So how did it come about that a group of Norwell residents, inspired by Sinnott, gathered on a field in Holbrook one Saturday in June to take part in a paintball outing that will benefit the residents of a small Nepali village.
Here’s a brief explanation reported by Matthew J Gill for Taunton Daily Gazette.
Erin Sinnott is the niece of Lynne McCauley, a Norwell resident.
In the spring of 2008, during her junior year in college, Erin traveled to Nepal for a semester through World Learning, and the organization’s School of International Training. During her time there, Sinnott lived with a Nepali family in Pharping, learned some of the local culture, dined on the local cuisine, and became close friends with the 13 other American students who were also there through the cultural exchange program.
According to Sinnott, one of those students, Jeremy Saxe of Connecticut, was really focused on the misappropriation of funds, in terms of raising funding for the village. He wanted to ensure that money raised on behalf of the local village, really made it to where they were intended and didn’t get tied up via red tape or minimized by corruption.
A few months after the group returned to the United States, Saxe, who was a student at Lafayette College, passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition.
Many of the students who’d gotten to know each other while in Nepal, reunited to remember Saxe at his funeral, and they were inspired to do something in his memory.
After talking with Saxe’s parents, Sinnott said the group decided they’d establish an organization whose mission was to do everything possible to improve the educational opportunities for the children of Pharping. Saxe’s parents gave the project their blessing, and the students got to work on the Jeremy Saxe Foundation.
In March, Erin returned to Nepal on her Spring Break from college, visiting a number of different schools and interviewing local teachers about what’s needed in the village. According to Sinnott, the teachers commented that the local students could benefit most from “practical learning,” including computer and machinery training, or for another example, learning how to sew. If acquired, these skills would provide the students with actual money-earning skills, Sinnott said the teachers told her. Reached this past week, Sinnott said the group is still in the planning stages.
“We’re still developing our ideas,” she said. “We’re not sure exactly what we’re going to do.” She added that after conducting research in the spring, the group decided not to move forward with a plan of opening a new school, as there would be many fees and costs involved with that. At the moment, though, they’re talking with an educational company about establishing a training program for the teachers who work in the village.
Prior to the trip, Sinnott said she reached out to friends and family members, soliciting funds to help her cover the costs of her return journey to Nepal.
One of those who chipped in was her aunt Lynn McCauley, who lives in Norwell with her husband Bill, and children Madelynne, Will and Cole.
Sinnott’s Norwell connections also include another aunt, Michelle Sinnott, and her children, Liam, Ailish, Maeve and Saiorse, and her grandmother Sheelah Sinnott. While many have offered their support to Sinnott, McCauley has taken the fundraising to the next step, helping to organize events – such as the paintball extravaganza held in June – to raise money for the Nepali village.
“[Erin] came home and she was so moved by the people [of Nepal],” McCauley said.
McCauley is calling her fundraisers Norwell to Nepal, and she’s forwarding that funding on to the Jeremy Saxe Foundation.
“I feel so lucky to have such a supportive group,” Erin Sinnott said “It’s very, very exciting. I don’t really know that many people in Norwell.”
A smashing, splattering success
McCauley said the paintball afternoon turned out great. A total of 37 people participated, and together the group raised $600 for the cause.
“It went very well,” she said. “It was really fabulous.”
On the day, McCauley said the children who’d signed up, played on a team against the adults. The adults, she added, had the unfair advantage of having two 22-year-olds on their team. “Everyone had a great time,” she said, adding, “the adults won unexpectedly.”
McCauley said the event turned out well because it was something that could be done where the children could be involved, and that it didn’t require too much costs up front, which would take away from the fundraising.
“The kids did a tremendous job getting the word out and getting people there,” she added.
On living in Pharping
Pharping is about 4.5 miles outside Katmandu. There’s electricity in the village, Sinnott said, but only for a few hours each day and in the home where she stayed, there was no indoor electricity.
Sinnott said she and the student group were the first foreign exchange students who’d ever stayed in Pharping.
“I was the first westerner,” she added, “that this [Nepali] family had ever really talked to.”
Nepal itself, which recently emerged from a 10-year civil war and just hosted its first Democratic elections, has been unstable and chaotic of late, Sinnott said. “Conditions over there are very difficult,” she said, “but there’s a lot of potential.”
During her stay, Sinnott said she met a lot of passionate, interesting and mature people, and she found that the locals had a great community spirit.
“This is our future and we need to take responsibility for it,” Sinnott said, summarizing what many local students told her.
“Starting on a small scale,” she added, “can make a world of difference.”
On the recent paintball fundraiser, Sinnott said Jeremy Saxe’s parents were happy to hear about that particular event, that it sounded fun, and that their son would have liked it. McCauley said another Norwell to Nepal event may be held in the fall.
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