Recylcing Paper

Kopila House does its best to cooperate with the environment. It can be difficult when it comes to recycling because there are currently no programs to collect civilian glass, paper or other reusable materials. Last year a man stopped at the house to collect paper from old notebooks along with several other recyclable materials.

Upon Dinesh’s request he returned for a second visit. You can see in the pictures below, everyone is eager to help with the collection of the old notebooks for the collection man. The going rate for a kilo of notebook paper is 7 rupees. You can see in the pictures below as he uses his hand scale to measure the total weight of paper collected. The house and the environment will benefit for the reuse of the paper.

Dinesh and KC look on as the papers are weighed by a hand scale. Laxmi gets a closer look and agrees, "This one looks good!"

Nothing goes on at the house without Santosh (orange shirt) checking it out. He leads the rest of the crew (Amrit, Binita, Sarita, Rina, Santosh and Sharan; left to right) as the papers are separated.

Radio Show

Kopila House is located at the old entrance to the main local university. Students pass Kopila throughout the course of the day. Many stop to watch the children or see what is going on at the house.

Recently, Dinesh was contacted by a student who has a radio show on ‘Pokhara Air’. The student asked if several of the children from the house could join his hour long show. The student brings children on the show on a monthly basis to sing songs and tell jokes.

Dhiraj, Babit, Mina and Maya (the four oldest) were selected to be on the air. Dinesh prepared with the kids beforehand and readied them with songs and jokes. Babit had learned a joke at home so he would share it with the air waves, the others would be singing songs.

Dinesh, KC and I took the kids to the radio station about a half hour before the show started. You could see the happiness turn to nervousness as we exited the taxi at the station. Mina, the most boisterous of the bunch, was even calmed to only a few words before the program began.

The program commenced with introductions followed by songs and jokes. After a short break, the four children sang the Kopila House song together. It was followed by another round of jokes and songs for the children. To conclude the program, Dinesh, KC and I were introduced. KC and I then sang a popular Nepalese folk song with the kids. Needless to say, all the kids did an incredible job. The radio team even spoke with Dinesh after to see if the kids might be available in the future.

As we entered the house, it erupted. Everyone had huddled around the radio to listen to the show. The didis and children welcomed the new local stars of Pokhara Air.

The Fearsome Foursome before going on air (Maya, Mina, Dhiraj and Babit).

Every radio in Pokhara was tuned into 95.8 for the performance.

Dinesh with the kids during one of the breaks.

Dhiraj on the microphone pleasing the people of Pokhara with "Jingle Bells".

Football Match

As KC and I were reading the local paper, we noticed that the Nepalese National Football Team was hosting two international friendly matches against Pakistan in Pokhara. It’s a rarity for the National Team to play in Pokhara and we thought it would be a great activity for several of the older boys who live, eat and breathe football.

Dinesh had heard from a friend about the matches and it was agreed that Dinesh and I would take the older boys (Amrit, Dhiraj and Babit) to the match. After Dinesh told the boys, it took me back to hearing my father say we were going to Disney World. Their faces lit up with excitement. It was everyone’s first trip to the local stadium for a football match. We arrived well before game time to get seats in the shade. Ranjit, a Kopila House Board member, had reserved several plastic chairs for us. The boys looked at Dinesh and I a bit puzzled then asked Dinesh when we would be taking the field in Nepali. I guess Dinesh and I never explained that we would not be playing with the national team against Pakistan's national team, only watching. They were not dissappointed as the stadium quickly filled and without a seat in site it was time for kickoff.

The snacks for the game in included a local favorite dalmouth (corn flakes, dried soy beans, peas, peanuts and chili powder) and dry low mein packets. Amrit decided to use the sauce packet from his low mein package, quickly making a sticky mess. The rest of us decided to save our sweet and sour sauce and the mess for a later time.
The deciding goal was scored by Pakistan in the 46th minute of the 2nd half. It was an exciting match and an afternoon the boys will remember for a long time.

















Amrit with Dinesh and Ranjit in the background. He is normally all over getting his picture taken but a more important event was getting all of his attention.

















The Nepalese and Pakistan national teams poise before game time. Pokhara is trying to establish its self as a center for football in Nepal. The national team plays outside of Katmandu on a extremely limited basis for matches in Nepal. By the show of support for the city, football should be coming back to Pokhara soon.


























Amrit, Babit and Dhiraj before game time.

Holi

Holi (also called Holaka or Phagwa) is an annual Hindu festival celebrated on the day after the full moon in the Hindu month of Phalguna (early March). It celebrates spring, commemorates various events in Hindu mythology and is time of disregarding social norms and indulging in general merrymaking. The central ritual of Holi is the throwing and applying of colored water and powders on friends and family, which gives the holiday its common name "Festival of Colors."

Obviously the children absolutely love this holiday (as did Gordon and I). Everyone ran around the yard with water balloons and water guns, spraying colored water on eachother...which then turned to buckets of colored water poured over heads and handfuls of paint spread across faces.

It was a wonderful day!

The whole gang after hours of fun...not a frown among us.

Saran and Sandeep fill up their water guns with red colored water.

The didis refill our supply of colored water.

Rina, trying to open her water gun package.

Mina as she tries to hit Gordon with a water balloon

Dinesh giving water balloons to a very excited Sabita.

The children, already covered in paint, line up for more supplies.

We'll post a link with more pictures of holi later....there are so many great ones.

More pictures

KC and I are experimenting with new ways t0 share photos. Please check out the photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/gordonjfriedrich/March14Highlights02. I tried this method with several people and they were all successful. I understand the photos from previous blogs are not showing up. We will be making a trip to internet land (Lakeside) soon and will make changes.

KC's Parents with the Kids

Amrit and Maya keep KC and her dad company over a cup of chiyaa.















KC's mom and Dhiraj share a laugh.
















Babit, Binita, Pooja and Bishal all gather around KC's Dad to see their pictures on his digital camera.

Getting Ready for School

Here are several shots of the kids as they get ready for school. They just started their final exams for the year. The Nepalese calendar year is over on April 14, so the kids are gettting ready for one of their vacation periods. It will last about two weeks then its right back to school. Kopila House will be down to one child at home during the day starting April 15. Rina will be joining the others at Gorkha English Boarding School. We remind her but life without naps and all the didis' attention may come as a surprise.















Binita is all smiles as usual. She is one of the happiest kids I have ever met. As you enter the house gate, she is the first to greet you with a smile and a hug.














The boys all love the camera. From left to right, Bishal, Suraj, Santosh, Sharan, Babit, Amrit and Dhiraj behind them. They can't wait to come home to play a little football but its off to learn.














Maya smiles after Asuna helped her get ready for school.















Sarita is one of Kopila's brightest. She was number one in her class for the first two trimesters of the school. She has been working hard, so we hope she will retain her position for the third trimester.

Sam's House Happenings

We recently celebrated Santosh's birthday. Santosh's token line is "malai dinus" or "please give me". The birthday child distributes sweets to all the other children on their birthday, it was great to see the excitement on his face as he gave instead of receiving.






















We all spent the morning cleaning up the outside of the house. The kids enjoyed slipping and sliding on cut up rice bags as they polished the marble floor.






















Kiran takes a quick break from scrubbing to smile for the camera.

Our Days

Many people have asked KC and I how we spend our days in Nepal because 18 of the 20 kids attend school. Well, two days a week we join the children at school teaching conversational english and we spend one day a week at a local center for children who have not had a formal education.

The children of Sam's House attend a private school called Gorkha English Boarding School (GEBS). It is located about 2 km from the house. The school is nursey to grade 10 and has an enrollment of 350 children. KC teaches upper kindergarten through grade 2, I teach grade 3 through 7. We try to find challenging ways for the children to exercise their english speaking skills in the classroom and encourage them to practice outside of school as much as possible. We teach 5 classes a day on Mondays and Wednesdays. I also help the football team in the mornings. There has not been a formal practice schedule so we instituted practice from 7:00 am t0 9:00 am. The kids love getting out on the pitch. They are eager to learn offside traps, new formations and set plays. The team participates in a tournament once a year with the other schools in the area. We are expecting big results in the next tournament.

The center for local kids has been extremely rewarding for KC and I. The children who attend come from a variety of situations; children from agriculture families, children whose family could not afford education and girls who come from rural areas and work as live in nannies in Pokhara. The children enjoy our presence as much as we enjoy their eagerness to learn. We are always greeted at the doorstep with huge smiles and treats. Their favorite questions are about our families but I love to talk about the size of buildings and subways to blow their minds. They think I'm crazy, I wish I could bring a couple to the States so they could come back and tell the tales.

The pictures below are from both schools.



















GEBS welcomed us with a full school reception. The grade 10 students played the keyboard, guitar and drums while others sang. We were deeply touched by the heart felt performance. The students and faculty truly appreciate our team and efforts. It has been an absolute pleasure for KC and I to be part of their school. This is a picture of KC and I enjoying the performance on stage with the students behind us.
















We received flower garlands and mallas. Both gifts are a traditional way of welcoming or wishing friends and family safe travels.
















KC and her students at the local center. You can see one of the students holding KC's hand, a sign of their affection and gratitude for our short time as their teachers. The center is two rooms. The first room is open to the street, the second is enclosed and the walls are filled with the alphabet, days of the week and colors.

















I review the letter "I" for the class. We spend extra time on pronunciation. I must say I never thought I would be explaining the difference between the long 'i' and short 'i' to a group of Nepalese children but I can't think of a better way to spend my afternoons.

KC's Parents in Nepal

KC and I's second visitors were her parents. We picked them up from the airport then it was off to the house. The children and didis anticipated this moment for over a month so there was no delay.

They were greeted at the house by an onslaught of hugs and kisses from the children. The message was clear, "KC's family is our family." After a short tour of the house, it was time for gifts. KC's parents brought the children T-shirts from Paris with different monuments. The boys immediately proclaimed that they had new football uniforms. The didis received new sweaters to their delight.

After Dan and my trek to the Himalayas, it was decided that the views were too good for KC's parents to pass up. We ventured out in the Nepalese Himalayas for several days. The trail was difficult and the weather did not completely cooperate but we all pressed on. The signs of spring surrounded us as the wildflowers bloomed, birds sang and baby animals hung close to parents in all the villages. It was a great trip.

Before we knew it, it was almost time for their departure. They could not leave without the boys giving their football uniforms a try. It was onto the pitch so the boys could show off their stuff. KC's father and I teamed up with the girls to give the boys a match. It was close but I think the uniforms gave the boys a little extra as they prevailed.

KC's mom gives Pushpa a shirt. You can see the excitement on both their faces.

Pooja(center) and Sarita (right) compare shirts.

The whole crew shows off their new digs. They couldn't look cuter in their shirts.

Me, KC, Amit (guide) and KC's parents on top of Poon Hill enjoying the sunrise over the Annapurna Range and Fishtail Mountain.

Millet growing in a terrace in front of Annapurna South.