ALLAN AISTROPE has spent over twenty-two years working in Nepal for the benefit of orphaned and physically impaired children there. Coming from a twenty-year, successful career in creative advertising, Allan abandoned his professional pursuits to seek ways and means to rescue and support the impoverished children of Nepal who had dramatically impacted his life during a 1981 visit to that country. Beginning with a volunteer assignment at Nepal’s first orphanage, Allan went on to co-found a U.S. INGO that provided scholarships to orphaned children. This quickly led to his establishment of homes for abandoned boys and girls and initiating programs of support for blind, deaf and other physically impaired Nepali children. In 2003, Allan was encouraged by program supporters and friends to register a new INGO, and Virtue’s Children - Nepal was created as an all-volunteer organization, dedicated to the service of Nepali children and pledged to highest standards of financial management. Allan spends several months a year in Nepal, finding new children deserving of support, providing reassurance and encouragement to all the children on his watch and personally administrating program expenditures.
BARBARA BRUECKNER graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelors degree in Food Science & Nutrition and for several years contributed her expertise to product development and food innovation with the Schwans Food Company and General Mills. In 1996 she moved to San Francisco to join Matson, the largest New Products Development firm in the U.S., where Barbara specializes in creative development and innovation process management, representing most of the Fortune 500 food companies, along with many mid-size, startup and offshore food companies. Barbara’s interest in global travel took her to Nepal in 1993, where she became deeply impressed with the gentle nature of the Nepalese people and in efforts to assist homeless children in that country. Her experiences in Nepal eventually contributed to her growing interest in Eastern religions and philosophies and she went on to earn her Masters in BTB Feng Sui, from an affiliate of the University of San Francisco, which she practices professionally in her free time. From the conception of Virtue’s Children – Nepal, Barbara has been a committed team member and enthused participant to our goals. She has faithfully supported a young, badly disabled, Nepali girl for many years and has encouraged many of her family members to support our efforts.
PAT HUGHES began her life San Francisco life in 1967, coming from West Virginia where she earned her master’s degree in fine art. An accomplished and internationally recognized, fine artist, Pat is also a teacher of English as a second language in San Francisco. With an artist’s appreciation for earthly aesthetics and a spirit of adventure in her soul, Pat has traveled the globe extensively. She enjoys a special fondness for Asian cultures and has spent considerable time exploring that part of the world and making lifetime connections. Pat lived in Nepal for two extensive periods where she trekked the trails, enjoyed village life and built an intimate friendship with the children of Paropakar Orphanage in Kathmandu. Pat became a long time sponsor and contributor to our cause for the orphaned children of Paropakar and she continues to support and encourage all of our efforts for aiding Nepali children.
WENDY BREWER LAMA has worked for the past twenty years throughout Asia as an Ecotourism Planner with international organizations. She has been professionally involved with the United Nations (UNESCO, UNDP), World Wildlife Fund, Helvetas (a Swiss aid organization), and The Mountain Institute. While managing and advising ecotourism and cultural tourism projects, she provides enlightened leadership to communities, non-governmental organizations, travel and trekking agencies and national-level governments. Much of Wendy’s efforts and ecological commitments have been to motivate and guide Asian educational organizations to develop, manage and encourage training in community-based ecotourism. She has carried her cause throughout many parts of Central and South Asia, including Nepal, Sikkim, Ladakh, Tibet, Mainland China, Bhutan, Iran, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan. She is currently an Advisor to the UNESCO project on the Development of Cultural and Eco-tourism in the Mountainous Regions of Central and South Asia. Wendy lived in Nepal from 1984 to 1999 and became a friend of Paropakar Orphanage, endearing herself to the children there. Wendy proudly sponsored one of the Paropakar boys from grammar school through college and maintains a close relationship with him and his wife and children. Her frequent journeys to Nepal always include time at the orphanage and visits with the children. Wendy lives with her husband, Karma Lama, in Half Moon Bay, California, headquarters for their KarmaQuest Ecotourism and Adventure Travel agency. Wendy also works as a planning consultant for the City of Half Moon Bay and in her free time she and Karma stay active with bicycling, backpacking, travel, and beachcombing.
PENELOPE ROSE is a long time, working professional in the legal field, assisting criminal luminaries J. Tony Serra in San Francisco, Gerry Lefcourt, Michael Kennedy and Marshall Perlman in New York City. Penelope’s commitment to legal justice represents only a portion of her interests and her talent in creative Asian fashion design has led to the formation of her own fashion design company, “Penelope Rose Design”. In her pursuit of fabrics, fashion accessories and design inspiration she has traveled widely in India and Nepal and made personal connections to many Nepalese and Indian friendships. A slow, gentle exposure to Buddhism and Hinduism during her journeys became a growing interest for Penelope, and she is an avid student of those religions. Penelope’s interest in the cultures of her wonderings rapidly transcended into compassion for the conditions of the poor in Nepal and India, and when exposed to the perilous living conditions for homeless children in Nepal she became an energized force for the establishment of Virtue’s Children – Nepal and our goals. Living in San Francisco, with her husband, Arthur, and her son, Malachi, Penelope continues with her responsibilities in law and fashion design, sharing her time and the best of her talents to benefit the children in our care.
RAJEESH SHRESTHA is a member of a respected, established family living in Kathmandu. After earning his Bachelor of Business degree, he assisted his father for several years in managing the families’, craft-jewelry store in Kathmandu, where he acquired the gem and business expertise necessary to represent his father’s business throughout Europe and Asia. In 1992 Rajesh chose to bring jewelry imports to the U.S. and in a very short time he founded Aquamarine Enterprises, which has grown into a nationally recognized outlet of craft jewelry from Nepal. Rajeesh furthered his education and acquired a degree in Advanced Gemology from the Gemological Institute of America in Southern California and he continues to manage his flourishing import business with the help of his energetic wife, Kabina. Rajeesh is a solid member of the Nepali community in the San Francisco Bay area, and remains a steadfast supporter for civil rights and justice in Nepal and for the advancement of the Newari caste of his heritage. Joining Virtue’s Children – Nepal as a board member was not only a commitment that Rajeesh enthusiastically embraced, but he was also instrumental in founding Virtue’s Children – Nepal and encouraging the foundation in our ambitions to help Nepali children.
CHRIS SMITH is co-owner of Superfeet Worldwide, Inc. and Northwest Podiatric Laboratories in Blaine, Washington. Born in Banff, Alberta, raised in south central British Columbia, Chris studied at the University of British Columbia before migrating to San Francisco where he continued his studies at the California College of Podiatric Medicine. After obtaining his degree of Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, he joined the college staff as a professor and continued to live in San Francisco. For the next twenty-five years Chris divided his time between teaching Podiatric Medicine, establishing his business in Blaine and finding his balance in outdoor adventures – the more rugged the better. His recreational life of backpacking and other wilderness challenges eventually took him to Nepal and to a deep attachment with the Nepalese people and concerns for the children of poverty there. Chris has trekked extensively in the Khumbu, Langtang and Annapurna regions of Nepal and in his travels there he made lasting friendships with Nepali families and friends. These days Chris lives in Custer Washington with his wife Cathy and daughters Marrissa and Halee, where he manages his businesses and continues his interest and activism for improving conditions for Nepali children.
SUDHA WILBURN began a life of social service after graduation from college, and through the years she has devoted her career and energies to improving the welfare of the most needy and deserving of humanity. Sudha’s work has led her to devote her skills and compassions to the elderly, hospice patients, autistic children, the mentally challenged and victims of AIDS. She worked in an orphanage in India for a period and while in that part of the world she made lifetime connections to Nepal and the cultures of both countries. A few year ago, while on a visit to Nepal, Sudha and her husband, Reid, rescued a small boy from a life of working on the streets of Kathmandu and sponsored him to boarding school, where he excels with high scholastic honors and Sudha’s and Reid’s continued support and pride. Sudha and her husband maintain their home in Mt. Madonna, California, neighboring Santa Cruz, where Sudha follows her idealism and commitments as a professional massage therapist for the elderly and hospice patients and as an activist for social causes.
