A New Year!

We have all been waiting for it and it is finally here - the second grade! As most of you know, each year, the Nepal House school grows organically, adding a new grade starting with Kindergarten until the first class reaches 12th grade. At the end of this month, late May, our kindergarteners from last year will move on to the 1st grade class and a new set of girls will be entering the kindergarten class this year. The girls have already been selected, as well as a teacher, and a room in the Nepal House has been reserved for the next grade. As you read this blog, the last preparations for the school are being made, despite Nepal's current situation, and the school will be in session in just a few weeks.

I want to call out the Nepal House team in Pokhara and thank them for their hard work this year. They have all done an oustanding job and been pivotal in making the dream become a reality. We are so lucky to have them and the Nepal House US Chapter is looking forward to another successful year!

Namaste,

Kylesh  

A Message from Laxmi - Introduction to Counseling for School Teachers

School Principal from Srijina Higher Secondary Boarding School was looking for introductory counseling training to his 40 teachers.  It was the first time they were asking to organize training for such a big group. We were a little nervous but we had our volunteer Marcia Burton from Canada. She helped us to select the topics what is helpful to offer.   Learning about counseling is so new here so we were careful that we are not offering too much. The main topics we discussed were: Developmential Psychology and what it might look like if this is disrupted, Definition of Counseling, Teacher’s Role, Trauma and its Effects, When Children Need Counseling? Confidentiality, What NHK does and how to refer kids to NHK? Some experiential exercises and Self care.

Many of the participants were telling it is very new kind of learning. The principal said that their school would like to coordinate and work with Nepal House, Khaski in the coming future. One of the participants said that this training workshop was very helpful to have understanding about how to see children in a respective way.  Our goal was not to make them the counselors but to create an environment where we can talk about counseling and let them know how they can be helpful when students or the children have some issues and they have concerns. See them as a child and not as a problem. When children have difficulty with something and struggling, often people here think child as a problem which is not helpful.

Laxmi  Gautam Tripathi

A Message from Shiva - One Year Operation of the School

We are happy and proud that NHK School has successfully operated its first year. We are very thankful to all of the board members, social workers, organizations from Nepal, from Canada and United States for their support in different ways and we appreciate the parents for their cooperation. There were twelve girls and ten completed kindergarten. Two girls dropped out and we don’t know where the parents moved without informing us, we hope there was good reason they moving, and we wish for their better future. In a one year period, we learned many things about the children and families from difficult circumstances and it is very inspiring for us to upgrade a new class in this year. We have many referrals and applications and they are on the way to final selections. We hope we will be able to arrange the new class in three weeks.

The goal of the school was to educate the girls from disadvantaged families and support them through counseling and teaching them life skills for the future. Our teachers and counselors learned some important skills working with such families and their children, because they are the best teachers for us. Our team is here visiting the new families and they are exploring the children not only for the school but they have found some children who need immediate counseling. The school and the counseling program are very parallel and it is interesting that the field visit for school is finding the children who need counseling.

This time the team is working on preparing the new classroom, furniture, curriculum design, and many other tasks to open the new class. We are looking forward to seeing new children in the centre and we hope we can manage on time.

Thank you all again for your time and support. We will come with new updates very soon.

Shiva Thapa

Nepal House Month again!

Wow! Tami Roberts, a very close friend of Nepal House, has decided to host Nepal House Month again! She is donating the proceeds from her Thai Yoga Massages directly to Nepal House for the entire month of April. These are incredible massages that revitalize and refresh. To learn more about what Mrs. Roberts is doing and her massages, please click the link provided to visit her website. 

http://www.yewstudio.com/p/thai-yoga-massage.html

Thank you so much for doing this again Tami!!

Autrey Mill Middle School Sponsors a Nepal House Fundraiser to Promote Awareness

I am so excited as I write this blog. If you read more about how Kylesh, my brother, founded the Nepal House US Chapter, the initial spark came from a grade 8 school wide assignment at Autrey Mill Middle School.  Now, I am in grade 8 following in his footsteps and this year has turned to be very special for Nepal House.

Autrey Mill is very focused on developing global citizens who take time to understand the larger societal surroundings and needs. One such exercise that they embrace is called the IMPACT project. This year long assignment pushes students to think deeply about organizations that create a positive IMPACT in the world today. Which organizations impact humanity in a positive way? What do they do at a selfless level for the world? How is the organization run and what is the vision that drives this effort?

Students are asked investigate the details to better understand and explain to their peers. When my brother went through the process two years back, it led him to the monumental decision to home school for his grade nine year to create a foundation and start a school halfway around the world.

The most amazing aspect is that Autrey Mill has not stood by but given him encouragement to achieve this goal to show IMPACT. As a small example, the school secretary Ms. Betsy Jacks, was the first to step up at the school and donate to the cause when the US Chapter was started more than a year back and we had a challenge in raising initial funds.

This year as you walk into the school, there is a candy drive being run by student council and sponsor teachers that is symbolic mechanism to raise awareness and support for Nepal House efforts. Students and teachers are challenging each other to fundraise and sponsor some very key efforts that are taking place at the moment. The team in Nepal is working hard to plan for the next class of 12 underprivileged Nepali 5 year old girls. They require desks, uniforms, nutrition, education, therapy and a healing environment as they receive love and encouragement.

Go Autrey Mill - I am so proud of your support!!!

Saika Sharma

Nepal House US Chapter Member