Friday, May 30, 2014

Volunteer Week

May 27, 2014
What a week!!!  It was both exhausting and rewarding - the village turned out to be a collection of houses smattered throughout the hill side, food was rice and potatoes three meals a day, English was close to nonexistent, wake up time was 5:00 am, witch doctors roamed the neighborhood, my house was a retreat for giant spiders, and yet students asked us every day to do art with them, teachers cried when it was our final day,  and our host families begged us to stay. 

IMG 8574This cute 4 day old goat sucked my fingers, while I seriously started to wonder what I had gotten myself into!
IMG 8578Here’s the grandma, Anita, and the mother, Sangita, (she’s my age - 32) making dinner of dal bhat - rice, lentils and potatoes.  The whole ceiling above is blackened from the open fire.  Not the best kitchen for those with asthma.
IMG 8583My feather soft bed for the week.  I slept right on top of that pink sheet . .  on top of the wool blanket . . . on top of the plywood . . . when I could fall asleep.
IMG 8584That’s beaten rice (literally rice that has been mashed into flakes) with potatoes and soya balls - the school fed us lunch every day.  Usually eaten without a spoon.
IMG 8589Play dough making just like our ancestors use to.  
IMG 8610Here’s a picture of the Shree Kali Devi Secondary School, where Jenn and I volunteered for the week. 
IMG 8602Here are class 1/2 kids making rainbows and learning their colors in English.
IMG 8607School is optional here (for both children and staff) so the numbers varied every day.
IMG 8615Here is the principal admiring the handiwork of class 5 - they are making sun catchers out of transparencies and fabric paint.

IMG 8631The school morning starts with calisthenics and then the grades march to their individual classes.
IMG 8635Here is class 10 working on sun catchers too.
IMG 8639Here is the “village” of Lalitpur.
IMG 8644We taught classes the ABC song and had them make the alphabet with play dough.
IMG 8661Note the new rainbows hanging in the classroom.
IMG 8670The sun catcher final project with class 5.
IMG 8673Our walk to school in the morning.
IMG 8672Still walking to school! - I have yet to cross that meadow and climb up the other side.
IMG 8680Here is play group coloring the alphabet with their teachers.
IMG 8684Apparently it’s the first time they have seen anyone cut tape.
IMG 8688Jenn and I hung the alphabet they colored and the numbers in their classroom for play group.
IMG 8693Here’s Jenn and I with play group - I think they loved having their art work on the wall.
IMG 8703The sweet teachers lounge - where we had a 30 min break each day for lunch at 1pm.  The school day starts at 10am and ends at 3 or 4 pm - depending on your grade.
IMG 8746A view of the house from the outside.  There was electricity for a few hours every day . . . usually. . . although no schedule as to when it would or wouldn’t work.
IMG 8808Class 8 working on bubble painting and a name poem.  They were without a teacher the whole week we were there.
IMG 8822Here is what happens when there aren’t teachers in a class - and the school is short teachers every day!
IMG 8828Here is the family I stayed with - Pramala is taking the picture so imagine another 12 year old girl in the picture.
IMG 8829RING - goes the morning bel!
IMG 8842Play group loved waving hi and bye - they normally say namaste and put their hands in a prayer position.
IMG 8851The entire school gave us a farewell ceremony.
IMG 8860We were draped in flower leis and Buddhist scarves - a sign of an important person departing.
IMG 8874The families also gave us a blessing and wished us well with a small ceremony involving fruit, words I couldn’t understand, and tika marks.

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