Preparations for the Anniversay party at the orphanage

Friday 19th April
Today we had our first casualty.  Judy went down with Delhi Belly and had to stay in her room so it was just Barbara and I who went to the orphanage.  Today they were holding a painting competition.  The children could choose to enter and were given the theme of "My House".  We wondered if this was a bit insensitive for orphans but no one seemed to bat an eyelid.  They had a piece of A3 paper, a pencil and a little pallet with 6 little paint colours and they worked on the floor.

The older girls had a dancing lesson from a nice young man wearing a fake leather/plastic jacket in that heat!  They were practising for tomorrow when they will be performing in the 13th anniversary party of the orphanage.  They were so excited because they would get to wear special costumes.  The boys did not want to dance (quelle surprise!) so I lent them my iPad to play Angry Birds.
The littles ones' classroom was locked because of all the preparations for tomorrow, so they were just wandering around.  I played some sort of rolling a bit of round wood with a few of them.  I have no idea if I was any good at it.

So we had plenty of time to wander ourselves and ask questions.  We were told the stories of some of the children which were truly heart rending.  One little girl was the result of a rape and another little girl and her brother had arrived at the orphanage only last week.  Her parents lived in the hill country and could no longer afford to feed their six children so the orphanage took two.  We asked how a mother could choose which of her children to give up and were told that the orphanage chose them.  So sad.

It was very hot today in the morning so when we got back to the hotel, we went for a snooze and Barbara then came down with BD.  I had a little wander round the Thamel district which is full of touristy shops and bought a face mask as it is very dusty (got a photo but can't post) then sat by the pool and read.  But it looks like I am dining on my own tonight as the other two don't fancy eating.  Hope I don't get whatever they have as we are going on a tour of Kathmandu tomorrow.

We meet the children

Thursday 18th April
We had our first proper day in the orphanage today.  When we arrived the eight little ones were having writing practice.  It was mostly copying in both Nepali script with some English and it was very good for children of their ages, 3 to 6.  Then we had games like "Ring a Roses" and "I wrote a letter to my friend". The children all knew the words, in a fashion, and loved all the actions.  One of the committee members came in and had them perform Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  If I ever get the hang of posting photos I will post a video of this.  The fog horn voice is the Memsahib whom Barbara has named Mrs Gandhi.  Some of the older children had started to drift up into the toddlers' room and the level of English in the 8 year olds is remarkable.  I showed them photos of my house and the snow,and the pictures of Frank went down a storm.  There are lots of dogs in the streets but they must be strays I think, as they look a bit uncared for and I don't suppose you could afford to feed a dog if you were struggling to feed your family.

Two of the older girls aged 13, have won scholarships to a private school, and honestly, their fluency in English would put our 6th formers to shame.  Within a short time they wanted to hold our hands and hug us. They are so loving and eager to please.  There are also three 15 year old boys who are in the orphanage at the moment on holiday but return to boarding school on Monday for three months.  They all have sponsors.  We asked about mealtimes and the children yesterday had a small bowl of noodles for lunch.  Other days they have some spinach or cauliflower yet they don't look undernourished but they do get fed up with the repetitive food.

The sanitary arrangements are basic to put in kindly.  Even the toilet in the administration area would probably be one you had a nightmare about.  I took a photo of the gutters, which overflowed with dirty water.

We called in for a coffee at what is becoming our regular coffee shop, The Himalayan Java, and also to use the free wifi but there were repeated power cuts so the signal kept dropping.   Actually there are planned power cuts for 10 hours per day and each building is in a rota but you still get smaller cuts in between.  Today at the orphanage, there was not only a power cut but the water went off as well.  Toilets even worse.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed a lovely shop selling hand made paper goods.  Lovely wrapping paper, notebooks, wall decorations and lampshades etc.  I bought a small mirror decorated with jungle animals.

Lastly we got a costing for our planned trip to go tiger spotting by elephant.  We are travelling by road, 5 hours, to Chitwan, having 2 nights there and flying back.  Not for another 2 weeks but am very excited about it.