Irish Rugby Player and long time Umbrella supporter, Jamie Heaslip, volunteers with The Umbrella Foundation Nepal:

Day 1

We showed all the houses some footage of Jamie in action so that they could appreciate the game of rugby and the volunteer they were about to meet...after seeing a few scrums, tries and tackles it wasn't clear if they thought he was impressive or mad! The general reaction was "oh so danger!!!"

He entered Umbrella to huge cheers from all the Umbrella kids and staff! Within his first 20 minutes he was thrown right into the thick of things and he joined the kid's 'Strong Man Competition' and took on some of our girls in a Tug of War!!!

The kids were been blown away by him, they're fascinated by his huge arms and his "dangerous" sport!

We're delighted to welcome Jamie Heaslip to Umbrella and to finally introduce him to the kids he's been helping for so long!

Day 2

Jamie and Sheena were up early in the day to go meet the girls of Gauri Shankar House. They received a very excited welcome from 48 girls! The girls were very proud to show their guests around their home: they showed them their rooms, how breakfast was prepared, the photos of all their past volunteers and of course no tour would be complete without a dance! Fair play to Jamie and Sheena, they returned the favour and showed the girls a bit of Irish dancing!!!

After the dancing he went to pick up the boys from Kanchenjanga and Manasalu house. Jamie took the boys to the local temple, Swoyambhu Nath (also known as the Monkey Temple). The boys took Jamie and Sheena around the famous temple before they took him on a bit of a de-tour home...through the "jungle"! The boys climbed trees and were showing off their acrobatic skills for Jamie. All you could hear throughout the day was a chorus of "Jamie Brother...Jamie Brother" as everyone was looking for his attention. Jamie seemed to be having as much fun as the lads, climbing trees and getting to know the boys! On the way home from the jungle Jamie took the lads for a quick game of football. The boys didn't hesitate in picking Jamie for their team! 
 

Jamie and Sheena returned to the girls house to give them a hand getting ready for their MoMo party that they were throwing in honour of Jamie's visit! Sheena got stuck in helping the girls prepare the food and was a big hit with the girls! Jamie let the girls at it and picked up the older Umbrella boys to teach them a bit about his sport...it was time for some mini rugby!!! The kids here have only seen You Tube clips of rugby and the general consensus seemed to be..."what a crazy and dangerous sport..." but that didn't seem to put any of the lads off...their hands shot up at the chance to go play with Jamie. After a quick intro from Jamie and some simplified rules improvised on the spot everyone was able to enjoy a game not too dissimilar from rugby. The boys loved it and seemed to have no fear trying to tackle Jamie...it just took about 15 of them! 

Day 3

On Jamie's last day with Umbrella the kids brought him to their school, Panchaganya Government School. He and the volunteers got stuck in giving the class rooms a new lick of paint! Some of our older boys who have entered our Next Steps Youth Programme have finished professional training in painting so this also gave them an opportunity to show of their skills and boss the volunteers around! 

Kids are delighted with the result and were pretty proud of their escort to school that day!!!! 
 

Thanks to Jamie, Sheena, our Next Steps Boys and all the volunteers involved-good days work!