Posted by on April 12, 2013

Happy Spring to all our friends!!

Our thoughts go to all our friends, sponsors and donors and everyone at Freunde der Erziehungskunst, RSF-Social Finance, InternationaalHulpsfond, the Kings School, Waldorf School Association of Ontario, Prometheus Ethical Finance and Zukunftsstiftung Entwicklungshilfe. We thank you all for your support, unfaltering dedication and hard work throughout the year to keep our school running. We thank volunteer trainers, John Taylor, Hans Mulder, Janet Jewell, Mechthild Ott and Riitta Korpinen.

We specially thank our child-sponsors who help many children from underprivileged families to have a chance to study in a loving and caring environment at Waldorf school in Nepal. Please be informed that even though you may be sponsoring a single child, the funds go into a pooled amount which helps a number of needy children, enrolled at TWS with or without a sponsor. At TWS, we accept all needy children who come to us.

Holi Festival

Spring time with birds singing, flowers blooming, bees humming and we celebrated the festival of colors “Holi” along with a wonderful fairy that comes to visit our children. With her beautiful voice humming, when she enters the kindergarten; the children were surprised and happy. All the children were very excited to dance besides her playfully with colorful ribbons and beautiful Holi songs. The children made crowns with their tender hands for Holi and we ended the celebration with the children having special puffed sweets prepared by teachers and children.

Graduation

After the session ended in the end of March, parents were invited for “Graduation day”. This year the children performed outdoors in front of our beautiful traditional Nepali house; the grade children with their talented acts and the kindergarten children with the puppet show. The children who graduated were garlanded with “khadas” and bid goodbye with a farewell song performed by the rest of the children. Apparently, parents were touched by the children’s performance and bidding the children farewell was easier said than done due the emotional attachment between the teachers and children.

Rice Planting

In the month of June during monsoon, the children are here for rice planting. On a small plot lent to TWS, by guardians of our grade students, Sonu and Sushant, the plantation program was held. With a lot of giggles, curiosity and guidance, we started the program. It was a fun filled event with the children singing a number of rice songs while planting the crops with a lot of excitement. There was also a briefing on the process and the different stages from plantation to harvest as they listened with a wide eyed expression to the hardships of being a farmer.

De-weeding

On a sunny day in August, once again the children visited the field and with a lot of excitement on seeing the crops grown they spent the day working hard on uprooting and removing the unwanted plants on the field. They experienced the weather difference during plantation and de-weeding and commented on it a lot.

Harvesting

Harvesting is done in the month of October-the month of festivals during which, everyone is immensely busy. In spite of it, the children with their glowing faces and a lot of excitement, showed up on the field to lend a hand in harvesting. With a lot of questions on how and why the green rice plant had turned to a golden color, they worked very hard throughout the day harvesting. They experienced using a sickle while harvesting the rice plant too. After the harvest, all the plants were collected and brought back to school and the children also learned how to thrash the plant. Later we called the day off with a feast of delicious rice pudding and stored the straw for rabbits petted at our school.

Class 3 House Building

House building curriculum is a very interesting activity for our third grade students. With our school dog "Laika" also eagerly getting involved in their activities, the children were thrilled to build mud blocks. As our students are from different regions, they used various types of materials and goods for house building. They exhibited their skills by building different models of houses found in the Terrai and Himalayan region with bees wax.

Krishna Janmashthami

Shree Krishna Janmasthami is one of the important festivals in the Hindus culture. A Balkrishna Idol built by one of the children from kindergarten, Miss Usha Karki, was put in the cradle for display. It was a festive affair with a lot of illumination, delicacies, laughter and songs.

Japanese Doll Exhibition

The children were taken on an excursion at the Japanese embassy where the Japanese Doll Exhibition was being held. There was a lot of excitement among the children. Selections of different dolls were on display and the children were eager to learn the names of the different characters. They were introduced to a number of new games as well. It was a matter of pride for us to see how quickly they grasped the ideas and mastered the game! As expected the children were too happy to leave the embassy but eventually we had to wrap the show.

Dashain Festival

Dashain- the greatest Hindus festival celebrated in the month of October, as we know, enlightens everyone; especially our children. On this day the grade children role played the different characters of the Dashain story and kept everybody entertained. Singing religious songs, we celebrated Dashain the traditional way at TWS. On this day, we normally celebrate it with elders blessing their juniors, “tika” ceremony, “jamara” and “dakchina”. We did the same and more with mouth watering delicacies, singing, dancing and a lot of decoration in the garden. After lunch, the children started playing and flying kites which they prepared at handwork sessions.

You can help:

1. Please send a donation to our funding associations as listed below and on our website, www.childrenofnepal.org, and have a visit to the site.
2. Sponsor a child for $25 USD or $50 USD a month.
3. Sponsor the purchase of the school’s land for $18 USD a month.
4. Sponsor a TWS teacher for her Waldorf education training seminars in Bangkok, Thailand.
5. Tell your friends about TWS and encourage them to make a contribution.
6. Publish this newsletter in your school, organization, or community newsletter, and link to www.childrenofnepal.org on your website.
7. Volunteer to sell pashmina products or jewelry to support the continued operation of TWS.
8. 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