Bagnas

Bagnas

I’ve spend two days now at a school in Bagnas, called Basanta primary. It is a great little school, with much better resources than previous schools I have visited. They even have a library. The children are really friendly, the only problem that I have is getting them to answer open-ended questions, there fine when it comes to something with a singular answer, they just don’t what to think outside the box. Although after the two days I have spent there a couple of them are getting the hang of it, hopefully this should spread to the rest, as they clearly must know more English than other schools as they are being taught at a much higher level than elsewhere. I’ll have to do some more investigating when I got back, possibly try to watch a lesson, as it will give me an idea of how they are being taught. They were both only very short visits so not much to report here. On a slightly different note, I was having some poppadoms as a snack the other night and they go soft really quick so need a good biting to tear some off.  So I was eating some thinking ‘this tastes odd’, I put the poppadom up to the candle light to see a moths face and partial wing fragments: I’d just eaten half a moth. There not small here either. All the insects are huge, apart from a tiny, indestructible, red ant. So if anyone is thinking of visiting here, be careful if you are eating at night time.

Teaching numbers to the younger children.

Laharepipal

Laharepipal School

Most of the children at the school , some are still away for the festival period.

I have spent the last two days (well two half days, as due to only half attendance the school has been closing early), teaching at Laharepipal school. It is a great school, the children are some of the happiest I’ve ever seen. It was mostly destroyed three years ago due to a water disaster but has been in the progress of being rebuilt by Mahendra and MCWFN ever since. The new building work involves building a Library/afternoon childcare room (which should be finished in a month), installing draining to stop flooding and mould growth, and the construction of a new toilet block for the children. Mahendra said that this is his flagship school and along with Pippaldanda will become centres of excellence. The Government tried to take control of the school recently but the case was referred to courts and the Government lost the battle.  Consequently, the school is staffed by volunteers from Tansen, only one of which has been fortunate to receive education training.  It is hoped that in the next year funds can be raised to train three more teachers.
The level of English here is good (I think based on my experience so far), partially I feel due to the enthusiasm of the head teacher who is definitely an aficionado for an English nursery rhyme/ children’s song. I could only remember three that the children didn’t know. After getting the twinning programme sorted there has only been time for one lesson, in which we learnt English names for expressions and acted them out. It worked very well on the whole I think due to the lack of English instruction needed, most information was conveyed thorough drama.
There was also a small welcoming ceremony for me, where the children sang some songs they knew, one of

A small dancing show that was laid on.

which was adapted to include my name which was quite funny. There was only a small dancing show by some of the children and the usual garlands and flowers, but thankfully for my clothes’ sake no tikka.
The structure of the school is not in bad nick, but the resources are extremely lacking, we had to send out for paper just to write the letters and I lost my entire collection of pens and pencils which were given to the children. The blackboards here are extremely bad; it was like writing on wood that had been painted with normal matt paint. I am definitely going to have to invest into some blackboard paint before my next visit, which I am very much looking forward too.

Me teaching some song, I can't remember what though.

Funeral

Funeral

The village of Ramdi

With the schools still being closed due to Tees festival I was invited to attend a local funeral today (Friday 21), it was a lot different to a English one.  It started off with a gathering at the family’s home attended by relatives, friends, local people (who just seemed to want to know what was going on) and me, I felt rather out of place and did though the whole day. No one seemed to mind my being there though, I think as Mahendra took me and he is a close relative.  While at the home the body was brought out wrapped in a while cloth with the face still on show, I’ve never seen a dead body before and to me he just looked fake, he was then blessed and wrapped in more shrouds for the upcoming bus journey.  Afterwards there followed a sequence of prayers and a, sort of, parade around the town ending at the bus park.

The Kaligandaki River

We took the bus to a village named Ramdi with the corpse ridding on the roof, only men are involved in the penultimate part so, consequently the women stayed at home. I asked why this gender divide was going on, but the only answer I got was ‘tradition’.  Ramdi is situated on the Kaligandaki River, one of the largest rivers in Nepal; it was here where the conclusion to the funeral took place. The body was rested partially in the river and partially on the shore. The majority of the mourners went to gather wood while several stayed behind to create a temporary platform at the edge of the river using large stones, upon which the funeral pyre was constructed. The body was then unwrapped down to a loin cloth and blessed again before being placed upon the pyre. The mourners then waded though the river and around the body to say goodbye, I think. After which the fire was lit. The majority of people took to the shade for about four hours, periodically wandering back over to the flames, it was a really hot day especially when you were stood on the white sandy banks with no cloud cover. After the fire had burnt down, more prayers were said then the ashes brushed into the river. Following this the congregation all went for something to eat in a local cafe/restaurant, then travelled home.

The funeral is concluded by the family sitting Shiva, which I believed to be a Jewish tradition. The only difference is that the family is visited in the mornings or evenings, instead of throughout the day. Also they don’t sit on little chairs.

pictures

So I've finally managed to get some photographs up. It's taken three hours and four power cuts but I've sorted it.

Tees festival

Tees festival

After being worn out from the multitude of occasions for me to dance and being stuffed from constant eating, although I know they were only making me feel welcome and I very much enjoyed it, I arrived back in Tansen deciding I wouldn’t be eating tea tonight and that I was glad for a brief respite from the dancing. I sat down only to be given a large plate of daal baat and to be informed that the Tees festival was in full swing. The Tees festival is a celebration of married life from the point of view of the wife. It is a woman only festival as they sing songs that, I’m assuming, could possibly offend their husbands, because they describe the hardships of married life. I was a little relieved to find this out, as it meant I could have an early night. However, they had made an exception for me (possibly due to my lack of Nepali), which meant I could attend and there would be more dancing. It was good and fun, but when the power cut out after about an hour and an half and the lights and CD player cut out I made a quick escape and played games with the children for the remainder of the evening. 

Me dancing at the Tees festival, when all I wanted to do was have a sleep. The red dresses signify that the woman is married, it is a traditional costume of the Tansen area.

Well the Tees festival has been carrying on till last night (Tuesday), which meant the schools have been closed so I have been unable to go to Bagnas school. Well I did go and meet the teachers to explain the twinning programme and meet a few of the children but it was only for two hours, so I never go to do any teaching. I was also assured by the teacher that the school would be open this week (this was on Sunday) but it hasn’t been. Also I found out that due to another festival starting tomorrow all school have been shut all week; therefore, this week I haven’t/won’t be able to continue with the programme. What can I say, they do love their festivals here! It’s kind of annoying as I want to get into the school and start teaching, but it was actually rather useful these past three day because I caught some sort of virus thing which was exactly like the flu but with no cold. So I have slept almost consistently since Sunday afternoon and I feel a lot better now; however, not I do have the cold part but out the fever, so that’s good.