Happy New Year from Nepal !!!
During the first week of January the mural team at Karuna Girls School started bringing their sketches to life on the wall of The Lotus Room (the music and art room). A small team of 10 students planned and designed how the mural would look, using art which was submitted by students in the school. This project was started and managed by LSSF volunteer Franzi and now myself.
The girls are very dedicated to their work. Every day they come in, stacking chairs and tables up high to create huge mountains and beautiful trees. This project promotes creative thinking for the girls by allowing them to make their own decisions as a team and letting their ideas flow freely.
On January 15 the group of Eckerd College students spent a day clearing a path at the Crane Sanctuary. A new well was also being drilled, making the space more suitable for visitors.
The following day the Eckerd group took a trip to Metta School for an afternoon of gardening. Many different trees were planted including a few banana trees! In the past gardening projects at the school weren’t successful due to lack of maintenance. This time we have high hopes that it will be different. Metta School now has an environmental club where a group of students are responsible for the care of the plants and regular trash cleanups.
On January 26 the first day of data collection at Punnihawa School begun. Metta Family volunteer, Dharmendra, and I started the collection with the oldest students, class five. The population of students in Punnihawa School is much smaller than that of Karuna Girls School and Metta School. Many children in this area still do not attend school despite the easy access to it. With the students’ data we hope to understand their lives and the lives of their families much better, so we can serve them better in the future.
Towards the end of the month the mural team at Karuna Girls School started painting, after just a few weeks of outlining. The mural team has grown since the beginning of the month. Every day different students come in fascinated by the mural and become inspired to help in any way. Here is how the mural looks as of right now…
