AS THE CROW FLIES, Jitpur is 7,000 miles from Ottawa and may as well be on another planet. It is a small village nestled between desperately raucous Katmandu and the immutable Himalayas of Nepal. Stone faced and with a cruel beauty which fascinates, these mountains stand sentinel over the puny doings of man. In the shadow of thirteen of the world's highest peaks, as close to God as mankind can reach without contrivance, is the story of our journey to understanding.

Prakash Arjel, is a boy of eleven, fond of basketball, school and art. He dreams of one day becoming a doctor or maybe a pilot, helps his mother with the family chores and assists his father in their small field (the basis of the $400.00 annual income of this family of six) and in whose veins flows the blood of the proud Ghurka. Prakash, whose most recent photograph shows a slight young boy, stern of gaze, with a determination that is reflected in the strength and forthrightness of his chin.

He stands erect, almost perfect attention, shoulders back, hands pointed straight down the trouser seams. There is pride in his bearing; pride we encouraged; pride we fostered.

Prakash is the foster child of Civil Service Lodge No. 148, under our Adopted Child Project. Since 1989, the officers and brethren of Civil Service Lodge have been pledging a small sum of money to this worthy undertaking. We have had the distinct pleasure of knowing that, on the other side of the globe, a man becomes part of a world almost certainly denied to those less fortunate.