Email problems

Not able to send or receive emails at the moment – sorry if you have written and are awaiting a reply.   Hope to get this sorted soon

Arachnaphobes beware!

This is Cyril the Spider who lives behind the mirror in my bedroom and comes out each night for food.  He has not yet moved more than 18 inches from the mirror and squeezes himself back under at dawn.  

 So far we have lived together in harmony but we are both wary.   Cyril has long legs, a powerful body and fangs.  I am sure he could move with great speed if he saw me approach with a glass.  I wonder if he has a family?

The daily commute

 A long walk back up the hill with food for the buffalo

A Day in the Life of...

Positive feedback was received after the staff trip to Pokhara.   The teachers asked children to pick up rubbish without prompts yesterday and I got an unexpected personal – and much needed – morale booster.   Life is good and after a very cold night, dawn has just broken over the beautiful snow capped peaks.

  I attempted to paint some watercolours of the mountains a few days ago but discovered my palette hasn’t got Payne’s Grey.   Artists…. advice please.  (have no black either!)

Alice from SMA has kindly sent me some photos of her pets in England which I will use to demonstrate an English lesson with the older children this week.  If some other ex pupils could send ‘A Day in the Life of’ by email too it would be very helpful.  ( A  bit like Mrs Clive’s Monday morning diary writing sessions of old!)   Hopefully I will be able to post results of similar work done here.

Tibetan Village

Had terrible stomach cramps last night and felt quite ill.   I have now become a member of the Kathmandu Trot Club.  As Saturday is the only day free from school I was determined to make the most of it and went to visit theTibetan Refugee camp with the two new volunteers.   Unfortunately many of the shops and the carpet factory  were closed because it was Saturday. 

This stone has a meditation mantra written  on it

A very happy young monk showed me around the Monastery.  

Even the goats were smiling at the refugee camp

I had been laughing and joking with these jewellery sellers but although they were delighted to have their picture taken they found it difficult to smile for the camera.  There was lots more laughter when they saw this photograph.

 We returned to Pokhara and came across a colourful religious procession walking down the main street. It was very noisy with different groups playing instruments and chanting

These girls were wearing amazing headdresses

Today the primary staff and Headmaster from Amar Jyoti visited the Fulbari Montessori school in Pokhara. We were shown around by the owner of the school and then sat down to discuss views.

  There is a vast difference between government and private education here and at first the staff were overawed by the facilities at the Montessori school.  

At the end of the morning however they all appeared to be more at ease and started a lively discussion about how natural resources such as pebbles, nuts and leaves could be used for teaching number work and as inspiration for art activities, etc.

  It was a delight to see the children in the secondary school picking up rubbish in their playground this morning before we left. 

 The children have been used to dropping any rubbish they have directly on the ground and the use of bins has not been encouraged in the past. The next project is to get the rubbish tip moved from next to the kindergarten class in the primary school. Most mornings there are rat droppings on the volunteers' work in the staff room.  

  I pass this little one each morning on the way to school. She always shouts out 'Namaste' and 'How are you?'.
 I don't know why she doesn't come to school herself as she is certainly of school age.

Book donation

A wonderful parcel of books arrived from the USA for the school here today sent by www.papertigers.org (Thank you Marjorie)

The aim is to put these book sets into the hands of children in different parts of the world.   The books are chosen to promote greater understanding and empathy among young people from different backgrounds, countries and ethnicities, together with the goals of reading and literacy.   I am looking forward to sharing them with the children here and sending feedback.

More small steps in the right direction

The 6 year old children at Amar Jyoti Primary School were learning transport vocabulary today so we all sat on a long bench and pretended to go on a bus ride.    They loved the role play, pretending to spot different vehicles and getting off the bus when it reached their houses.  It would have been good to have taken a photo of them having fun but the momentum would have been lost if I had left the room for my camera. 

At the end of the day the Year 1 children sang Nepali songs and danced outside.   Now that there are more volunteers I may well appear in a photo or two! 

Most children are comfortable with Boss now.   You can see him here nibbling my t shirt!

 It was a productive school day  even though the proposed volunteers' timetable has not materialised.  The teachers are perhaps beginning to see that learning opportunities can be found without resources and  away from the extraordinary government text books they follow (which are written in appalling English).

This morning I went for a short walk before breakfast and took this photo of the lodge that has been my lovely home for since October.

  As it is on the mountainside it is difficult to get a closer picture.   The moment the sun goes down it is very cold but I now have a kerosene heater on in my room for an hour or so each evening.

No juice

 I am running out of pre-paid internet access.   I will try and post another diary entry here, but forgive me if I don’t reply to your email for a day or two.

A step in the right direction

Much was achieved at school today. Two more volunteers have joined me here and together with Hari, our co-ordinator from the village, we gathered together to discuss how best to improve the school. 

English volunteers Lorna and Evelyn on the right

 It was agreed that a timetable was needed that the volunteers could see, and that the lessons should be shorter, particularly for the younger children. At the moment the Nursery are expected to sit from 10.15am until 12 noon learning to write numbers and the alphabet. Perhaps when the lessons are shorter and the children get a break there will be less problems with discipline. That is up for discussion next week!

This is the smallest child in the school. She wanted a photo taken of her very smart new shoes. 

  

 Aruna then wanted her picture taken. She is always cold, and often wears two hats. You may just make out her layers of tights in this picture

Pure Joy

 

Sangam got a surprise present today.  Now he has a school bag like the other children.   To see the joy this gave him was very moving.

On Friday I went to the visa office  to renew my visa as it had expired a few days ago
but couldn't be renewed  when I was down in Chitwan.  I  was expecting a hefty fine  or threat of being locked up but all went well and I am now legal again - lovely people.

Then I returned to www.seeinghands.com to cancel an appointment.
All I said was 'Hello I have.....' and Ramji, who had looked after me last week said 'It's Nicki isn't it?'I was flabbergasted. ( He is a blind masseur if you haven’t read previous blogs.)   He could probably even recognise people’s footsteps. A truly remarkable young man.   He must have looked after many many clients during the week - so how amazing to recognise me just from three words. Unfortunately don't know when I will next have free time from school to visit him again.

Saturday 19th

Two new volunteers have arrived  this afternoon to help out at Amar Jyoti. Together we hope to achieve some goals. I am going to show them the school tomorrow morning and introduce them to the staff and children.  We will prioritise aims together at the end of the day.

Wed. 16th and Thurs 17th

Typical fishermens houses in Tharu

On Wednesday I had a wonderful morning bird watching with a guide and then visited  a government government school in Tharu. On the way back I passed the local women's institute going to give a talk at the school.

The women's institute in their uniform saris

 I went in  a boat in the afternoon and passed locals doing their washing in the crocodile infested river

Washing up

In the evening there was a demonstration of local dancing. Many of the dancers were staff at the lodge so it was fun and homely and didn't feel as though it was just entertainment for the tourists. (Two more groups had arrived at the lodge)  The dancers were really enjoying themselves

Yet another hairy bus ride to return to the mountains on Thursday.  It took 8 hours or so and it was so good to get back.   It is damp and misty but still beautiful

Diary entry Tuesday 15th

I awoke at 6 am to go on an early elephant safari.   We saw lots more rhino but tigers were elusive this morning.

Then I travelled for an hour on the river and was picked up by ox cart to go to Tharu Lodge. I am the only guest here!

 I visited the local school sponsored by Tiger Tops and Swissair for disadvantaged children.   The staff are Montessori trained and it is extremely well run.  I felt quite emotional comparing it with the Government school in Pokhara but the visit made me realise that it CAN be done

 This photo shows the children  having lunch, and eating dahl baht (rice lentil sauce and vegetable curry, the staple diet)   They change into their uniforms at school when they arrive in the mornings.  Each has a locker in which to put their home clothes.  The children were so well behaved.  What a contrast  to the local government school!

A local Tharu house showing  the tiny  window - built deliberately smaller than an elephant's trunk! 

 When there were more wild elephants in the area they used to put their trunks inside the dwellings searching for food so now they all have very small windows  Consequently the houses are very very dark inside --- and so are both the hotels I have stayed in. It has taken time  to get accustomed to this.   The candle and kerosene lights reflect on my glasses and I have found it difficult to see what I am eating in the lodgings down here.

This window decoration was at the lodge but the same can be seen in the local dwellings

  The Tharus use the heel of their hands to make this wonderful white black and red decoration around doors, windows, alcoves and pots. I am longing to try this out when I get back to B. House

In the afternoon  some local boys proudly opened their sack to show me the python they had just caught.

It is very peaceful and quiet here at Tharu after all the excitement of tigers, elephants and rhino.

Battery power is now down to 5% so will have to resort to writing on paper until I return to the mountains and electricity. It is very humid but there is no sun so no hot water as all the heating is solar powered 

Vegetables, lentils and washing drying on the stalks of the harvested rice.

  

What a day, Monday 14th. Yes, too cynical....

I asked for an early morning wake up call at 6am to be ready for a jeep ride through the jungle.  I am so glad to have made that decision.   After seeing deer and monkeys we came across  a very strong smell which Gun the ranger, thought might be tiger. 

We left the jeep to follow the scent which led us to this very sad sight - a tiger known to the rangers as Lucky.   She was 15 years old and was known to have had a damaged leg.

      She had been dead for a couple of day and the maggots had started doing their job.   It was an amazing feeling to be that close to a tiger.

Then I had  lunch at a tented camp close by.   It was very peaceful and quiet and a marvellous place to appreciate the wildlife

The tents are very comfortable, with hot water, shower and flushing loo
.

After lunch it was the elephants' bath time.  They so obviously love being in the water and getting lots of attention.  

The baby of the herd



Hopefully this VERY short video of the elephants bath time  will work if you click on the arrow !

The day was activity packed.   I grabbed   a quick cup of ginger tea and then went looking for  crocodiles  on a boat.

   We saw a few crocs  on the banks and the sunset was stunning. 

In the landrover on the way back from our boat trip  the ranger suddenly stopped and shouted ‘Tiger!'  About 6 to 8 feet away  was a young tiger just observing us quietly.  Cameras came out and he slowly wandered off.   A magical moment.  I was too excited to focus my camera properly so hopefully Wendy, a much travelled, interesting and very generous lady, will send me a copy of the photo she took.  Many tourists come to the come and very few see tigers in the wild so I feel very lucky.


Wendy kindly gave me a donation towards supporting a child in  Amar Jyoti school.   I will make good use of it.

Diary entry Sunday 13th

 

 For the next few days I am a going to have fun as a tourist on holiday.   The main reason for my travelling however is to visit some schools, both government and private, in the south of the country.

 I had another hairy road journey down to the Terai district of Nepal, to the Chitwan National Park.   We passed yet more crashed buses that had gone over the edge, and lorries that had one wheel off the track.  The journey took about 5 hours but it may well  have taken about 8 hours if I had travelled by bus.

The road was unbelievably rough, with enormous potholes and through small rivers.  It sounded as though the exhaust had dropped off the car at one point. There was an ominous clunking sound coming from underneath. The driver got an unusally hefty tip from me!

This afternoon I had a wonderful 2 hour ride through the jungle on an elephant and saw 11 rhinos  as well as lots of deer and wild boar. 

 It was just the mahout and me so I sat astride the elephant.   I didn't realise that I was using latent muscles and now feel very stiff - but what an amazing experience. (Photos of me on the elephant arriving later)

The rhinos have very bad eyesight, but elephants are large and this one must have seen us!

 All guests to Tiger Tops  hope to see the elusive tigers.   It is said there have been recent sightings.  Would it be cynical of me to suggest that rumour is spread to help the tourism industry?

 

It is incredibly noisy here after the peace of the mountains.  When another guest flushes their loo it sounds as though a waterfall is about to hit my room.   And I think the elephants are lodged in the room above, but I can hear them trumpeting outside so it must be guests upstairs.

Harvest time

All the women are now busy harvesting the rice.   Most of it is very high quality Basmati rice in this region, and it is only here that the schools are closed for a week for children to help their families gather in the crop.  It is very hard work for them without western machinery and all the threshing is done by hand.

  

 My internet connection has not been working for a couple of days so I went to Pokhara this morning  to get it sorted.  This was not easy.  The first internet shop  didn’t understand the 'dongle'  I have which connects to an internet telephone line so I  had to move on to another shop – and then another!   To cut a long story short, after about an hour’s discussion with lots of Nepalis in pigeon English I am now online again!

Then I went to the amazing www.seeinghandsnepal.org.   This uk registered charity was set up to provide training and employment for young blind Nepalis as massage therapists.  Rangi, a 21 year old masseur, found a knot in my shoulder that has been there for a few years.   He said it felt like a stone and would do some extra work on it.   Everyone working there was totally blind and very trusting.   Clients put money in the till and fill out their own receipts and appointments cards.   A very special place and I will return next week if I can.

Yesterday I used the video mode on my camera for the first time and wanted to put up a short clip of a 5 year old dancing.  Her hand movements are so beautiful.  Unfortunately I haven't yet worked out how to download the clip to this page.

I am not teaching now for 6 days.  On Tuesday I shall take a long bus ride to the lowlands to see some wildlife.   There was a beautiful pine marten looking in my window this morning when I opened my blind.   It had a face similar to  a bush baby and a beautiful chestnut coat and tail.   It was about the size of a large cat. Unfortunately it disappeared far too quickly for me to photograph.

A few more photographs

This is 5 year old Binita.  Her nose ring looks uncomfortable
but she is very proud of it.

Aruna was delighted to share my packed lunch

 

Mekh Bahadur, the class three teacher, was fascinated and confused by my varifocal sunglasses.  All the staff wanted to try them on and pose in front of the camera.    I still haven't managed to get them to smile when having their photograph taken but they are looking a little less serious now.   There was much hilarity in the staff room as my glasses were handed around

My faithful companion Boss admiring the view at the end of the school day