The Happy Home in Kathmandu is going
very well. We are now plastering and finishing the electricity and
plumbing. We are very happy to announce that we are now able to offer
twenty children shelter at our new Happy Home in Chitwan.
The
Chitwan Happy Home will be finished by mid-May 2007, and we would
like to ask you all if you know any children that are living in very
poor conditions or are needier than others who you believe would benefit
from living at the home. We are very happy to hear from our past
volunteers and upcoming volunteers about their fundraising for the Chitwan
Happy Home project. We are also pleased to see that the children of the
village are happy to have more children at their Resource Centre.
Our aim is to provide children who have
either lost their parents through death from illness or accident, have been
abandoned, or are working in child labor situations, with a safe and caring
environment; a "Happy Home". Given that INFO Nepal's priorities are
equality, understanding and acceptance of people, we have, in the Happy
Home, children from a broad range of religious, tribal and caste
structures. Living together, working through differences, fostering a
family atmosphere, getting a good education, and generally sharing life
together is an important part of achieving this priority. We would like
to ask our host families, friends and past volunteers if you have known
any children in your placement or other areas that need help, to please
us let us know. We are going to form a selecting committee who intend to visit the children
at the end of April. If our past
volunteers wish to recommend any child from their placement or host
family we would like to have them at our new Happy Home. If you want to
give us details of any children please contact Nicky Deasy at Email :
nicky.deasy@ireland.com or phone her on Ph: + 977 9841420060 ( Nepal ).
Sponsoring one of these children will cost you
US$ 30 per month, per child.
Here is a list of the
benefits and facilities
of our new Happy Home in Chitwan.
The village setting
Living in a family environment with no more
than 4 children per room
Food, clothing and education at a local private
school,
Additional tuition, mornings and evenings with a local teacher,
Combined study room and library
Celebration of festivals and access to Nepali cultural events,
Sports & games,
Large playground,
Vegetable garden,
Flower garden
Two table-tennis tables
Volleyball court
Football ground,
Basketball court,
Big TV hall,
Indoor playroom,
4 toilets and bathrooms,
24-hour water supply,
Each children will be supplied with a
bicycle to go to school,
Living with overseas volunteer's who assist the children with school work
and learning English,
Two staff members to look after the children
New Happy Home
construction in Ganganagar , Chitwan
Current Report - By
Nicky Deasy - Ireland - 3
April 2007
Construction work is in full swing here in
Ganganagur! We have up to 15 men on site at any one time, and every day
the building visibly grows! The extension of the ground floor is almost
complete.
The walls have been built, and today the cement will be poured for the
ceiling of the ground floor. Work will then commence on the first
floor.
When complete, the ground floor will contain
three bedrooms for the 20 children who will live here, along with a
bedroom for the two ladies who will live here and look after the
children. There will also be two bathrooms on the ground floor.
The first floor will contain the classroom
so that we can continue teaching the local children, a volunteer’s room
with bathroom, and the kitchen / living room.
Many children in poorer families in the
villages around here live in tiny mud huts which are made of bamboo,
plastered with mud, and have a thatched roof. In one small room, up to
10 people live, where they cook, eat and sleep in very impoverished
conditions.
When
a problem hits the family, such as ill-health of a parent or child,
there is no safety net, and many people cannot afford to go to a doctor
or buy basic medications. Diseases such as scabies are very common, as
a result of poor hygiene, dirty clothing and poor nutrition.
Many of these children never get an
opportunity to go to school, as their families need them to mind younger
children, or do hard physical work in order to earn a few rupees to
support the family. As a result, they become trapped in a cycle of
poverty which they cannot escape due to their lack of education. The
children that will come to live here will be given a tremendous
opportunity in life. They will eat good food, go to school every day,
and live in a comfortable home, with the support of their families
nearby. Volunteers will continue to live here to help the children with
their English, and to teach English to the local community.
The construction project is also providing
employment for up to 20 men, who otherwise would struggle to support
their families.
There is great excitement here, and all the
children call around every day to marvel at the high speed progress,
before we start English class. The project has the full support of the
local community, and we all look forward to opening in the next few
months, and giving the poorer children in the district the kind of start
in life that we would each wish for our own children at home.
On Saturday 17th March a group of volunteers
and INFO Nepal staff visited the Kapan Monastery to distribute medicine
and health advice to the young Buddhist Monks who live there. The
Monastery is quite new and is very beautiful. We met with volunteer,
Dawn (Wales) who was placed in the monastery helping with the children
and with a wealth of health and sanitation knowledge from our
volunteer’s Rob, Danielle and Morgan from the UK, John from Ireland,
Elena from Spain and Esther from Australia we provided basic medication,
vitamins and sanitation methods to the children and to the monastery’s
staff. The day proved to be a real success, with many of the children’s
health ailments diagnosed and treated on the day. Together our
volunteers and staff provided assistance and education to ensure the
maintenance of the young monks’ good health until our next visit later
in the year.
Jan 07 to March 07 - Volunteered in three Children's Resource
Centers.
To start with, my 3 months in Nepal have
been amazing and I would like to thank INFO-Nepal for giving me this
opportunity.
I divided my time here into sections, so as
to see more of the country and get to know the differences in culture
between different parts of Nepal. After my first week in Kathmandu,
which I spent learning basic Nepali, which is extremely helpful as helps
to get to know the local people more easily as they appreciate it a lot
if you speak a few words of their language (which a normal tourist would
not bother with) I made the 10 hour trip to Langtang National Park
where I would spent the next 6 weeks.
The area is fantastic, so full of culture and waking up every morning to
see the bright top of a snow-covered mountain makes you not want to
leave. Compared with Chitwan where I spent my last 2 weeks, the people
in Langtang are mostly Buddhists and are heavily influenced by the
Tibetan culture. I was lucky enough to experience both Buddhist and
Hindi festivals throughout my stay. For example “Losar”, the Tibetan\Tamang
New Year which involves the change of the prayer flags and a heavy 2-day
long pick nick with the whole village. The families in Langtang are
brilliant! I spent 5 weeks with Gyurmi’s family in Shyabrubensi, the
probably busiest of the 4 villages you can go to, as it is the main
starting point for the Langtang trek, which I highly recommend you do if
you get the chance. I got to know a good lot of people, family and
friends, which made me feel less like a stranger and more like a friend.
The children are eager to learn and you have the chance to teach at the
nearby school which I strongly suggest to increase library attendance.
The library is very nice and colourful but is in need of more storybooks
and games for the kids.
I also went to Gatlang with Danny, who was
going to be there for 4 weeks. Gatlang is the most remote and isolated
village of the 4 and setting things up wasn’t all easy as it lacks a
library room, but you are well stocked with books and games. Despite
some problems with communication (as most of the people and children
speak only Tamang, little Nepali and hardly any English) it was
great fun to be around those people, watching them living their daily
life and teaching the kids was greatly rewarding! Not to mention the
breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. Durga Tamang’s family
has been so good to us and I will never forget their hospitality!
After spending 2 weeks in Pokhara as a
holiday, I went to Parbatipur in Chitwan with Amelia. Chitwan is so
different from Langtang, it’s not only flat like a pancake but also
soaring hot (thank god we had a fan!!). The library is great, so
colourful and very well stocked. The kids are very hyper but adorable
and very creative.
During my short time there I managed to do
an elephant safari (and actually see some rhinos too) and our
host-family took us to Bikram Baba temple where we witnessed the
gruesome sacrifice of goats and had a nice pick nick afterwards with
loads of Nepali dances. The host-family is very nice and funny and cared
well for us (all families make amazing food!). Special thanks to Rama
who is a brilliant host-mother and person!
Thanks to all the people I met in this
mysterious country, where plans change faster than you think!
If you have any questions about the Langtang
placement or trek or anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Good luck and enjoy your time!!
Danielle
Soya (Danny)
20218 Peach Grove Ln
Dickerson, MD 20842
USA
Email: dcsoya@gmail.com
Teaching in Gatlang, Langtang
- Feb- March 2007 ( 6 weeks )
Despite warnings that going alone could be
difficult, I chose to be placed in Gatlang just outside of Langtang National
Park. It was a very remote village with few Nepali speakers (they are mostly
Tamang) and fewer broken English speakers. However, my goal for the trip was
to live in the most remote mountain area I could find. Having just recently
returned, I have no regrets.
The 10 hour bus ride was fine, with only one
minor landslide delay, and I was welcomed in Syabru Bensi by the volunteer
who had run the library there for 5 weeks, and her host family. She ended up
changing her plans to return to Kathmandu and walked up Goljung Pass with me
to help set up in Gatlang. The Pass was an experience in itself: 2 hours
straight up the mountain, then 2 more hours along the road at the top to
reach my home for the next 5 weeks. The view is awesome, and can’t be
properly captured with words or photographs. From the host family’s house
there is a perfect view of Langtang I and II, as well as the surrounding
snow capped mountain ranges. It is impossible to be upset by anything when
you wake up to that view every morning. It makes the cold bearable. And it
was cold when I arrived. Snow was a frequent occurrence and quite some time
was spent huddling with people around a fire. By the time I left, the warmer
weather was coming, which I was grateful for, if only for the sake of the
locals who wore sandals through it all.
I managed to set up a decent teaching schedule
by the end of the first week. It had taken a while to organize because of
the extra language barrier, and the school being out of session, but the
effort was more entertaining for the village (and there is something to be
said for that).
After a brief break to celebrate the Tibetan New Year in Syabru Bensi, I began a daily schedule of class. From 7-8:15, I instructed
the younger men of the village who were no longer in school. They could read
it quite well, but with the highly accented and non-fluent teachers in the
school, everyone had difficulty understanding spoken words without visual
aids. At 8:15 until 9 I worked on vocabulary with the small children. They
were exceedingly eager and very good mimics, though it took a lot of effort
to get them to really comprehend the meaning of words. I ended up going back
to assist the English teacher with regular classes because 3 of the 7
teachers never came out to Gatlang to teach. I would teach Class 5 on my own
when they had no teacher, and I would work with the official English teacher
in Classes 6, 7, and 8 until 1:30. The kids have very little contact with
English speakers and would come up and request me in their classrooms before
they realized I would be willingly sticking around to teach for a while.
In the afternoons I occasionally did hikes up to
Pavari Kunda (a lake 45 min more up the mountain) or to Goljung the other
volunteer village 2 hours away. Usually, I taught a few students privately
on request until dinner time. There is never a shortage of students if you
are eager to teach. The host family’s home is actually a guesthouse and the
head master of the school stays there. The teacher’s would come to me with
all sorts of question’s about the English language and other countries, all
the while trying to improve their pronunciation. I wish more volunteers
would visit the area as the long spaces between volunteers mean each one
starts from scratch. Still, you never doubt that you are making a difference
or that the change is welcome. Next time I go out there, I will try to get
some Tamang training to improve communication with the parents in the
village. But don’t worry, everyone is very nice, and I was so well cared
for, I didn’t ever feel the need to get in contact with the outside world.
Though, it is nice to know INFO would help out if there was a problem. I
will definitely be returning to visit in the near future.
Nirmal Pokhari and Chitwan Gangganagar I can honestly say this has been the most inspiring and amazing 2 months
of my life, Thank You to everyone at INFO Nepal you are all doing a
fantastic job. From the minute I arrived in Nepal I knew I was going to have
an unforgettable experience. Arriving at night during a power cut and one of
the many strikes was possibly not the best time to arrive, but a good idea
of what to expect. On arrival I was welcomed into the INFO Nepal family and
paired with another volunteer Nicky, we stayed together for the 2 months of
my placement. Language training and sightseeing began immediately, with so
much to see and do I realized I had a challenging 2 months ahead of me.
Nicky and I were taken to our training village, Sanga to continue our
language and cultural training. This was very enjoyable, even though I was
rather hopeless at the language. Sanga was an excellent way to get used to
village life, half way between Kathmandu and my placement. It gave me time
to adjust to eating Dhal Bhat twice a day with my right hand, using an
outside charpi and being a 45 minute uphill walk from the nearest small
shop. I’ll never forget having language classes with Krishna (my Nepali
guru) eating pop-corn while kid goats munched our clothes and head-butted
us. Thank you to Pashupati who came round everyday to take us sightseeing to
a different temple and was always singing to us.
After our training and staying at Happy Home we were taken to our placement
in Nirmal-Pokari, we were immediately welcomed into the village and became
part of the family. The children met us with loud cheering and my initial
thought was oh my god how are we going to control over 20 small children?
After around a week of the children and us getting to know each other we
formed close bonds, especially with the two boys living next door to us.
Teaching became fun, in the morning we taught the younger children at the
library from 7am-8.45am. It was then home for Dhal Bhat and off to the local
government primary school to teach from 10am-1pm. This was very useful as we
gained useful knowledge on how to teach e.g. you can never go to slow when
getting children to repeat out loud. Nirmal-Pokari is a very bumpy hour and
a half bus ride uphill from Pokhara, the views are fantastic, though it was
incredibly cold at times. Everyday water is taken from a spring at the
bottom of the mountain, it is such hard work. There are children of 7years
carrying pails of water that must weigh more than them up mountain stairs,
making you realize just how easy we have it back in the U.K. I loved being
there, when it came to saying bye I didn’t realize just how attached I had
become to the children and the village it was a very emotional day.
A few days in Kathmandu and we were ready to leave, Nicky and I stayed
together and moved placement to Ganganagar, Chitwan. Here Nicky will
continue to help the construction of the new orphanage while teaching the
local children in the library. I got the privilege of spending a week with
the children of Gaganagar and continuing the good work of all the previous
volunteers. Chitwan is a beautiful place with such kind and generous people,
I was welcomed into a lovely family. The landscape is so totally different
from Pokhara, it is almost like being in Africa at times and everyone has
manual well pumps in the garden for water and showering. I had said goodbye
to freezing in my lunge at the bottom of a mountain, trying to shower in the
water tap with half the village watching.
I have made friends for life in Nepal and I will never forget this
experience, Thank You to Asim and everyone working for INFO Nepal. If anyone
is looking for a unique, challenging and rewarding experience then look no
further. I am making plans to return to Nepal as soon as possible.
Jenny
This was an amazing month, so many different things to experience and learn.
This trip has definitely surpassed my expectations, Ya'll have been so helpful
and friendly
The
Chitwan Happy Home will be finished by mid-May 2007, and we would
like to ask you all if you know any children that are living in very
poor conditions or are needier than others who you believe would benefit
from living at the home. We are very happy to hear from our past
volunteers and upcoming volunteers about their fundraising for the Chitwan
Happy Home project. We are also pleased to see that the children of the
village are happy to have more children at their Resource Centre.
On Saturday 17th March a group of volunteers
and INFO Nepal staff visited the Kapan Monastery to distribute medicine
and health advice to the young Buddhist Monks who live there. The
Monastery is quite new and is very beautiful. We met with volunteer,
Dawn (Wales) who was placed in the monastery helping with the children
and with a wealth of health and sanitation knowledge from our
volunteer’s Rob, Danielle and Morgan from the UK, John from Ireland,
Elena from Spain and Esther from Australia we provided basic medication,
vitamins and sanitation methods to the children and to the monastery’s
staff. The day proved to be a real success, with many of the children’s
health ailments diagnosed and treated on the day. Together our
volunteers and staff provided assistance and education to ensure the
maintenance of the young monks’ good health until our next visit later
in the year.
Lisa
Becker
The area is fantastic, so full of culture and waking up every morning to
see the bright top of a snow-covered mountain makes you not want to
leave. Compared with Chitwan where I spent my last 2 weeks, the people
in Langtang are mostly Buddhists and are heavily influenced by the
Tibetan culture. I was lucky enough to experience both Buddhist and
Hindi festivals throughout my stay. For example “Losar”, the Tibetan\Tamang
New Year which involves the change of the prayer flags and a heavy 2-day
long pick nick with the whole village. The families in Langtang are
brilliant! I spent 5 weeks with Gyurmi’s family in Shyabrubensi, the
probably busiest of the 4 villages you can go to, as it is the main
starting point for the Langtang trek, which I highly recommend you do if
you get the chance. I got to know a good lot of people, family and
friends, which made me feel less like a stranger and more like a friend.
The children are eager to learn and you have the chance to teach at the
nearby school which I strongly suggest to increase library attendance.
The library is very nice and colourful but is in need of more storybooks
and games for the kids.
Danielle
Soya (Danny) 
After a brief break to celebrate the Tibetan New Year in Syabru Bensi, I began a daily schedule of class. From 7-8:15, I instructed
the younger men of the village who were no longer in school. They could read
it quite well, but with the highly accented and non-fluent teachers in the
school, everyone had difficulty understanding spoken words without visual
aids. At 8:15 until 9 I worked on vocabulary with the small children. They
were exceedingly eager and very good mimics, though it took a lot of effort
to get them to really comprehend the meaning of words. I ended up going back
to assist the English teacher with regular classes because 3 of the 7
teachers never came out to Gatlang to teach. I would teach Class 5 on my own
when they had no teacher, and I would work with the official English teacher
in Classes 6, 7, and 8 until 1:30. The kids have very little contact with
English speakers and would come up and request me in their classrooms before
they realized I would be willingly sticking around to teach for a while. 
Jenny
Taylor 
Everyday water is taken from a spring at the
bottom of the mountain, it is such hard work. There are children of 7years
carrying pails of water that must weigh more than them up mountain stairs,
making you realize just how easy we have it back in the U.K. I loved being
there, when it came to saying bye I didn’t realize just how attached I had
become to the children and the village it was a very emotional day. 
