Remember when Christmas was about thoughtful giving?
Just Christmas offers the opportunity to give gifts
that help make the world a better place.
Just Christmas is Edmonton's largest Alternative Global Market Place
for quality arts, handmade crafts and other goods. When you purchase
a gift from the non-profit and charitable organizations in this market,
the money you spend goes towards the building of healthy communities around the world.
Located at:
Alberta Avenue Community Hall
9210-118 Avenue
Friday November 23, 5:30pm - 9:00pm
Saturday November 24, 9:30am - 4:00pm
Proceeds from Kalyana's sales at Just Christmas will support Tibetan Buddhist Nuns at Keydong Thuk-che Choling Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The living situation is in Nepal is very difficult. Power is only available 8-10 hours per day. No power also means no water because the pumps to fill the water storage tanks are electric. There is no such thing as turning on a tap in Nepal and expecting water to flow. Hot water is never available due to the lack of power for heating. Cold water is only available if you have the ability to store water.
To address the water & power shortages the nunnery has purchased a generator with the support of donors but do not have enough to supply the whole nunnery. Also, even though they have a generator, due to ongoing fuel shortages they can only buy 1 litre of fuel per day and the generator burns 5 litres per hour. So it is guaranteed that each night the nuns end up studying by flashlight for many hours and may not have the water to brush their teeth or wash up before going to bed. They do have 5 rooftop water storage tanks but without the fuel to run the generator there is no way to fill them if they run dry during a power rationing time.
The cost of most goods has doubled since last year as fuel costs have nearly tripled in the last 2 years. Nepal has no internal resources for power and gas and must rely on either India or China to supply both. Because of the unstable government, Nepal is falling behind on paying for their supplies so neither India nor China will provide a predictable supply of gas. As a result, fuel is being rationed and prices have dramatically increased. Because there is no fuel to run generators, many basic services - banking, tailoring, phones, etc - also are unpredictable. Those services that do run charge a premium price because of the price of fuel needed to keep the power supply going.
The Nepalese people are suffering so much right now. General strikes over the price of fuel, the government, lack of services, and more happen regularly. As long as the government instability continues there is no end in sight to these issues. Tourism is down significantly and this was the primary source of income for Nepal.
Your support can make a visible difference in the quality of life of these wonderful nuns. You may also consider the opportunity to sponsor one of the nuns at Keydong Thuk-che Choling Nunnery! Sponsorship forms will be available at Just Christmas.
Free parking
Admission by donation
Food and entertainment
For more information visit:
Elke Kriegel,
KALYANA
(780)761-2220
Eastern Treasures, beautifully created, fairly traded....
Bringing a little bit of Asia to your home! Contact me to enquire about
unique home party opportunities.
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