G is for Ganesh

I have survived my first week at my new post.  Sanga Sangai school has about 30 children, aged 4-12 or so.  I have been in charge of the oldest group, with 7 or 8 kids on any given day.  Kumar, Ashish, Aslam, Ganga, Soniya, Mina, Sumjhana, and Muska.  We start at about 11 and have a couple solid hours of studying before lunch and then music and dance in the afternoon before they go home at 3.  Now I'm not trying to pretend I know how or am exactly qualified to be a school teacher, so we continue with a lot of English and Math studying using the curriculum books there.  With only 8 kids it's more like a tutoring group than a full classroom.  Learning English is a huge focus and will give them a big leg up here, so even just speaking with them gives them a lot of practise.  The language barrier is challenging at times, but they usually correct me, or laugh when something is totally inaccurate.

My group!

The school provides lunch for the children, which Rabina, one of the other teachers, has been showing me how to make.  It's usually some kind of rice porridge or a simple curry.  The facilities are very basic, with no running water or modern stove, but the children receive a nutritious meal.  There's something special about preparing it ourselves and everyone communing together for it.  I plan on being a curry pro by the time I get home.

Getting ready for lunch.

The children can get kind of rowdy, but as soon as you start singing you have their full attention.  I've been singing them The 12 Days of Christmas with this awesome pop-up book, and they are literally cheering at every page.  I've never met kids so enthusiastic.  We've been doing a lot of big group singing and instruments, and they already know how to sing a few rounds so I've taught them a couple more and we'll hopefully be able to split into sections soon.  I'm still planning on getting some sort of keyboard set up - there's a bit of an issue with the power shedding schedule so I have to look at timing for that.

Crazy art time.

There are very little resources here so we attempted freestyling world maps. Not bad!

So cheesy, but the kids actually insisted!  We love selfies.

Recess consists of the children hauling out some wrought-iron play equipment that is less than safe by Canadian standards, and some other toys and balls.  It's actually one of my favourite parts of the day, as you can get them really riled up and it's loads of fun.

Safety first!

Fridays are a shorter day, and this week we spent the last hour watching the Cowichan Valley tourism video so I could show them a bit more about Canada and where I'm from.  They loved seeing all the animals and the ocean and the boats and trains.  I don't think children really understand the concept  of "far away", they just accept you as a person and have a vague idea that you magically appeared from somewhere else.  There was a classic moment when they were featuring a winery in the video, and on a closeup of a glass Kumar shouts "RAKSI!" (that crazy Nepalese wine) and everyone bursts out laughing.

Some days I've walked home with the children that are going the same direction.  They get SO excited to walk with you.  This city is incredibly busy, and it boggles my mind that young children are allowed to walk home alone.  There is no such thing as a crosswalk here, and it's nonstop crazy traffic.  It's basically Frogger every time you want to cross the street.  One afternoon I was needing a taxi to head to another part of the city, and the children were the ones to actually hail one for me.  I think I got a cheaper price after the driver saw me with them.

This has been a great week, and a lot less scary than I thought!

Now, into Thamel to celebrate.

Boys heading home.