Mission Nepal March 2018
Mission Nepal March 2018 (By AnnA)
March 17th
Before leaving for Nepal, the vivid images and emotions of the previous trip of July 2015 come to my mind when Nepal experienced the tremendous earthquake.
And not only ... the memory of those who can no longer share with us other adventures ... namaste Gianky comes back to mind.
Thus began this new Nepali mission, accompanied by the warmth and availability of five voluntary volunteers.
Arrived in Nepal, Kathmandu welcomes us as always enveloping us, with a multiplicity of colors, smells, people and absurd traffic that must be lived to be understood.
We note with joy that the country has not given up: it is reborn for the umpteenth time after the many political and environmental vicissitudes.
New constructions, reconstruction of roads, new commercial activities and many tourists aimed at increasing economic recovery testify to the resurgence of Nepalese.
Who better than them can interpret the oriental philosophy of impermanence every day! Stay in the present and learn to consider every end as a new beginning.
We find with joy and at different times our Nepali volunteer friends who will accompany us
in the activities we are going to carry out in the days to follow.
They will be the excellent dinner and the beautiful company of a young volunteer friend, Sara, about to leave for Italy to finish the first day in this land.
March 18th
We leave with our bus from the chaotic Kathmandu to stay with children
of Happy Home in Benighat.
Along the way, what is striking is construction in ferment even in rural communities.
Once in Benighat we stop at the CHANDRODAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL to check the progress of the work after the reconstruction started in January 2017.
Next step Happy Home.
The bus climbs up the steep and bumpy climb; Happy Home looks majestic and children welcome us with festive wreaths of flowers.
No one remains indifferent to their looks full of warmth, to the hugs that are exchanged; they are intense emotions that make us think: "how nice to be still here".
In the days when we will share with them moments of life we will see them very busy and rigorous in the study because this is the period of their exams at the end of the school year.
There will certainly be breaks from the studio to be together cheerfully.
March 19
The morning alarm of 5.30 scans for children, the beginning of a new day, whose rules, posted in different areas of the house, were written by Suman. The moment of awakening for us has less stringent hours.
Today we will be visiting the schools of Benighat.
The first is the CHANDRODAYA MULTIPLE COLLEGE led by an enterprising and exalted Dean who, after many years, always proposes new ideas and projects to improve the school structure and the educational growth of the students who attend it, not least the project for the building a hostel that will guarantee, to those who live miles away from the college, an economic and time saving.
Before leaving school we attend a volleyball set with our President who does not resist performing on the front line in the attack zone!
The second school is BUDDHI BIKAS PRIMARY SCHOOL. In this structure there is a classroom that has been equipped with three sewing machines thanks to the generous collections of funds.
The older girls attend cutting and sewing courses to learn a trade.
From this year even the biggest girls of Happy Home can attend these courses.
Returning to the family home some of us will be entertained, in a one-to-one relationship, with each child in "study" and play activities.
In a corner, eagerly waiting for the break time from the study of children, Roberta prepares posters, water colors, brushes and, as soon as the hour goes, she spreads out the white billboard on the long table used for the non-attending study of the fact that the children still have to rearrange and put down their school kits in the library.
Help the little ones, but Robertina is in full swing: colors and brushes are already in the hands of the children and I just have to leave her the task of continuing her project while I observe her from my photographic lens.
"The tree of life" is the theme of drawing, on this tree every child leaves a 'colorful imprint of his hand instead on the roots he writes his name.
It's beautiful!
March 20th
Today we start with two jeeps to reach the schools further from Benighat.
The first is the IRANG RICHOK PRIMARY SCHOOL where waiting in line we find the students holding bags filled with colorful flowers for us as a gift.
As is the practice established in each school, an encounter with the Dean and the teachers takes place on our part in order to view the members and their academic performance; follows the distribution to the boys of the scholastic material: notebooks, pencils, pens and colors.
We restart for the JANAGAUN PRIMARY SCHOOL which is a nice little school where the earthquake of 2015 had caused structural damage to prevent its use.
To date, the school is accessible even if some classrooms have not been rebuilt.
Our arrival also in this school represents a moment of play and joy together with the delivery of the school material.
I remembered the HARKAPUR GODAM SECONDARY SCHOOL under construction in 2015, today I see it built in all its glory.
The students are all in the classroom for the activities and we are welcomed by the Dean and the teachers.
The last school we will visit is HARKAPUR LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL.
The students are waiting for us in front of the school, throwing handfuls of flowers in the air, they cover us with petals that create a monochromatic carpet (the color is red) at our feet.
We return to Happy Home, which is already afternoon and we find children who attend school duties, engaged in studies for exams.
Taking advantage of their break, we have fun playing and creating beautiful drawings with them that will be used for the 2019 calendar.
After dinner, as every year, the three male and female students who have distinguished themselves as scholastic profit during the year are rewarded. A special award also to our Suman who with commitment, patience and dedication takes care of the children by taking away space for their studies.
March 21st
This morning on foot we reach the BASANTA PRIMARY SCHOOL.
A nice uphill walk!
Arrived in front of the school, even though the gate is still closed, there are already some very diligent students waiting for us.
We take the opportunity to get to know them, to give them gifts of objects brought from Italy and to share smiles and chatter with them.
Also in this school there will be moments dedicated to the game that will last until the early afternoon.
Around 13.00 we leave the school and enjoy the beautiful walk ... this time all downhill!
The beauty of the landscape and the majestic silence that surround us fill our eyes and our soul enriching us.
On our return to the house we note that the seven boys from Kathmandu have already arrived in the Happy Child project.
It's impressive how they grew up!
They are beautiful, good and responsible students.
They will share community activities with us for a few days and then return to Kathmandu. Seeing them all together is an intense joy and they are so close-knit and interact with each other with empathy that we can not distinguish the difference between the two groups.
To further enliven our day the arrival to Happy Home of a new child named Abhaya of five years.
The welcome from his peers is warm: they are ready to make him play and make him known
the rooms of the house that will also become his; he is given a soft toy that squeezes in one hand while the other seeks the hands of the other children who alternate around him to comfort him and make him feel at ease.
March 22nd
Today with the children of Kathmandu and some of the house not engaged in educational activities, we will go on a trip to visit the Hindu temple of Manakama Darshan, in the district of Gorkha.
Since the temple is perched on top of a hill, about 1300 meters above sea level, we use a cable car.
Manakama dominates the fields of the plateau and the valleys of the Trishuli and Marsyangdi rivers.
Danahan Manakama is the Goddess Bhagwati, incarnation of Parvati who has the ability to satisfy the desired desires. The name Manakama originates from two words: "mana" which means heart and
"Kama" which means desire. It is the temple loved by Hindus and Buddhists.
At the top, we find the temple covered with scaffolding because it was damaged by the earthquake but the atmosphere that is breathed is not disturbed by work in progress.
A long line of devout people wait in front of the temple for their turn to witness the sacrificial ritual of the animal brought as a gift.
Incense, votive candles are lit and flowers are brought to be donated to the Hindu deity.
We return to Happy Home and in the afternoon we accompany the girls to the cutting and sewing course. After dinner, the big table tennis tournament awaits us, with the team of the boys from Kathmandu and the Benighat boys' team lined up.
Great joy and fun for everyone!
March 23rd
Today's program includes a visit to the JANA JIVAN SECONDARY SCHOOL school located in the Chitwan district, with us also the boys from Kathmandu.
The time needed to arrive will be affected by the congestion caused by the work
of maintenance that slow down the traffic.
When we arrive at the school the reception is always hot by the many students who
they attend it.
A surprise catches our attention at the entrance: a new structure used as a school canteen called "cafeteria".
We visit new classrooms used for science, IT, library and other laboratories.
The careful educational and organizational choices of Dean and teachers make this a school of excellence, a model school for many Nepalese.
We return that it is already evening after a short visit to a brewery and after several purchases for Happy Home.
March 24th
Today is the day of departure from Benighat to Kathmandu by the seven boys and some volunteers.
Hooray! A day and a half more to be able to stay with the children.
Games and educational moments have filled all the spaces of the day that has been dedicated to listening and observing their culture so different from our but equally important.
March 25th
It's not easy ... to describe what it feels like when you have to leave Happy Home.
The many emotions and the many overlapping thoughts create a tumult that results in a kind of inexplicable inner peace.
ANTONIO TABUCCHI wrote:
"A place is never just a place: that place we are a bit 'too.
Somehow, without knowing it, we took it inside and one day, by chance, we got there "
With a bit of nostalgia we see the jeep coming back to Kathmandu to reach the other volunteers.
March 26th
Waiting for the official ceremony, which will take place on March 30th, we go to Bhaktapur to meet the management staff of the Public Hospital to which two hemodialysis equipment have been donated from Italy.
To welcome us, the Administrative Director Mr. Prem Bahadur Khadka who accompanies us on a brief visit to the facility, to the Emergency Room, to the Day Surgery, to the Hospital Pharmacy and to the entrance to the Operation Block.
Then we are seated in the hospital meeting room where we meet the Medical Manager, Dr. Sudha Devkota, who expresses gratitude for the gesture of generosity and assures us that soon these devices will be put into operation, given the urgency of use. The two packaging containing the equipment were opened in our presence and in the presence of local authorities.
We also thank for the nice gesture, the company FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE, aware that small victories open the way for the big ones.
March 27th-29th
The days in the capital will be used to supply useful material to the Family Home and for purchases of handicrafts in the many solidarity markets that will take place in Italy.
Some moments of the day will be dedicated to the meeting with the children of the Happy Child project who live in Kathmandu and in the neighboring cities, children who are already in distance adoption.
A whole day available for visiting the most distant schools from Kathmandu located in the Ramechhap district; the SHREE PRAGATISHIL HIGH SCHOOL and the SHREE PASHUPATI PRIMARY SCHOOL.
March 30th
This morning in Bhaktapur in the SUBARNESHWOR PRIMARY SCHOOL we await three official inaugurations:
- inauguration of the school renovated after the earthquake
- inauguration of the new library
- inauguration of hemodialysis equipment donated to the city hospital
Our arrival is enlivened by the cheerful sound of a small band that accompanies us to the entrance of the school where we can expect to find the Headmaster, teachers and many students, in strict Nepalese line.
After the presentation and the various speeches by the authorities the national anthem of Nepal and the Italian anthem are sung.
The ceremony continues with the unveiling of the first plaque that recalls the end of the three year renovation works.
Inside the new library a second plaque shows off.
The plaque recalls that the library was dedicated to a girl who died prematurely,
Valeria Nunzi.
All his friends and relatives have lavished heart with generosity and commitment to raise funds to help the students of this school and give them new spaces for reading and educational growth, reading that Valeria loved so much together with the passion for the mountains .
Roberta, dear friend of Valeria and a volunteer from Hanuman attending the unveiling of the plaque, is present at the ceremony.
Roberta already the day before the inauguration was dedicated with commitment to the preparation and preparation of the library assisted by some teachers.
The ceremony ends with the delivery, to our President of Hanuman, of the plaque by the Bhaktapur Public Hospital together with the thanks for the donated equipment.
31 March
This is how our Nepalese Mission 2018 ends.
We return home rich with the experience that only volunteering can give and aware that any dream come true is the result of daily efforts and constancy of many.
"You will teach to fly, but they will not fly your flight. You will teach to dream, but they will not dream your dream. You will teach to live, but they will not live your life.
But in every flight, in every dream and in every life
it will always remain the imprint of the teaching received ".
(MADRE TERESA)