Joining Hands Nepal
A Family Orphan HomeArchive for Nepal
The Rise of Buddha
Our little Buddha came to us from the most difficult situation, and as a result has had the most trouble adjusting. When he first arrived, he would often wander off silently until someone asked, “where is Buddha?”, and we would find him standing by himself in another part of the house staring off into the green fields that stretch out towards the Himalayas. Even when he did stay with the whole family, he would sit quietly, and if asked a question, stare down towards the ground and answer barely above a whisper, if he answered at all. In the village where we found him, like most small villages of Nepal, they have no proper toilets, so the transition to not only using a toilet, but a western toilet, has caused him trouble as well and made for a few accidents. However, with the proper love and attention we have been giving to him, he has slowly begun to come around.
First, he began to be more open to touching and holding hands until he would finally come of his own will to rub his uncle’s arm or sit in his lap. Then he began to play more and more with the group and we got to hear his squeals of excitement and see his eyes grow big when he is having fun. And this past week and a half with our volunteer Bina has been a huge breakthrough for him. The first day or two after she arrived, it seemed he was reverting back to the shy and frightened boy we found. However, through her personal attention to him and her patient and loving teaching style, he quickly shed the shell he had been hiding in and began to raise his voice and speak more loudly. This extended beyond class and his speaking started to become more clear. The other day Bina and Himal came upon Buddha alone again, but this time not staring silently to the outside, but singing and dancing to himself inside his home. It was the first time anybody has seen Buddha singing and dancing. Through this whole journey, the one thing that hasn’t changed is the beauty and radiance of his smile when he lets it shine, which has been happening more and more often these days.
Easter in Nepal
This weekend Easter came to Nepal as Bina and our special guest from America, Greg, helped the children to make Easter eggs and hold an Easter egg hunt. Last week while teaching an English conversation class to the children, Bina told the children a little about Easter since it had just passed, and we decided it would be wonderful to give them a real Easter experience. We ran around Panauti and scoured the internet to find all the ingredients necessary to make Easter eggs with natural dyes.
First each child received an egg and got to draw some picture or design in crayon that would resist the dye coloring. Then we experimented with 4 natural dyeing agents: cilantro for green, carrots for orange, red grape juice for purple, and turmeric for gold. Turmeric was by far the best dyeing agent, with grape juice second, and carrots a complete failure. After the eggs were finished dyeing and drying, Bina and Greg hid the eggs and candies throughout the house and the children got to participate in a true Easter egg hunt! The joy on their faces and in their loud laughs and screams as they found egg after egg and candy after candy was priceless. We could not have imagined they would be so skilled, and it only took about 20 minutes for them to find everything.
After the hunt was finished, each child got the pleasure of eating their hard-boiled egg and chocolate bar. Despite a few failures with the natural dyeing process, the whole celebration was a joyous success. We are so grateful to Bina for her brilliant idea of giving the children their own Easter celebration and exposing them to a foreign holiday, and to Greg for joining us on this special occasion and providing so much entertainment to the children. When we set out on this journey to create a loving home for the orphaned and disadvantaged children of Nepal and a place for volunteers to come and exchange culture with us, this Easter in Nepal celebration is exactly the kind of experience we had in mind. We are thrilled to see our vision being fulfilled and the Joining Hands Nepal community extending beyond all borders and boundaries.
Joining Hands Nepal 