We began the afternoon with an introduction by Ginger Nicholls, who along with her husband, is living in Nepal and helping the school grow on a continuous basis. Sun Hwa International Academy was built to emphasise the importance of primary education in Nepal, founded by the WFWP Japanese volunteers.

When Mrs Moon visited Nepal in 2006, she gave a name to the school: ‘Sun Hwa International Academy’ meaning 'goodness' and 'peace'. The school provides the Nepalese children, from kindergarten to fifth grade, high quality education, high moral standard and musical tuition too. Primary education is not obligatory for the Nepalese citizens yet. Poor families are supported financially by the Sun Hwa International Academy. They are given 50% support towards the payment of tuition fees.

Ginger Nicholls shared with the audience stories about the building of the school and the different necessary steps that were needed to improve it, the kindness of people they met along the way and the unique qualities, people can have. When Mrs Nicholls talked about the times when things didn’t go as they had planned or that it was difficult to continue, she was reminded of a quote by the WFWP co-founder Father Moon, “We need to feel happy when living in a prosperous country and at the same time raise the standard of living in the developing countries in order to move and comfort the heart of God.”

Mrs. Margaret Ali, MC, then introduced the next speaker Bandana Upadhya, a bright young lady who has been educated both in Nepal and in the UK. She compared the two countries, giving examples of the two styles of educating people. She concluded her talk with words of gratitude and expressing the desire to return to Nepal and ‘Give back’.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with various kinds of performances, ranging from Bollywood dancing, to a traditional Nepalese folk group called Kosheli Nepali Cultural Fusion, to modern pop songs sung by two beautiful young teenage girls.  The audience clapped, cheered and many danced too. The drawing of raffle tickets made everyone excited. The first prize was a Hamper won by Mrs Haseena Shariff. The evening could not have ended any better if was not for the food, a mixture of different Asian cuisine, that was provided for the ninety people who attended the event.

We would like to thank all people who helped make this event a success, including all the participants, plus those who made generous contributions and donations. We were able to raise more than a thousand pounds.

I would like to conclude with a word that caught my interest right at the beginning: ‘Namaste’, which means ‘I greet the God within you’.