eastern Nepal. I had my first encounter with the school girls we are supporting along with their parents and teachers. Along the way we picked up Dr. Binita Kumari Paudel, Associate Professor of Public Health at nearby Purbanchal University. Dr. Paudel had researched the Sunder Haraicha Ward where our program was implemented allowing us to pin point the most needy families in a very poor region comprised of sustenance farming for less than 500 Nepali Rupees per day ($6 CDN) when they can get work.

Principal and teacher of Devata Public School greet us during visit

We traveled to Devata Public School (K to Gr. 7) where 16 girls receive our support. Devata is located 12 km east of Itahari in Sunder Harchari Ward. They had arranged a ceremony of traditional dance and songs organized and performed by the 16 girls we support. Initially they greeted us with a single flower garland and a large red powder tikka on the forehead. The President of the Ward, the principal of the school, Arjun and I gave short speeches. The Ward President indicated that our modest program was the first of any support ever given to the Ward.

Girls in the program wave to say hi from a classroom at their school

After the event Arjun, Binita and I met with the girls privately to talk about the program and their feelings. I found the girls to be engaged as you would think of any 12-year-old. We shared information and arranged for home visits. At the end Binita and I were “tikka-bombed” with each girl placing a self-made garland and a new tikka on my forehead and cheeks. They had fun and I looked like a large flower by the end as can be seen in the picture.

Jeff and Binita get “tikka-bombed” by the girls in the program with self-made garlands

We then meet with the Principal of Devata and the teachers of the school. They talked about the great improvement in attitude, confidence, attendance and cleanliness of the girls but also the spillover impact of the girls attitude to the other students who were also improving in these areas. It was too early to determine academic achievements but the effort and, more importantly, the girls’ confidence to achieve had increased greatly. We talked of ways to improve the program and further its impact. There was a concern that the girls impact on the school would diminish when they graduated to middle school leaving less sponsorship in attendance at Devata.

Devata is a public school with 105 students, 8 teachers and a total annual budget of only CDN $2,000 per year excluding teachers’ wages that are paid by the government. The buildings are open air, cement foundations with metal clad roofs. There are very limited teaching materials (see pictures on our website) due to the small budget. Students are required to bring their own supplies, uniforms, etc. This is what we purchase and distribute to the children to ensure the funds go to the desired purpose. In addition, we provide health supplies, counselling and modest medical support to ensure the girls can attend without concern about primary needs.

By the third day we completed the home visits for the girls currently sponsored. Arjun and myself accompanied the girls and each home was visited. On average the homes are two rooms, cement walls, bamboo supports, thatched or metal clad roofs with a mud slab or dirt courtyard with an open fire pit for cooking surrounded by farm animal structures. The homes are in clusters within very small communities and generally away from the main roads. Many of the parents are day workers at local farms.

OTHER VOLUNTEER STORIES

Vancouver volunteers Carol Evenchick and Mark Riddell created another fun night of food and music on October 2nd at the Vancouver Rowing Club in Stanley Park. The Just Singin’ Round event, sponsored by the Synergy Collective, had another thoroughly entertained crowd. Four local performers including Mark James Fortin and Yvonne McSkimming sang original songs about life in and around Vancouver as well as requested songs like My Funny Valentine. The event raised another $5,000 for the Stay-in-School Nepal program.

Hardworking volunteers in Mississauga organized the 3rd annual Diwali Dhamaal, a fun children-focused festival event. On October 15th over 150 people, including 65 children, attended the dinner, aarti decorating contest and performed dances. Our thanks once again goes to organizers Parul Patel, Alapana Dullabh and Radha Bharania for donating the surplus funds raised to Jhamtse Canada.

DIRECTORS

We have a volunteer Board of Directors that meet semi-annually to review information, approve the audited financial statements and help plan activities. The Board of Jhamtse Canada is the following individuals:

• Linda Bertoldi, LLB Partner, Bordner Ladner Gervais
• Mark Foley, President, Jhamtse International
• Jeff Jenner, CA, CBV, CEO, Potentia Renewables Inc.
• Adarsh Mehta, MSc, MBA, Vice President, JRC Inc.

DONATIONS & VOLUNTEERS
Donations can be made by cheque and sent to the address on the footer of this page or by Paypal or credit card from our website (http://jhamtsecanada.ca/donate/). If you are interested in volunteering or creating other events for Jhamtse Canada please call Adarsh Mehta at amehta@jhamtsecanada.ca or telephone 905-990-2464.

We thank you for your support and trust.

Download the newsletter in PDF format here

Welcome to our semi-annual newsletter. Our mission is to relieve poverty in developing nations by providing the necessities of life, including food, clean water, clothing, education and/or shelter to children and families who are poor or in need.

LOCATIONS OF SUPPORT

In 2017 we disbursed over $42,000 of funds raised for programs including a new pilot project to keep young girls in school in remote Nepal. We launched this program as there have been various studies which associate education with poverty reduction and girls’ education providing the highest impact per dollar spent.

This program was developed with the efforts of Arjun Guragain and the technical support of InReach Nepal, an NGO based in Kathmandu. It was launched in early 2018 with the selection of 20 school age girls whose families required modest financial support to purchase school supplies, uniforms and other necessities to enable the girls to stay in the public schools. We have committed to supporting the girls for 5 years if they stay in school.

Students and parents get together at the launch of the initial Stay-in-School pilot program

It is our goal for the program to be successful as we want to increase the enrollment to 100 girls in the program before the 2020 school year. The full cost of the program for the 100 students is expected to be $25,000 per year or $250 per student. Your support of one or more of the students in this program will be greatly appreciated. Please email Adarsh if you want further information about this new sponsorship opportunity

Student girls are happy about their new school supplies

CURRENT STORIES

When we created Jhamtse Canada in 2014 we took on a broad mandate to support multiple programs that we thought would be worthy of your and our support. With the creation of our second long-term international program we have begun the process of renaming the charity to better reflect this broad mandate. Nothing will change in terms of how we operate. One hundred percent (100%) of your contributions will continue to go to worthwhile projects. We will continue to support Jhamtse Gatsal and the InReach Nepal Stay-in-School programs.

We want the new charity name to reflect our multi-program mandate for self-sustaining development and how we operate. We will continue as a volunteer based organization and keep administration costs as low as possible and personally funded to ensure that 100% of your funds are sent where you want them to go. We will have to be creative in selecting our new name as most words associated with giving are already associated with other charities. Any suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated. We will be performing a formal name search in the coming weeks for the new name of the charity. We will keep you apprised of the upcoming changes.

Volunteers in Vancouver are having another Just Singin’ Round event in conjunction with the Synergy Collective. The event will be held on October 4th at the Vancouver Rowing Club in Stanley Park. Last year’s event sold out so mark the date and don’t delay in buying your tables and tickets.

Tickets this year are $60 per premium ticket and $35 for regular ticket and children under 12 are free. Tables can be reserved and are 10 seats each. The ticket purchaser will get a donation receipt for 100% of the ticket price

Jeff will be visiting Nepal and India in the fall of 2018 to meet with the schools in Nepal where we hope to expand our pilot program from 20 to 100 girls before 2020. Jeff will also visit Jhamtse Gatsal to see the recent changes at the Children’s Community and catch up with staff and students. Any sponsors of Jhamtse Gatsal children should get their letters and packages to our office over the next few months and we will deliver these in late November.

FINANCIAL RESULTS

Jhamtse Canada completed its third year as a registered charity in 2017. Below is the summary of the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017. The complete audited financial statements are available to review on our website at jhamtsecanada.ca under the News/Events heading.

In 2017 we raised over $85,000 while limiting administration expenses for the year to $4,300 or just 5% of revenues. This is down from 7% in 2016. Program travel in 2017 was deferred until 2018 with the launch of the new pilot program in Nepal.

We remain a 100% volunteer organization with no paid staff. Administration costs are covered by contributions from Adarsh Mehta and Jeff Jenner. As a result, 100% of your contributions goes to great causes and organizations.

During the year we provided over $40,000 to Jhamtse Gatsal in accordance with our three-year commitment to support their capital and operational needs. Initial funding for the Stay-in-School program through InReach Nepal was also sent in 2017.
We have accumulated a surplus that allows us to remain committed to continued support of Jhamtse Gatsal and to enable the launch of our 5-year Stay-in-School program in Nepal with confidence that we can maintain annual funding of programs that children depend upon to achieve great things.

DIRECTORS

We have a volunteer Board of Directors that meet semi-annually to review information, approve the audited financial statements and help plan activities. The Board of Jhamtse Canada is the following individuals:

• Linda Bertoldi, LLB Partner, Bordner Ladner Gervais
• Mark Foley, President, Jhamtse International
• Jeff Jenner, CA, CBV, CEO, Potentia Renewables Inc.
• Adarsh Mehta, MSc, MBA, Vice President, JRC Inc.

DONATIONS & VOLUNTEERS
Donations can be made by cheque and sent to the address on the footer of this page or by Paypal or credit card from our website (http://jhamtsecanada.ca/donate/). If you are interested in volunteering or creating other events for Jhamtse Canada please call Adarsh Mehta at amehta@jhamtsecanada.ca or telephone 905-990-2464.

We thank you for your support and trust.

Download the newsletter in PDF format here

Independent auditor’s report

To the Members of Jhamtse Canada

We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Jhamtse Canada (the “Organization”), which comprise the statement of financial position as at December 31, 2017, the statements of financial activities and changes in capital and cash flows for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.

Management’s responsibility for the financial statements

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with Canadian accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s responsibility

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our qualified audit opinion.

Basis for Qualified Opinion

In common with many charitable organizations, Jhamtse Canada derives revenue from fundraising activities and public donations, the completeness of which is not susceptible to satisfactory audit verification. Accordingly, our verification of these revenues was limited to the amounts recorded in the records of Jhamtse Canada. Therefore, we were not able to determine whether any adjustments might be necessary to contribution and fundraising revenues, net surplus and cash flows from operations for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, current assets as at December 31, 2017 and 2016, and changes in capital as at January 1, 2017, December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2016. Our audit opinion on the financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2016 was modified accordingly because of possible effects of this limitation in scope.

Qualified Opinion

In our opinion, except for the effects of the matter described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion paragraph, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Jhamtse Canada as at December 31, 2017, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations

Chartered Professional Accountants Licensed Public Accountants

Mississauga, Canada February 28, 2018

Download the full financial statement in PDF format here

Welcome to our fall newsletter. Our mission is to relieve poverty in developing nations by providing the basic necessities of life, including food, clean water, energy, education and shelter to children and families who are poor and in need.

LOCATIONS PROVIDED SUPPORT

During this year program funding was provided to the Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community for the purchase of a school bus in the spring. This area is very difficult to travel to so all modes of transportation are critical to the school. We are pleased to announce a new 5-year education support pilot program for school girls in remote Eastern Nepal in partnership with InREACH Nepal. For the new school year in 2018 we will sponsor 20 girls whose families would not otherwise be able to afford the local school expenses. Many studies have proven that the most effective way to end poverty is through girls’ education. Should the pilot program reduce the local drop-out rates and increase the likelihood of children graduating high school, our plan is to increase the program to 100 girls by 2020. Should any of our supporters be interested in sponsoring children in this new program please email Adarsh at amehta@jhamtsecanada.ca.

CURRENT VOLUNTEER STORIES

Hardworking Volunteers in Mississauga organized the 2nd annual Diwali Dhamaal, a fun children-focused festival event. On October 15th over 160 people, including 60 children, attended the dinner, aarti decorating contest and performed dances. Our thanks go to organizers Parul Patel, Alapana Dullabh and Radha Bharania for donating the surplus funds raised to Jhamtse Canada.

Girls receive prizes for best aarti tray during the Diwali children’s event

Vancouver volunteers created another fun night of food and music on November 7th at the Vancouver Rowing Club in Stanley Park. The Just Singin’ Round event, sponsored by the Synergy Collective, had another thoroughly entertained crowd. Six local performers including David Sinclair, Mark James Fortin and Yvonne McSkimming sang original songs about life in and around Vancouver as well as requested songs like My Funny Valentine.

With over 150 people coming out to the event in support of Jhamtse Canada, the evening’s activities raised more than $6,000.

Another sold out Just Singin’ Round crowd hears great musicians.

Our special thanks go to Carol Evenchick, Paula Pysllakis, Janice Ebenstiner and Mark Riddell whose effort and contributions made the night a tremendous success. The Vancouver volunteer group have already made plans for the third annual event on October 4th 2018 and will need your help to sell out again. If you are interested in volunteering and/or purchasing tickets please email Jeff Jenner at jjenner@jhamtsecanada.ca. We also thank the Synergy Collective who organize the Just Singin’ Round music and dinner events for us and many other worthwhile charities throughout the year. If you are in the Vancouver area please go to (http://www.synergycollective.ca/programs/ticket-info
) to check out their events. For the second straight year our daughter has raised funds for her friends at Jhamtse Gatsal. During her 5th birthday this year Milaan raised $340 for art supplies at the Community.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Jhamtse Canada is completing its third year as a registered charity and will continue as a 100% volunteer organization with no paid staff. During the prior year we raised over $86,000 while keeping expenses below $9,500 according to our auditor’s report. We committed the 2016 accumulated surplus to the continued support to Jhamtse Gatsal at over $35,000 per annum and to fund our new educational support program in Nepal.

With the new support program being launched and in keeping with our broad charitable mandate we are contemplating a name change in 2018. The change will reflect our commitment to help children and families in need while keeping administrative costs to the bare minimum. This ensures that 100% of your contributions goes to support great causes.

Our commitment, as always, is that all administration costs of the charity be covered by us personally. We will continue to support Jhamtse Gatsal, InREACH Nepal and are still searching to find other worthwhile organizations to bring to your attention.

DIRECTORS
The Board of Jhamtse Canada:

• Linda Bertoldi, LLB Partner, Bordner Ladner Gervais
• Mark Foley, President, Jhamtse International
• Jeff Jenner, CA, CBV, CEO, Potentia Renewables Inc.
• Adarsh Mehta, MSc, MBA, Vice President, JRC Inc.

DONATIONS & VOLUNTEERS
Donations can be made by cheque and sent to the address on the footer of this page or by Paypal or credit card from our website (http://jhamtsecanada.ca/donate/). f you are interested in volunteering or creating other events for Jhamtse Canada please call Adarsh Mehta at amehta@jhamtsecanada.ca or telephone 905-990-2464.

We thank you for your support and trust.

Download the newsletter in PDF format here

Standing on the tarmac of the Tawang heliport I was still a little shell shocked from seventeen hours in the air, Calgary – Heathrow – Delhi, then the noise and energy of Guwahati, a rapidly growing northeast Indian city, and finally the one hour ten minute helicopter ride to land in this remote Himalayan town.

But waiting there was a smiling Jhamtse Gatsal representative with a Khata, the Tibetan ceremonial scarf, to put around my neck.

An hour and a half drive later amidst the gorgeous backdrop of high mountain ridges and deep gorges, I arrive at the sprawling campus of the Jhamtse Gatsal community.

Like all visitors, John’s arrival is a cause for celebration and show of respect at Jhamtse Gatsal

Stepping out of the car, Dorjee the 15 year old sweet girl we help sponsor, drapes another ceremonial scarf around my neck. The entire school is lined up to welcome me personally. I was deeply touched but this welcome was a mere forerunner of how warmly I was accepted here during my two and half weeks.

I found the community of Jhamtse Gatsal had a rhythm of a slower, gentler life that I happily blended into.

There were healthy delicious meals of mainly rice and vegetables. I frequently ate with the kids rather than the separate sitting for the staff. Before each meal kids all chant a prayer of gratitude. I could feel their sincerity. Days there consisted of hanging out with the kids, and daily long walks, often to a Buddhist worship site with the prayer wheels a half hour down the road. Behind that place, off road, is a 15 minute hike to a high point with the two ancient cairns standing as sentinels.

I began to sleep better.

One day Dorjee and her friend Tenzin acted as guides to take me up to a nearby 11,000 foot summit to see the 80 foot white Tara Buddhist statue and temple. Entering the temple the girls demonstrate the proper form of prayer as we face the Buddha, on my knees three times with forehead to the floor.

I volunteered to help a crew of 10 who were in the community building a cob house.

A cob house is one built entirely of natural building materials and Conrad had already built another one here a couple of years ago.

Before the work started, Conrad took us to a viewpoint nearby and there read an essay, Charles Eisenstein’s ‘The Cynic and Boatbuilder’ on the power of craftsmanship, the importance of work which does not as its goal seek high social status, or wealth.

Conrad then took his thus inspired crew, to the cob house, to assign tasks for the day.

Touching a loft support beam Conrad told us ‘this beam has known the violence of a mill saw. I want someone to show it love back by sanding its edges.

When younger, I had been on a few construction sites, and if it wasn’t obvious before, it certainly was then, that this was going to be a job site with a difference.

I was assigned to the patio building crew of Marla from France, Nikita from India and Kelly from the US.

Conrad told me Gen Lobsong Phuntsok the founder and guiding spirit of Jhamtse Gatsal thought when finished, the house at least initially, might be a place for meditation. I cut a finger hauling a rock for that patio so my blood as well as my sweat are now part of that house. I need to come back and stand in it when it’s completed.

I was asked by one of the teachers to help teach a class on how to debate and on the art of advocacy. On a sunny afternoon in an outdoor setting, the class desks all arranged in a circle, with attentive looking students, I tried to do that.

The class was then divided into two teams and each side was to prepare arguments to debate each side of the question, ‘Was China’s invasion of Tibet justified? the following afternoon before me as Judge. I had brought with me to Jhamtse Gatsal part of my barrister’s work clothes so I wore that for more credibility as a Judge. The kids came prepared so there was some good back and forth volleys.

Thinking of my first time at Jhamtse Gatsal I will remember dozens of memorable little vignettes of interactions with the children there and I was able to spend time with our sponsored child Dorjee.

During my time there she offered to hand wash my laundry. I sensed this came from a deep place, that is, the joy that comes from acts of generosity, that is one of the tenets of Buddhism. I told her ‘let’s do it together’ but she was the pro and I was just in the way. She was both joyful and ten times faster than a washing machine.

She said in her farewell letter to me how much she enjoyed our discussions on life. In truth, this wonderful, mature child had as much to teach me, as I her.

Independent auditor’s report

To the Members of Jhamtse Canada

We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Jhamtse Canada (the “Organization”), which comprise the statement of financial position as at December 31, 2016, the statements of financial activities and changes in capital and cash flows for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.

Management’s responsibility for the financial statements

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with Canadian accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s responsibility

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis
for our qualified audit opinion.

Basis for Qualified Opinion

In common with many charitable organizations, Jhamtse Canada derives revenue from fundraising activities and public donations, the completeness of which is not susceptible to satisfactory audit verification. Accordingly, our verification of these revenues was limited to the amounts recorded in the records of Jhamtse Canada. Therefore, we were not able to determine whether any adjustments might be necessary to donation and fundraising revenues, net surplus and cash flows from operations for the years ended December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, current assets as at December 31, 2016 and 2015, and changes in capital as at January 1, 2016, December 31, 2016, and December 31, 2015. Our audit opinion on the financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2015 was modified accordingly because of possible effects of this limitation in scope.

Qualified Opinion

In our opinion, except for the effects of the matter described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion paragraph, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Jhamtse Canada as at December 31, 2016, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations.

Chartered Professional Accountants
Licensed Public Accountants

Mississauga, Canada
March 13, 2017

Download the newsletter in PDF format here

Spring 2017

Welcome to Jhamtse Canada’s newsletter. The word Jhamtse means love and compassion in Tibetan. Our mission to relieve poverty in developing nations by providing basic necessities of life, including food, clean water, clothing and/or shelter to children and families who are poor or in need.

In 2016 we sent over $35,000 of funds raised for relief, programming and to buy a school bus for the Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community located in the Himalayan foothills at the
“end of the road” in northeastern India. The Community is beside the Bhutan eastern border where India meets Tibet and Bhutan.

School Bus purchased by Jhamtse Canada donors

The school bus contributions were the goal of one generous family so we fundraised in late 2015 and 2016 to enable the purchase of the bus shown in the prior column. The mini-school bus seats 24 and has been key to moving lots of students to functions, competitions, high school and other events including to hear the Dalai Lama speak in early 2017.

Of special note is the $680 that our daughter Milaan raised at her birthday party. Her birthday wish was that her friends at Jhamtse Gatsal could enjoy pizza which is Milaan’s favourite food. Instead of gifts she asked that kids attending her party bring a contribution for this pizza event half way around the world.

Pizza party in the Himalayas

We were astonished with the result and the creativity of the administrators at Jhamtse Gatsal. As you can imagine there is not a local pizza delivery in the Himalayas. Above is a picture of the pizza party that was created at Jhamtse Gatsal and a photo cut out of Milaan with her best friend Tashi and others enjoying pizza and birthday cake in Milaan’s honour.

CURRENT STORIES

The reason the current newsletter is later in 2017 is that Adarsh and Jeff welcomed their new son Keval into the world. Both Milaan and Keval are doing well. Mom and Dad could use some more sleep :).

Jeff will be visiting India in the fall of 2017 to meet with Lobsang and staff along with the Directors of other entities that support Jhamtse Gatsal. Any sponsors of children should get their update packets to our office over the next few months and we will deliver these in late September.

Volunteers in Vancouver are having another Singin’ Round event in conjunction with the Synergy Collective. The event will be held on November 7th at the Vancouver rowing Club in Stanley Park. Last year’s event sold out so mark the date and don’t delay in buying your tables and tickets. Tickets this year are $60 per premium ticket and $35 for regular ticket and children under 12 are free. Tables can be reserved and are 10 seats each. The ticket purchaser will get a donation receipt for 100% of the ticket price.

It is a great evening with dinner and world class live music. Doors open at 6:00 pm, dinner completed by 7:30 and the show starts at 7:40 and wraps up around 10:00 pm. Our goal is to sell out the event again this year at 170 tickets so anyone interested in buying tickets and more importantly volunteering to help us with the general organization of the event please call Carol Evenchick at 604-985-2511.

FINANCIAL RESULTS

Jhamtse Canada completed its second year as a registered charity in 2016. On the following page is the summary of the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016. The complete audited financial statements are available to review on our website at jhamtsecanada.ca under the News/Events heading.

We raised over $86,000 while limiting administration expenses for the year to under $6,000 or 7% of revenues and program travel to 4% of revenues in 2016 (6% and 5% respectively in 2015).

During the year we provided over $35,000 to Jhamtse Gatsal in accordance with our three year commitment to support their capital and operational needs.

We have accumulated a surplus that allows us to remain committed to an additional two years of continued support to Jhamtse Gatsal up to $35,000 per annum.

With good fortune we will be able to find other worthwhile causes to bring to your attention in 2017.

Jhamtse Canada is a 100% volunteer organization with no paid staff. Administration costs are covered by contributions from Adarsh Mehta and Jeff Jenner. As a result 100% of your contributions goes to great causes and organizations.

DIRECTORS
The Board of Jhamtse Canada:

• Linda Bertoldi, LLB Partner, Bordner Ladner Gervais
• Mark Foley, President, Jhamtse International
• Jeff Jenner, CA, CBV, CEO, Jenner Renewable Consulting
• Adarsh Mehta, MSc, MBA, Vice President, JRC Inc.

DONATIONS & VOLUNTEERS
Donations can be made by cheque and sent to the address on the footer of this page or by Paypal or credit card from our website (http://jhamtsecanada.ca/donate/). f you are interested in volunteering or creating other events for Jhamtse Canada please call Adarsh Mehta at amehta@jhamtsecanada.ca or telephone 905-990-2464.

We thank you for your support and trust.

Download the newsletter in PDF format here