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We've been told that the electricity may be going down from 10 hours a day to only 6 as the main hydro-electric station must close down for repairs. The water supply is cut too but we've just missed most of that. But tonight we've got lights in the flat so we've got home early to grab the opportunity of writing up another blog.
Saturday was Parents' Day at the children's school. We went as substitute parents and were overcome by how much that was appreciated by the children. We were greeted by The Principal and sat in the front VIP rows. Most of it was a crashing bore of distinguished men standing up and talking endlessly - men from the Education Dept, the Governors, Old Boys etc, etc. All in Nepali, but even those who understood it seemed to take no notice and chat and come and go all the way through. It's funny how one's ear can pick out "Kathie and Stephen" amongst all that noise and it's embarrassing when suddenly everybody is looking at you. We were given sashes and rosettes and had to stand and make bows.
All this talk was interspersed with performances by the children and it was great to see their eyes light up when they saw us sitting there. We also had performances from alumni including a pop star, a stand up comedian and a boy who got top graduation prize from his medical school. Just to show the present pupils what success can be their's with effort. This went on from 11am until 5.30pm without a break for refreshments. We confess we crept out at 2.30, after our children had done their bits.
Other than a cheap set of skittles that blow away before you can hit them, floor noughts and crosses and a shove-halfpenny type board game, there are no games at all at DNC. Not a doll, not a teddy, not a toy car. This is so odd, and sad to us. We asked the waiters in Gaia if they had dolls, teddies and toy cars when they were young. We tried to explain what we meant but they thought the English must be really weird. "Why would my little sister want to play with a plastic baby?" The truth began to dawn on us what poverty really is. They played with sticks and rubbish that blew past. They had no space in their homes to keep such things and, with hardly enough money to buy food, why would they think of such things as toys? As soon as they could stand they had some role in keeping the family fed. As waiters they are now clean and smart and have done really well from where they started.
So should we buy the children toys? We bought some very cheap board games; snakes and ladders and Ludo printed on paper and word and counting games and puzzles. They occupy the young ones all afternoon and they have to take turns. We'll have to get some more, but no 'plastic babies'.
The children's diet seems to consist of rice or noodles and lentils and pulses. No fruit. By comparison, fruit is expensive here and we can pay about the same for satsumas as we do in Berkhamsted market. So we suggest that tomorrow we could bring in some satsumas for the children. Shanti, the house mother, asks if we could buy them today and we go off to haggle with a local roadside stall holder. She gets 5 kilos of satsumas for £3, less than half what we pay in Kathmandu. They are handed out and the children all say "Thank you Sir and Miss" before they eat them. (I'm Sir and Kathie's Miss.)
The 'glamour girls' from the last blog are not 13. They're 15, Manshara and Shreejana, and they came with us to buy the satsumas. Afterwards we sat downstairs as they wanted to chat. Manshara has the best spoken English at DNC. We had a long and profound discussion ranging over the following sort of subjects.
· Nepal and England
· How can Kathie and I help them to have an advantage over other children? (The mother of the Parents' Day pop star is in the music business so the pop star had an advantage).
· Hope and ambition. Why does Manshara only want to be a nurse and not a doctor?
· The Petertide Fair. We hope to raise a million Nepali rupees for DNC - an unimaginably large sum. Why do people in England give? Do even poor people give?
· The word "poor" is a relative word.
· Kathie and me and retirement. Retirement has a fascination here as the ultimate expression of great wealth.
I mention this because, until last year, these intelligent girls would have had to leave DNC at the end of this academic year and go into the world alone. Now, with the help of Nepali Children's Trust once the building is finished and paid for, there are plans to support them after they leave. It seems to us that, having spent their lives in an institution, they may be less worldly wise than most children. There are very limited career opportunities for any child here but, as has happened last year for the first time, it is hoped to support DNC children in finding accommodation and a job or paying for further education. This is the sort of expense that Petertide money will go towards.
We thought that all education in Nepal was free up to 16. This is not so. There is a government plan to give every child up to 12 free education by 2015. DNC children go to school till 16. Education to 16 and over must be the biggest advantage our children can be given over most others. Another must be that DNC children get more exposure to conversation with people with English as mother tongue than nearly every other child in their schools. So just talking to them is helping. They need every advantage possible in their fight for a good life as they have so many severe physical disadvantages.
Meanwhile Kathie was struggling with all the little children upstairs, the sharing of games, demands for help with words and numbers games that they all want to play at the same time.
No blogs for a while and then 3 in a row. Well, we had to grab the chance. Now we'll forget chasing wifi, emails and blogs for a few days.
- comments
Fran McGowan - Chairperson Nepali Children's Trust I am so touched by your engagement with the children and your way of thinking about them. It's hard to get across how important just being there is - just talking, giving the children attention and showing an interest - not getting distracted by having too much of an agenda and wanting to "do" too much. Food prices are spiralling the world over and the center can no longer afford to provide fruit 3 times a week as it used to do - so, thank you for supplementing the children's diet yourselves. I am really looking forward to meeting you there in March.
Judy and Nick Nick and I are really enjoying reading your Blog. But, do remember the good apple pie at Gaia.