Well, well, well... where to start about my week so far with my new family at AAN Childrens Home?
I arrived in Pokhara and was taken to my new home for the week - the Garden House. Just a few minutes walk from the orphanage, the Garden House is a two bedroom home (a building of only the 2 rooms & an outside toilet & small kitchen) on the land with the garden that supplies all the veges and sometimes fruit to the children. I am living with Tikka who sleeps in the other room. She doesn't speak English but we manage with my small amount of Nepali! Because there is no shower, I walk to the orphanage to shower. Oh, and my room has a tin roof which, as I will mention later, can be very loud during storms!!
When I arrived a few of the girls from AAN were cooking corn on a tiny fire for the childrens' afternoon snack. With the snack we had a very yummy drink. It was milk mixed with a little yoghurt and sugar - very yummy!
Saturday is their one day off during the week. And it is also the one day a week that they shower or change their clothes. So after a week of so much hard work at school and SO much homework at night I think they really enjoy their day off! That night I introduced myself to them all and told them all about myself and New Zealand. They informed me that their textbook said Sir Edmund Hillary was from England - I made sure they knew he was from NZ!
They then all took turns to introduce themselves. I learnt that a lot of the children want to be doctors, nurses, teachers, or tailors. And at the end they all welcomed me into their family. There is a real family vibe in the home which is lovely. All the children help each other and look after their home together - all sharing the duties. There are 17 children in the home ranging from 4 years old to 15. The children are not from the streets. Milan (guardian) rescues the children with the help of the child welfare. Milan believes it best not to mix the children with street kids who can be more difficult - therefore impacting the welfare children.
One example of how the children have come to AAN is wee Tulsa. Her father has passed away and her mother is mentally disabled. She was rescued just in time, as her two sisters had been sold into slavery and her brother (10 years old) was sent to India to make money for the family, but he went missing.
Our duties in the home is as a big sister or brother. In the evenings we help with their homework first. And they have a lot! Last night I was sat with Preeti and Sabina helping them and we were in the study room for 2 hours and they still hadn't finished! After homework we do a news class which is where the older children will read through a news article with us. We will go over words they don't understand and discuss the article. The younger children will be read to, and learn 5 new English words. We then play games with the children before having dinner. After dinner we leave the home.
In the morning we arrive to help the children with any unfinished homework and help them get dressed and ready for school. Getting them to the bus on time can be a mission. With them sometimes running to catch it, so far no one has missed it! After they have gone we do some cleaning before Dal Bhat for breakfast. We try to arrange different activities, and this Friday we are going to have a wee party. I'm going to get the momos and ice cream for the kids as a treat and a change from Dal Bhat! We are going to have dancing (which they all love) and lots of other games and fun... can't wait!!!
During the day is our free time and yesterday we went to the International Mountaineering Museum which I loved! Having been up to Everest Base Camp it was amazing seeing some of the gear they used back in the day to summit! Today I am going to catch up with some volunteers from another orphanage down the road. I met them back in early May when we had our orientation so will be good to catch up!
Other Highlights:
I arrived in Pokhara and was taken to my new home for the week - the Garden House. Just a few minutes walk from the orphanage, the Garden House is a two bedroom home (a building of only the 2 rooms & an outside toilet & small kitchen) on the land with the garden that supplies all the veges and sometimes fruit to the children. I am living with Tikka who sleeps in the other room. She doesn't speak English but we manage with my small amount of Nepali! Because there is no shower, I walk to the orphanage to shower. Oh, and my room has a tin roof which, as I will mention later, can be very loud during storms!!
When I arrived a few of the girls from AAN were cooking corn on a tiny fire for the childrens' afternoon snack. With the snack we had a very yummy drink. It was milk mixed with a little yoghurt and sugar - very yummy!
Saturday is their one day off during the week. And it is also the one day a week that they shower or change their clothes. So after a week of so much hard work at school and SO much homework at night I think they really enjoy their day off! That night I introduced myself to them all and told them all about myself and New Zealand. They informed me that their textbook said Sir Edmund Hillary was from England - I made sure they knew he was from NZ!
They then all took turns to introduce themselves. I learnt that a lot of the children want to be doctors, nurses, teachers, or tailors. And at the end they all welcomed me into their family. There is a real family vibe in the home which is lovely. All the children help each other and look after their home together - all sharing the duties. There are 17 children in the home ranging from 4 years old to 15. The children are not from the streets. Milan (guardian) rescues the children with the help of the child welfare. Milan believes it best not to mix the children with street kids who can be more difficult - therefore impacting the welfare children.
One example of how the children have come to AAN is wee Tulsa. Her father has passed away and her mother is mentally disabled. She was rescued just in time, as her two sisters had been sold into slavery and her brother (10 years old) was sent to India to make money for the family, but he went missing.
Our duties in the home is as a big sister or brother. In the evenings we help with their homework first. And they have a lot! Last night I was sat with Preeti and Sabina helping them and we were in the study room for 2 hours and they still hadn't finished! After homework we do a news class which is where the older children will read through a news article with us. We will go over words they don't understand and discuss the article. The younger children will be read to, and learn 5 new English words. We then play games with the children before having dinner. After dinner we leave the home.
In the morning we arrive to help the children with any unfinished homework and help them get dressed and ready for school. Getting them to the bus on time can be a mission. With them sometimes running to catch it, so far no one has missed it! After they have gone we do some cleaning before Dal Bhat for breakfast. We try to arrange different activities, and this Friday we are going to have a wee party. I'm going to get the momos and ice cream for the kids as a treat and a change from Dal Bhat! We are going to have dancing (which they all love) and lots of other games and fun... can't wait!!!
During the day is our free time and yesterday we went to the International Mountaineering Museum which I loved! Having been up to Everest Base Camp it was amazing seeing some of the gear they used back in the day to summit! Today I am going to catch up with some volunteers from another orphanage down the road. I met them back in early May when we had our orientation so will be good to catch up!
Other Highlights:
- Waking up one night at 2am from a HUGE storm. Now I usually love the storms here but this really was something else! I think my tin roof may have contributed to the noise but I had my iPod on, a pillow on both ears, and I was under the blankets and still freaking out! The thunder was crazy! It lasted about an hour and a half - terrifying! Most the kids said it kept them awake so I feel a little better about freaking out haha.
- Poor wee Sima has had a chest and throat infection. Although the only way we knew was by her cough - she didn't complain! After visiting the doctor she had to stay off school for two days. Poor thing would cry in the morning because she wanted to go to school. Definitely would not have been the case when I was a child!
- Harimaya (13 years old) slept with me in my room on the first night. While I was shattered from helping the kids with homework, she was up til 10pm sat on the floor studying for a maths test the next day. I managed to help her with some of the questions but did have to wake up a dormant part of my brain!!! She is first in her class and wants to be a doctor when she is older. She works so hard too. The only way she would have the opportunity to train as a doctor is with top marks. The government funds just 20 children in Nepal and those with very good marks.
- After reading in the paper that only 40% of the older children had past their SLC (School Leavers Certificate) exams we heard that 3 of the 15 year olds in AAN had all passed in the 1st division!! And one of the girls had got 79.9% while 80% would've given her distinction. So all the hard work that these children do really shows!! So proud!!
Hi! I'm considering doing a volunteer placement in Nepal in December (following travelling in India) and was just wondering whether you'd recommend Hope and Home and whether you have any advice? Your experience sounds incredible!
ReplyDeleteLauren :)