Steemfest 2: The road to Nepal

Good day fellow Steemians!

I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. This is my first post in a couple of days as I've had a busy weekend, both preparing for the volunteer work in Nepal, and organising, wait for it...... our trip to Lisbon for the Steemfest 2 conference!

_{Yes! Steemfest!}

Our flights and accommodation are booked and we are now on the lookout for ticket giveaway blogs to try and knock the cost down a little. We had thought a lot about the total price for the conference and how much extra money we could take to Nepal if we didn't attend, and so hopefully we have made the right decision here!

_{Apartment for 5 nights}

_{Flights for two}

Steemfest 2 tickets x 2: $444.44 - Not purchased yet

The basic requirements (travel, accommodation, Steemfest tickets) total a rather sizable $1282.80 - yikes!

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Why attend Steemfest 2?

After many months of deliberation, we decided last week that it would be a worthwhile experience to take a trip over to Portugal for the Steemfest 2 conference. Initially, I was unsure as to what we could both offer the event, and what I would take away that would have a lasting benefit to myself and others.

However, much has changed in the past 6 months and, thanks to @osm0sis, I now have a firm use case for taking part in Steemfest 2, and we are now very excited to attend. Meeting people with a genuine interest in our platform and cryptocurrency in general is a great reason to make the trip. In addition, we now have a particular reason to attend. During the course of the visit, there will hopefully be plenty of opportunities to discuss our project with fellow Steemians who are keen to provide encouragement, ideas, and support.

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Our project in brief

In November, following the Steemfest 2 conference (4/5 days after it is complete!), we will be heading out to Nepal to volunteer at a Children's Home and School in Kathmandu. @osm0sis spent a couple of months last year at the same location, and this would be a continuation of the support she provided back then, teaching the pupils and helping out with many activities at the Children's Home.

From the time that she spent at the location, it became clear that there are many areas in which financial support would go a long way in providing basic needs for the children, both personally, like clothing, and more generally with regards to the facilities/equipment at the Children's Home and School.

In a nutshell, we wish to use Steemit.com to gather financial aid to provide transparent and direct support exactly where it is required.

We will ask current staff at the facilities and also look into what would aid the day-to-day lives of the staff and children at the Home and School. Then, when we have a list or a request, we can blog this on Steemit.com and let the community decide if they wish to support the request or not.

We can also blog the receipt of purchases and hopefully write about and show these items in use. For a more detailed description on what the project entails, please have a look at the initial post, entered onto the Blockchain last week.

Hopefully, I have explained the project clearly enough to interest you in following and providing your support and up-votes in the coming months. Thank you so much for the interest thus far, it's a massive boost to us to read all the messages of support we have received already. Thank you!

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Finally

It's back to work with preparation for the trip to Kathmandu. Lists containing items such as bring teaching materials, download free software for classrooms, and get insurance, are growing rapidly with more items being added than being crossed off at present. We also need to book flights and accommodation for our stay - plenty of work to do this week!

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Thanks for reading today

Asher @abh12345 and Sylvia @osm0sis