Posted by on September 26, 2012

Dear Friends,

As we move through the summer months it is monsoon season in Nepal. The monsoon rains have been very sporadic this year. The farmers are worried about their rice crops. We pray that the rains will be plentiful, bringing a bountiful fall harvest for the people of Nepal. Tashi Waldorf School began its 6th school year on May 2nd and continues to flourish. The school is now in its second term of the school year. Construction of the school facilities is finished and its programs are in place. We are thankful that the school community is now able to focus more of its energy on the individual needs of its children.

We welcomed Chandra Tamang back to Nepal and the school at the end of July. Chandra has completed her three year kindergarten teacher training at Emerson College in England. Chandra will prepare over the coming weeks to begin her kindergarten group in the fall.

We have been busy with our in house training program focusing on language arts, math, speech and plays, puppetry, nature studies, lesson planning, library, child development, lots of music and singing and continuing the development of the curriculum. We have been deepening our understanding on the ideas of Karma and karmic relationships and this has brought some fascinating discussions in our group. We have also been deepening our understanding of the festivals we celebrate here in Nepal. We feel so much more the richer for being able to study as a group such things that nourish our whole being and strengthen the being of our community.

In April 2005 Tashi Waldorf School’s first Class 3 graduated. All of the children have gone on to join other schools. They keep in close touch with their teacher Nima by telephone or writing letters. Nima says that all of the children are happy and settled into their new schools. Nima hopes to visit these new schools over the coming months to see how the children have transitioned into the mainstream educational system.

Lobsang Dolma’s Class 3 children have been very active with their curriculum this year. During their first main lesson block on Hindu Creation, the children learned about Das Avatar, the 10 incarnations of Vishnu. They visited Reclining Vishnu, a holy site in the northern part of the Kathmandu Valley. During their second main lesson block on Human Habitation and House Building, the class built a small playhouse for the nursery children using the traditional mud and brick construction methods of Nepal. The children are now doing their main lesson on People and Occupations. They recently took a field trip to Patan and Bhaktapur to experience traditional craftspeople at work such as metal workers, wood carvers and stone cutters.

Nirmala Gurung’s Class 2 children have been receiving main lessons including Buddha Stories, Jakarta Tales, Aesop’s Fables, Fairy Tales and Nature Stories. The class recently visited Nammu Buddha, the holy site where Buddha offered himself to the hungry tigress so that she could feed her cubs.

Nima Sherpa’s Class 1 children have been receiving main lessons introducing the Nepali alphabet, numbers and the four mathematical processes. Fairy and nature stories from the children’s own culture have been used to introduce these aspects. All of the class children planted the school’s rice field at the beginning of monsoon in June.

In the kindergartens, Durga, Kripa, Kamala and Roshni have been busy with the children. The children have experienced circles of the seasons of summer and monsoon, birds and bees and the jungle and its animals. Many fairy and nature stories have been shared with the children. The kindergartners performed a puppet show of the story “The Little Donkey” at the end of Term 1. On Friday’s the children make roti which is enjoyed by everyone for lunch. The children love to make “achar” during out door playtime by grinding leaves with small stones. Achar is made by grinding various herbs and spices into a paste to accompany “dal bhat” the Nepalese meal of rice, lentil soup and curry. In the kindergartens the children make mint achar, using mint from the school’s garden.

During the past few months the school community has celebrated Buddha Astami (birthday) and the Dalai Lama’s birthday. Krishna Astami will be celebrated later in August. These festivals have been celebrated through telling stories and performing puja’s in each class and kindergarten.

Ursula Bernhard, a Waldorf special needs teacher from Vienna, has been volunteering at the school these past two months. Ursula has been working with one of the teachers, Dolma Chonzom, to observe and design programs for the special needs children. From Ursula and Dolma’s observations it has become clear that several children would benefit from physiotherapy. We are now looking for a physiotherapist to work with these children.

Tashi Waldorf School has a school doctor after working with a few different doctors and clinics in the past. Doctor Dipendra Sharma practices at Shechen Clinic in Kathmandu. Shechen Clinic is an income based clinic with an excellent reputation. The clinic offers health and dental care. The school’s families are now connected to a good affordable clinic for their entire family’s health needs. Dr. Sharma has been coming to the school weekly over the past two months to conduct the initial health review of each of the 75 children at the school. Overall the children are in good health. There are a few children who require ongoing monitoring to determine if they have chronic ailments. One of the special needs children has recently started to experience mild epileptic seizures. The doctor, child’s parents and teacher are working together to further observe the child so that the right treatment can be given. The children will participate in eye and dental clinics in the fall.

We would like to thank everyone for their help in keeping the school supplied with Waldorf educational materials, such as water colour paint, coloured chalk, beeswax and wooden coloured pencils. If you are traveling to Nepal and can make room in your luggage to slip in some water colour paint or coloured blackboard chalk we would really appreciate it. It’s a challenge to keep these supplies on hand for the school.

We thank our child sponsors for their most generous and ongoing commitment to help the school and its children. You should have received an annual progress report for your sponsor child in June. We have been hearing from some sponsors that our mail has not been reaching them. Please let us know so that we can send the report again if you haven’t received it.

As always there are children who are in need of sponsorship at the school, so please if you can pass the word about the school around in your communities we are ever so grateful for your help. There are more and more families migrating to the Kathmandu Valley to escape the conflict in the rest of Nepal. These families live in desperate conditions and need our help for their children to attend school.

Our effort to raise funds for the school by selling Nepalese handicrafts continues to be driven by Barbara Maclaren, Phyllis Townley and Arnold and Jayne of Good Karma Imports in Canada; and Barbara Bartzsch and Renate Wolfrum in Germany. Everyone volunteers their time and effort to sell these products in support of the school. Thank you very much to the marketing team and to everyone who has purchased a product.

We would like to thank all of the individuals, families, classes, schools, businesses and communities who support Children of Nepal and Tashi Waldorf School. We thank you for your tremendous effort, dedication and caring. The school would not exist without your help. Each day at the school we experience the difference Waldorf education is making in the children’s lives. The children open and blossom to the world!

With our deepest thanks and best wishes,
Meyrav Mor and Heather Maclaren

You can help:

1. Please send a donation to the associations as listed below
2. Sponsor a child for $25 a month
3. Tell your friends and encourage them to make a contribution
4. Publish this newsletter in your school, organization, or community newsletter
5. Please see our website at www.childrenofnepal.org
6. If you are traveling to Nepal let us know and we would be delighted to have you visit

RSF Social Finance
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque: "Children of Nepal"
1002A O'Reilly Ave.
San Francisco,
CA 94129-1101 USA
Tel: 415.561.3900, 1.888.RSF.3737
Email: mail@rsfsocialfinance.org
RSF Social Finance also accepts donations made via other means, including credit cards. For more information, please visit their website:
www.rsfsocialfinance.org/donate-now/

Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiner e.V.
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque: “Children of Nepal – Project # 4405”
Weinmeisterstr. 16
Berlin, D-10178, Germany
Tel: 030 61 70 26 30,
Email: berlin@freunde-waldorf.de

Internationaal Hulpfonds
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque: “Children of Nepal”
Herengracht 276,
1016BX, Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Tel: 020- 6274856
Email: info@internationaalhulpfonds.nl

King’s School Worcester Nepal Trust
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque: "Children of Nepal"
c/o John Walton
King’s School, Worcester
England, WR1 2LL, U.K
Tel: 01905 350065
Email: j_walton2@hotmail.com

Waldorf School Association of Ontario
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque: “Children of Nepal”
9100 Bathurst Street, No. 2
Thornhill, Ontario, L4J 8C7, Canada
Tel: 905 889 2066
Email: manager@waldorf.ca

Prometheus Ethical Finance
Please write "Children of Nepal - Account#4144" in the memo.
P.O. Box 969
Napier, NEW ZEALAND
Telephone 06.835.7138
Fax 06-8351628
Email: ethical@prometheus.co.nz