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Published: March 3rd 2008
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Kanya Mandir
The oldest girls' school in Nepal ... Students outside in the courtyard area before class. I wrote this entry many, many weeks back, but figured I needed to start posting some of this stuff since SOOO much has happened it'll be tough to explain it all if I don't start now 😊 !! ...
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We arrived back in KTM Valley late Tuesday evening (keeping in mind this was back in mid-January), so then Wednesday morning I checked into the Kathmandu Guesthouse and started getting in touch with the various volunteer organizations that I’ve been working with. After a few phone calls, I set up a meeting with the Kanya Mandir principal and a couple staff members for that Thursday. (My language instructor’s husband heads up the organization COMMITTED and has been working with the school on a computer literacy project for a little while now.)
The concrete schoolrooms are filled side to side with long, picnic-style, dark wooden benches attached to long, slanted desktops, with about 10 in each room. The blackboards have been recently replaced with whiteboards, but that’s pretty much the extent of any “high-tech” accommodation. All subjects are taught on these boards - which I guess would be comparable to a 1940’s school house in the states. However, a
Kanya Mandir School
ALL the classrooms (except the one COMMITTED has upgraded) look like this room. ... The whiteboard was donated from COMMITTED and replaced the old blackboards. recent grant from a U.S. company has provided the possibility of purchasing 25 computers for the (500+) children to share and funding the salary of an instructor. So that’s what I’ll be tasked with here with this school - Organizing the hiring of the instructor, ensuring the timeline is met, helping to purchase the computers, and (hopefully) getting the classes up and running by mid- to late-April. It’s a lot to do in just a few weeks’ time, but our meetings have been productive so it’s feasible all the deadlines will be met…
The next day, I visited the Missionaries of Charity orphanage located near Mitra Park. I met with the Sister Superior who gave me a brief rundown on my responsibilities with their group. My friend PB accompanied me on this visit - and he was also the one who put me in touch with the sisters. Just before leaving, the head sister asked if I’d like to see the children (most of the sisters there speak surprisingly good English - thankfully!!) and of course I said yes, so we headed up. We walked up three floors of circular concrete stairs (the walls on either side are painted
MOC Orphanage
Andrew and Morgan (two friends I met up at Kopan Monastery) spent the morning volunteering with me at the orphanage... orange), onto a small little landing enclosed by bars that are painted blue, and then in through a doorway to the first orphanage bedroom. The room was jam packed with tiny bunk beds - 5 sets to be exact in a room no more than 20 x 15 … besides a small walkway through to the door on the other side of the room, there’s not space for anything else.
We entered the next adjoining room that was pretty dark except for the light coming in from a double window near the ceiling. I looked down and about 24 little wool cap-covered heads (all under about 5 years of age) turned around to look at me. The sister said something to the children, and one by one they all started standing up and hesitantly coming over toward me. At first only a couple of kids came over - and now that I know them, these are definitely still the most outgoing ones of the group - and they pulled me down to their level so that I was kneeling on the floor.
They just looked at me with curiosity and started holding my hands, touching my face and
hair, saying stuff in Nepali that I didn’t understand and then laughing and smiling. Soon, the rest of the kids came over, and I was pretty much completely swamped by them all. You know, it’s funny, before I left the U.S for Nepal, people kept saying that this trip would be a life changing experience - and although I believed it, I don’t think a person could ever be fully prepared for what I experienced that afternoon. These kids have absolutely nothing… I mean literally nothing… the babies don’t even have diapers resulting in MANY changing of wet pants throughout the day - the kids don’t even have one stuffed animal of their own and they spend most of their days in a small dark room waiting for the next meal or nap time … but they had more unconditional love to give despite their complete neediness than I think I’ve seen in my entire life. I will never forget meeting those kids for the first time… never.
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june
non-member comment
sisters of missionary
glad to read your storeis. do you have contact information for Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity organization in Nepal? am presently here in Kathmandu seeking opportunities to serve but having a hard time getting in contact.