Mick Bröcker

If you have read my “author’s blog” you will know that I write children’s books.  My latest book is “Lizzie’s Lesson” and Lizzie’s message is “always look for the good that comes from bad.”  The saying throughout the book is “when things change and I feel sad,  I will always remember good comes from bad.” Meeting this young man, Mick Bröcker, was the “good” in the three hour delay that David and I experienced as we were leaving Nepal.

Our flight was scheduled at 8:00 AM.  We arrived at the airport at 5:30, only to learn that the airport opened at 6:00.  Checking in was a tad unorganized but once we were checked in, we made our way to the gate.  We still had about an hour and 15 minutes to wait and I wasn’t certain if there was a place to get a cup of coffee; which I really wanted, after we went through security. At security, I handed the lady my boarding pass and passport and she told me that I couldn’t enter….

She spoke no English and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t go through security.  David was in the men’s line – women and men were checked in separately.  I got his attention and he stepped out of line.  We didn’t know anything about the delay……nothing had been said when we got our tickets and the monitor showed our flight was “on time.”

I decided to get my coffee.  We sat next to Mick and it was then that we learned of the flight delay due to the weather.  Oh dear….that meant that David wouldn’t make his connecting flight in Dubai for Saudi and he had an important meeting to get back to.  He started working the phones to see if he could get on a later flight out of Dubai.  I started talking to Mick, who I think is 24 (if I remember correctly)…and learned his amazing story.

He was heading home to the Netherlands to visit his family.  He lives and works in Nepal.   In another life, he was a student of psychology at a university in the Netherlands.  During his studies, he came to Nepal to work with children, completed his study semester abroad and returned home.  Then the earthquake happened in 2015.

Mick thought of the families and children that he had met during his stay there and decided that he needed to return to help in anyway that he could.  He dropped out of school, raised about $2000 and as they say, on an “wing and a prayer” returned to Kathmandu where he began his non-profit organization to help 11 young people who were orphaned as a result of the earthquake.

I don’t know about you but at the age of 22 or so, I don’t think that I would have sacrifice my life’s ambitions to set out on a journey so overwhelming – where young children’s survival depended on my decisions and abilities.

The website for Mick’s foundation is:  www.ombir.org.  Unfortunately, for the time being, it is in Dutch but Mick said that he was in the process of getting it translated into English.

This is the “founding story” that I copied from the website and translated on Google Translate:

Sometimes you meet someone who changes your life. I met Ombir. And I asked him, “What would you like the most beautiful of the whole world? “Love,” he said.

I dropped my knees, hugged his fragile body and saw the child coming back in his radiant eyes. A golden smile on his face and his eyes shone.

At that moment, I saw the enormous power and potential of giving as little as love to only one child.

Ombir was born in a very small village in the south of Nepal. He lived with his brother and parents in a cabin made of bamboo.

Ombir grew up in pure poverty. With only one meal a day the chance of survival was small. After leaving his father, his sick mother brought him here.

Here Ombir got what he needed. Shelter. Food. Education. And love. Lots of love. But above all, a chance of a better future.

In the summer of 2014 I met the then 11 year old Ombir for the first time. A very positive and happy boy with a sense of the future.

The future of Ombir and the other 10 orphans is at risk. Current financial support stops. That means that if we do not get into action now, the children have nothing left to eat, can not go to school and have to go to sleep on the street.

This was the time for me to get up. To quit my study Psychology and my job and leave for an indefinite period to the roof of the world.

At the beginning of 2016 I founded my own foundation – the Ombir Foundation, named after the boy that inspired me – and I take care of the orphans here in Nepal 24/7.

I made my life mission to take care of these orphans. With the greatest dream, building a new (t) house. To give Ombir and the other children a chance to have a better future.

During the process we learned a lot. We? Yes, because I can not do it alone. You me. We’ll do it together.

I have learned that education is the living proof that transformation is possible.

That with proper care evolves into something spectacular. I’ve learned that every piece of growth is a challenge, that every piece of love, every euro, every supporter is essential.

Ombir Foundation is a For-Purpose organization dedicated to orphans in Nepal. Dozens of people have already joined us, who contribute through donations, both big and small.

I strongly believe that one day will come into our lives where each child will have shelter, healthy food and high quality education. And above all love. Lots of love.

I will work tirelessly in meeting today’s agreements to make it possible for tomorrow.

As long as one of these children still stands out with a stretched hand asking for nothing more than love, my mission will continue!

Mick Bröcker

I hope that after reading Mick’s story that you might be encouraged to donate to help his program.   100% of your donation goes to supporting the children…that is amazing, no?  There is no administration cost.  This young man is amazing.  If you do not wish to donate monthly, maybe you could give a one time donation to the scholarship fund for the children’s education?