Photobucket Album
Friday, August 1, 2008
Saying goodbye
We had to say our goodbyes this past week to both the children’s home and CBR. We had so much fun in the children’s home, and grew to know them so well. We recorded two Nepali songs with them on Garage Band and will soon give them a CD of their music! Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things we had to do. We arrived at Shining Stars at 7 am in the morning when the children were eating daal/bhaat and getting ready to go to school. They all knew it was our last day, and so many of them wrote us personal letters telling us how much they were going to miss us and asking us not to forget them – these are probably the best souveniers that we will be bringing back with us. Before they left for school, all 31 children, the two didis, and three tutors lined up and placed tikas on our foreheads. Tikas are red powder mixed with a little bit of water, and people place this on someone’s forehead as a symbol of a Hindu blessing and for good luck in the future. You can probably imagine what our foreheads looked like after this ceremony – our heads were covered in little read dots.
After we walked the Shining Stars children to school, we went to CBR to say our final goodbyes. Unfortunately, there were only 2 children at the center because the jeep had no petrol (how shocking...). The teacher actually came up with her own schedule and used the picture communication symbols with the children. The kids are really catching on to this method of communication very quickly, as are the other didis. It was so nice to see our efforts sticking as we left the center. We said our goodbyes, but we were very upset that most of the children were not there.
We went back to our host family’s house, had our final daal/bhaat meal, and said our goodbyes to our family. It was a very traditional goodbye – they put tikas on our foreheads and leis of fresh purple flowers around our necks. It was a really meaningful goodbye, and we are definitely going to miss them – even our little bahini.
We arrived in Thamel around 4:30 pm, packed our bags, and left for Chitwan National Park at 6:15 am the next morning. The bus ride was 7 hours long, but it was absolutely beautiful. We went through the mountains and drove alongside the river – breathtaking views. When we got to Chitwan, we had a couple of hours to unwind, had lunch, and went for a nice jungle walk to the edge of the river where we watched the sun set. That evening, we went to a cultural dance show where they performed 5 or 6 indigenous dances of the Tharu people who live in the area. It was hilarious – the host had a very annoying Nepali/British accent and the dances were very interesting.
The next morning, we all got into a dugout canoe and went down the river. We were fortunate enough to see a rhino bathing in the river right in front of the canoe. Afterwards, we got to bath elephants! This was the most exciting part about the whole trip. We all hoped onto elephants (three of us on one) and went down to the river. We had no idea what to expect, but before we knew it, the elephants were throwing us off of their backs and into the water! We did not expect to be on TOP of the elephants during their bath, but it was exhilarating and really fun. We got to climb on their trunks and they would swing us up onto their backs. Later that afternoon we went on a safari on elephant backs. We got to see numerous rhinos, deer, and cool bird species. It was a lot of fun, but we are sore as if we rode horses! We got to drive the elephants by sitting on their necks and kicking behind their ears to signal which way they should go. Our group had a lot of fun!
After we walked the Shining Stars children to school, we went to CBR to say our final goodbyes. Unfortunately, there were only 2 children at the center because the jeep had no petrol (how shocking...). The teacher actually came up with her own schedule and used the picture communication symbols with the children. The kids are really catching on to this method of communication very quickly, as are the other didis. It was so nice to see our efforts sticking as we left the center. We said our goodbyes, but we were very upset that most of the children were not there.
We went back to our host family’s house, had our final daal/bhaat meal, and said our goodbyes to our family. It was a very traditional goodbye – they put tikas on our foreheads and leis of fresh purple flowers around our necks. It was a really meaningful goodbye, and we are definitely going to miss them – even our little bahini.
We arrived in Thamel around 4:30 pm, packed our bags, and left for Chitwan National Park at 6:15 am the next morning. The bus ride was 7 hours long, but it was absolutely beautiful. We went through the mountains and drove alongside the river – breathtaking views. When we got to Chitwan, we had a couple of hours to unwind, had lunch, and went for a nice jungle walk to the edge of the river where we watched the sun set. That evening, we went to a cultural dance show where they performed 5 or 6 indigenous dances of the Tharu people who live in the area. It was hilarious – the host had a very annoying Nepali/British accent and the dances were very interesting.
The next morning, we all got into a dugout canoe and went down the river. We were fortunate enough to see a rhino bathing in the river right in front of the canoe. Afterwards, we got to bath elephants! This was the most exciting part about the whole trip. We all hoped onto elephants (three of us on one) and went down to the river. We had no idea what to expect, but before we knew it, the elephants were throwing us off of their backs and into the water! We did not expect to be on TOP of the elephants during their bath, but it was exhilarating and really fun. We got to climb on their trunks and they would swing us up onto their backs. Later that afternoon we went on a safari on elephant backs. We got to see numerous rhinos, deer, and cool bird species. It was a lot of fun, but we are sore as if we rode horses! We got to drive the elephants by sitting on their necks and kicking behind their ears to signal which way they should go. Our group had a lot of fun!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sister sister!
Sister sister! the common attention getter by the kids in the children's home, they yell it ALL the time, it is so cute in the nepali accents!
now, to catch you up on LAST week (we have not had internet for a while!)
Last Friday, no children came to CBR! Of course, there was no petrol for the jeep... so, we had an entire day with the teachers. We sat down with the director, didis, and teachers and did simulations and “lessons” for the teachers on how to run a special education classroom, basically. We helped them make picture schedules, and modeled their use. We also modeled ignoring and positive reinforcement, among many other behavior management techniques. The six hours we spent with the teachers were some of the most influential moments we’ve had at CBR. We are looking forward to seeing how the teachers act in the future.
Last weekend, we went and stayed a couple of nights in Thamel. We arrived on Friday afternoon after a day at CBR. We decided that we would make a trip to the US Embassy so that we could register and let them know that we were volunteering in Nepal. Right down the road from our bus stop at Ratna Park, there is a heavily guarded area with huge walls and automatic doors that has signs on it saying “United States of America.” Like normal people, we assumed that this was the actual embassy. When we approached the gates, we were told that this was actually the diplomat’s sports club. Seriously? Do they really need a freaking sports club half the size of Nepal? Who knows what it really is – this is just what we were told. Anyways, they told us to walk a ways up the road and we would reach the actual US embassy. So, we started on what ended up being a trek across Kathmandu. We kept walking, and walking... we passed the French, British, Israeli, and Japanese embassies, but we still had no sign of the American embassy. We started our little walk around 3:50 pm, and around 4:45 pm, we finally arrived at our destination. It was in the middle of nowhere, wayyyyyy outside of Kathmandu. When we walked in and asked to enter the embassy, we were told that entry hours ended at 4:30 pm. Jessi pushed and pushed until the guards finally called someone inside. When we got on the phone, we were so excited to here a man with a southern drawl say to us “Hey there kids!” The man came out, helped us fill out our forms, and sent us back on our way. What an afternoon...
Later in the evening, we went to the Chabad house for Shabbat. Shabbat is the Jewish day of rest that begins on Friday evening and lasts until the end of Saturday. It was interesting because almost everyone, save Jessi and another guy from Washington D.C., was Israeli. There were not any Chabad people and there wasn’t even a Chabad rabbi, but it was interesting to meet all the Jewish tourists come together in a place like Nepal and celebrate Shabbat.
Last Saturday, we spent the day at one of the new children’s homes that VSN is serving. Two Israeli women whom we met at the Chabad house the previous night accompanied us to the house – one is a pediatrician and the other is a social worker. Two of the girls in our volunteer group, Ruchi and Tanya, are currently placed there. Before they got there, the place was barren and dirty. The managers at the center are nice and love the children, but their main interests for the children are making sure they receive an education and getting them enough food. Although these two are very important, they hardly paid any attention to the children’s health. Ruchi, Tanya, and the rest of the health team performed full health checks on these children, and they now receive daily care based on their health check results. They also spent a lot of time and effort decorating the place and making it seem more like a home. The walls are decorated with drawings and paintings that the children made and also with their pictures.
When we first arrived, we spent some time watching Ruchi, Tanya, and the children finish up a group painting they were working on. They then turned the radio on, and we all begin dancing to Hindi film songs. After the cassette finished, Jessi pulled out her guitar, and we sang and played music for them. We sang them some country songs as well as some children’s songs such as “Twinkle Twinkle” and “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” We all had so much fun, and the children really enjoyed listening and singing along to live music.
We had the opportunity to watch Tanya perform physiotherapy on a boy with cerebral palsy and a girl spina bifida. It was interesting to see the different exercises that they had to do. This is all so new for these children because before Ruchi and Tanya arrived, the children with disabilities in this home usually just sat in makeshift wheelchairs. With Tanya, they exercise about twice a day for about an hour or so.
We stayed at the center until about 5. Ruchi and Tanya have made such a difference in the house – the children are so lively and they are finally beginning to realize the importance of their own health.
Last Sunday, we visited Baktapur with Ryan and Andrea, two volunteers from our group. Baktapur has many squares known for their numerous temples dedicated to the many Hindu gods. Out of all the temples, however, Baktapur is most widely known for its erotic elephants temple. This temple has carvings of elephants in various suggestive positions all around the top. There is another temple that has the 24 positions of the kama sutra carved into it an all four sides of the temple... no wonder this place is a major tourist attraction. The area is also known for its woodwork and pottery.
The bus ride back to the village was THE craziest thing we’ve ever experienced! Both buses were packed beyond belief... it was rush hour and it was raining. On the second bus, Jessi lost count at 37 people, while Rachna was busy being evangelized by some meditative monk who wanted to show her his ways. One of the many memorable bus rides back to the village...
This week, we have introduced the idea of inclusion to CBR! The children at the VSN children’s home in our village do not have school because they had exams last week. We have had the chance to walk the typical children over to CBR where they read, play, and interact with the kids with disabilities at CBR. The children from the VSN home have loved going to CBR, and it serves as a reward for them. Every time we visit the home (every morning and evening) the kids go, “When can we go to CBR again?” They work so well with the kids with disabilities and even help us with modeling good behaviors for the kids and didis and translating in Nepali. It has been so exciting to see this week unfold with inclusion in Nepal!
We have also been shooting a movie with the kids for fun, they have a nepali script, and recording their singing on Garage Band, a mac program on the laptop. They are such high tech nepalis!
now, to catch you up on LAST week (we have not had internet for a while!)
Last Friday, no children came to CBR! Of course, there was no petrol for the jeep... so, we had an entire day with the teachers. We sat down with the director, didis, and teachers and did simulations and “lessons” for the teachers on how to run a special education classroom, basically. We helped them make picture schedules, and modeled their use. We also modeled ignoring and positive reinforcement, among many other behavior management techniques. The six hours we spent with the teachers were some of the most influential moments we’ve had at CBR. We are looking forward to seeing how the teachers act in the future.
Last weekend, we went and stayed a couple of nights in Thamel. We arrived on Friday afternoon after a day at CBR. We decided that we would make a trip to the US Embassy so that we could register and let them know that we were volunteering in Nepal. Right down the road from our bus stop at Ratna Park, there is a heavily guarded area with huge walls and automatic doors that has signs on it saying “United States of America.” Like normal people, we assumed that this was the actual embassy. When we approached the gates, we were told that this was actually the diplomat’s sports club. Seriously? Do they really need a freaking sports club half the size of Nepal? Who knows what it really is – this is just what we were told. Anyways, they told us to walk a ways up the road and we would reach the actual US embassy. So, we started on what ended up being a trek across Kathmandu. We kept walking, and walking... we passed the French, British, Israeli, and Japanese embassies, but we still had no sign of the American embassy. We started our little walk around 3:50 pm, and around 4:45 pm, we finally arrived at our destination. It was in the middle of nowhere, wayyyyyy outside of Kathmandu. When we walked in and asked to enter the embassy, we were told that entry hours ended at 4:30 pm. Jessi pushed and pushed until the guards finally called someone inside. When we got on the phone, we were so excited to here a man with a southern drawl say to us “Hey there kids!” The man came out, helped us fill out our forms, and sent us back on our way. What an afternoon...
Later in the evening, we went to the Chabad house for Shabbat. Shabbat is the Jewish day of rest that begins on Friday evening and lasts until the end of Saturday. It was interesting because almost everyone, save Jessi and another guy from Washington D.C., was Israeli. There were not any Chabad people and there wasn’t even a Chabad rabbi, but it was interesting to meet all the Jewish tourists come together in a place like Nepal and celebrate Shabbat.
Last Saturday, we spent the day at one of the new children’s homes that VSN is serving. Two Israeli women whom we met at the Chabad house the previous night accompanied us to the house – one is a pediatrician and the other is a social worker. Two of the girls in our volunteer group, Ruchi and Tanya, are currently placed there. Before they got there, the place was barren and dirty. The managers at the center are nice and love the children, but their main interests for the children are making sure they receive an education and getting them enough food. Although these two are very important, they hardly paid any attention to the children’s health. Ruchi, Tanya, and the rest of the health team performed full health checks on these children, and they now receive daily care based on their health check results. They also spent a lot of time and effort decorating the place and making it seem more like a home. The walls are decorated with drawings and paintings that the children made and also with their pictures.
When we first arrived, we spent some time watching Ruchi, Tanya, and the children finish up a group painting they were working on. They then turned the radio on, and we all begin dancing to Hindi film songs. After the cassette finished, Jessi pulled out her guitar, and we sang and played music for them. We sang them some country songs as well as some children’s songs such as “Twinkle Twinkle” and “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” We all had so much fun, and the children really enjoyed listening and singing along to live music.
We had the opportunity to watch Tanya perform physiotherapy on a boy with cerebral palsy and a girl spina bifida. It was interesting to see the different exercises that they had to do. This is all so new for these children because before Ruchi and Tanya arrived, the children with disabilities in this home usually just sat in makeshift wheelchairs. With Tanya, they exercise about twice a day for about an hour or so.
We stayed at the center until about 5. Ruchi and Tanya have made such a difference in the house – the children are so lively and they are finally beginning to realize the importance of their own health.
Last Sunday, we visited Baktapur with Ryan and Andrea, two volunteers from our group. Baktapur has many squares known for their numerous temples dedicated to the many Hindu gods. Out of all the temples, however, Baktapur is most widely known for its erotic elephants temple. This temple has carvings of elephants in various suggestive positions all around the top. There is another temple that has the 24 positions of the kama sutra carved into it an all four sides of the temple... no wonder this place is a major tourist attraction. The area is also known for its woodwork and pottery.
The bus ride back to the village was THE craziest thing we’ve ever experienced! Both buses were packed beyond belief... it was rush hour and it was raining. On the second bus, Jessi lost count at 37 people, while Rachna was busy being evangelized by some meditative monk who wanted to show her his ways. One of the many memorable bus rides back to the village...
This week, we have introduced the idea of inclusion to CBR! The children at the VSN children’s home in our village do not have school because they had exams last week. We have had the chance to walk the typical children over to CBR where they read, play, and interact with the kids with disabilities at CBR. The children from the VSN home have loved going to CBR, and it serves as a reward for them. Every time we visit the home (every morning and evening) the kids go, “When can we go to CBR again?” They work so well with the kids with disabilities and even help us with modeling good behaviors for the kids and didis and translating in Nepali. It has been so exciting to see this week unfold with inclusion in Nepal!
We have also been shooting a movie with the kids for fun, they have a nepali script, and recording their singing on Garage Band, a mac program on the laptop. They are such high tech nepalis!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Just across the rice patties!
We have had a great week of volunteering in the village and are in the city now for a night. We have made a lot of progress at the daycare center, i.e. seeing kids spontaneously say "more" in sign language and didis and teachers using their visual aids to communicate with the children, ilke picture communication systems and boards. It has been great to watch the practices in use by the Nepali teachers, not just us two American volunteers.
On Wednesday, Nepal elected its first president, so there was no school Thursday. we got to spend the whole day with the children's home in teh village, playing a huge game of football (soccer), guitar, drawing, dancing, and lots of other activities.
We had the chance to walk across teh rice patties this morning to another children's home... what a walk!! 5:30am never looked so good...
More details from the week to come later!
On Wednesday, Nepal elected its first president, so there was no school Thursday. we got to spend the whole day with the children's home in teh village, playing a huge game of football (soccer), guitar, drawing, dancing, and lots of other activities.
We had the chance to walk across teh rice patties this morning to another children's home... what a walk!! 5:30am never looked so good...
More details from the week to come later!
Friday, July 18, 2008
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