School trips and colourful festivals

Hello! Long time no speak...I’m sure you are desperate to read a bit about what we have been up to here at PoD Nepal, so I shall waste no time at all.

Pradip volunteering to carry all of our lifejackets back single-handedly!

We had a lovely day with the children from AnnurpurnaPrimary.  A returning PoD volunteer did a fantastic job of organising students, staff and fellow volunteers for a marvellous day out.  We met at school in the morning to walk together to Phewa Lake.  Our intention was that all of the children should walk in a long line whilst holding on to a piece of rope.  This barely lasted past the school gate.  Excitement and a general lack of co-ordination forced us to give up on this strategy.  Nevertheless, we made it to the lake safely! 

Luckily for us, the father of 3 of our students is a boatman so we had no trouble in getting him and 2 of his friends to load us all into 3 boats ready for our trip.  We first did a small circuit around the East side of the lake, saw the expensive and exclusive FishTail Lodge and then went tiger spotting.  Everyone was convinced that we would see at least one tiger drinking from the lake.  Unfortunately, the tigers didn’t seem to be at all thirsty so we missed them.  We did, however, see a pair of shoes abandoned on a beach which everyone agreed was evidence that the tigers had been there and snatched up an unsuspecting fisherman for dinner.

After a quick stop at Tal Bahari Temple we headed back to dry land for a picnic in the park, a play on the swings and a walk home.  The day was a great success and has inspired us to try to get all of the kids we work with out on a trip at some stage.

Kharke taking a hit of pink powder on the head!

Another highlight of the past month was our Holi celebration with the kids from the Street Kids’ Centre.  Holi is without a doubt the most silly, fun and colourful festival ever.  Everyone takes to the streets to welcome in Spring by throwing coloured powder and water at each other.  Participation is ostensibly voluntary, but in reality, the only way to avoid becoming a human rainbow is to stay indoors!  Lots of fun was had and we all went home tired and very, very messy!

Other Street Kids’ news is that they have moved into a new home.  Their new place is about a 2 minute walk from their school and in a lovely, rural-like setting.  Their front gate opens out onto huge fields, perfect for playing football, doing back flips and generally spending every last ounce of energy that you have.  Everyone is happy to be there, but there are still some final touches needed to the building. We are looking to fund the building of a shelter for the children to eat and study under outside and some reinforcements to the outer walls to make the centre more secure.  

Street Kids' new home

And that’s it for this time.  Two new amazing volunteers have turned up this week, but you will have to stay tuned for next time to hear about their PoD adventure!

In the meantime, if you would like to contribute to our efforts to give all of our children a day out or to improve the conditions at the Street Kids' centre  you can make a donation here to the PoD Charity

For more information on our work in Nepal and how to join our our team, look at our website or contact Becky in the UK on 01242 250 901.