Because some places never leave your heart… and Nepal is definitely one of those places.
For those of us who have been lucky enough to experience its incredible people, breathtaking landscapes and extraordinary warmth, Nepal has a way of finding a permanent place in your heart. So, on Friday 21st August, we decided that if we couldn’t all be in Nepal, we’d do the next best thing — go to Sleaford… or, as we’re now calling it, Nepalford!
We were hosted by Gurkha 19 in Sleaford for a very special Nepalese evening, and what an evening it turned out to be! We took over the whole restaurant, with a wonderful mix of Rotary friends from the Rotary Clubs of Sleaford and Woodhall Spa, along with family and friends. From the moment we arrived, there was a real buzz in the air.
Krishna and the whole team at Gurkha 19 pulled out all the stops to create a truly special Nepalese experience, with his Mum and Dad both making special dishes for us. We enjoyed a fantastic menu featuring momos, fried chicken wings and onion bhajis to start, followed by delicious dal bhat, mutton curry and Nepalese pasta for the main course. There was plenty of food, plenty of conversation and, judging by the empty plates, plenty of full bellies!
But this wasn’t just dinner…
We were there to raise funds for the projects we will be supporting in Nepal later this year, so what better way to raise some money than with an Alli-Game — “Dal Bhat Snap!”
A bit like normal Snap, but with a very special deck of cards created especially for the evening. Our friends in Nepal had taken daily photographs of their dinners, so our cards were filled with pictures of — you guessed it — dal bhat!
Who would have thought that a simple game of Snap could become quite so competitive?
Once the winner at each table had been decided, the competition moved to an incredibly intense grand final between all the table winners. A few Nepal-themed quiz questions gave the players the chance to earn some extra cards for the final — adding yet another twist to the competition.
There was plenty of laughter, plenty of cheering and, perhaps surprisingly, a very serious approach to the business of winning Dal Bhat Snap! It was great fun and captured the spirit of the whole evening perfectly.
The evening ended, as all good Rotary evenings should, with a traditional Rotary raffle — and what a raffle it was! Everyone was incredibly generous with their donations, helping us finish the night on a real high.
And then came the bit that really made us say WOW! We raised an astounding £1,563.50! An absolutely fantastic total, which will be used directly in Nepal when we carry out our projects later this year.
A huge thank you to everyone who came along, donated, played, ate, laughed and generally made the evening so special. And a particularly enormous thank you to Krishna and the whole team at Gurkha 19, who were simply amazing and helped make the whole evening such a memorable experience.
Good food. Great friends. Lots of laughter. A little friendly competition. And a fantastic amount raised for Nepal. Now that’s what we call a good Rotary night!
