VaaO episode 4: 01/10/2016 - 'Tattoo making'

Today was the 4th day of us visiting the orphanage. It is very fun when we go every week to an orphanage to help children, it is an honour to be able to attend and a golden opportunity. This week we were running a bit short on time since most of our team members needed to leave at 12 PM instead of 1 PM, so we only did the activity for 1 hour this week. That 1 hour was more than enough to give us satisfaction and make the children have a happy time and day! In that 1 hour we managed to do various activities efficiently. The main activities we did were:

• Tattoo making on their hands.
• Coloring
• Music and dance
• Reading
• Played football
• Team building activities
• They watched us do cards tricks
• Distribution of pen and pencil to the children by us.

At the end of our activities we wished them happy Dashain (a very big and famous festival in Nepal at this time of the year). We also told them that we would not be coming for the next 3 weeks because it is Dashain and we had holidays from school, some members were going on a holiday but most importantly, most children won’t be there and they would be going somewhere for Dashain, so we told them that we won’t come too. I’ll miss them for 3 weeks!

VaaO episode 3: 24/09/2016 - 'Lets paint'

Today was the 3rd day. Today’s main focus was on painting/hand printing. We split the group of children into 2, one group is instructed to read and the other group is instructed to paint or hand print (for smaller kids). Today’s episode will be focused on a particular boy/girl who was the star of the day!

Star of the day:

The name of the star was Minesh Limbhu. He is 11 years old, studying at the Pinagal Academy school. Today, all students were amazing but this boy was an exception. He made a very good painting and he challenged himself, that’s what I liked the most about him. We had told him to do hand printing but he said he wanted to make a painting, so we said okay. He made a masterpiece which was unexpected. Picture attached.  He was also a very nice and kind boy, followed instructions and listened carefully to us. He had also introduced himself very nicely. He was a confident speaker, wasn’t shy to talk to us. We all liked him very much. All students had made a painting or did a hand print, but his painting and the amount of effort he had put into that work was above our expectations! He had also helped me organize all the paintings. The way he had read was beneficial not just for him but 3 other children as well. He was basically reading a book and then 3 little children came up to him, who didn’t know how to read English very well, so as he was reading his book he was translating the story into Nepali and explaining it to the other 3 children which was indeed very impressive. We all just loved him!

VaaO episode 2: 17/09/2016 - 'Change your station'

Today was the 2nd day. Me and my friends (Nin-waam, Sneha, Tencho, Suvrat, Dhanvi)- we are doing this together in a group because it will be more beneficial for children at the orphanage. As a starter activity we played passing the ‘passing the parcel’ game with them and whoever the parcel had stopped onto had to say there name, age, school, class and what they like the most. Then, after a few minutes we divided them into 3 groups and made a circuit. One of the circuits was coloring, another was reading, and the last one was sports activities. Each group was at each station for 20 minutes with 2 of us on each station with them for help. They rotated and went to the next activity after 20 minutes, and then again, so they all got a chance to do everything. To finish off, we played music for the last 15 minutes and gave them freedom to do what they liked and wanted to do. Some danced, some played football, some read, some played indoor games, etc. We also gave them chocolates just before leaving! It was fun overall!

Volunteering at an Orphange (VaaO) episode 1: 10/09/2016

After organizing this great opportunity to volunteer at an orphanage with friends, we all met at the Swimming pool, Satdobato at first. Then we all went to the orphanage and met the lady in charge and I talked to her and told her that I came last week, and then she welcomed us inside. It was very nice of her. We went to her office and told her the days and timing we are planning to come at and what we will be doing generally. She was very happy and so were we. She introduced us to the children, there were about 30 children and then each child stood up and introduced himself/herself to us. The children were approximately 6-14 years old. They all seemed very well mannered and nice children and they were. After a while when we got to know them and since it was the first day we mostly only played with them and they did what they wanted, we just guided them  roughly. In a while, the main owner of the orphanage arrived. She was a kind hearted and a nice lady. She welcomed all of us and asked us where we are from, our names and why we are doing this. She also welcomed us by giving us all a scarf. Picture attached. Another thing, we were so excited about this that we even forgot to ask the lady’s name!

Volunteering at an Orphanage (VaaO)!- check out all the episodes!

Shreyas Agrawal Year 10, The British School, Jhamsikhel, Kathmandu, Nepal.

As part of my Duke of Edinburgh award at the bronze level, in the service category, I have chosen to volunteer at an orphanage called ‘Loving Home’ located in Satdobato, Kathmandu, Nepal. I will be doing this for over 6 months, for 2 hours (11 am to 1 pm) every Saturday, with a few of my friends.

Call for VOLUNTEERS:

Firstly, before starting anything, I would like to thank my parents for giving me support to take part in this marvellous opportunity.

When I got to know that we have to do a service for 3 months in order to receive a bronze certificate for Duke of Edinburgh, I was confused as in what I should do that would be beneficial for the society and at the same time also give me happiness and satisfaction along with learning. Me and friends (Nin-waam, Sneha, Tencho, Dhanvi, Suvrat) made a group together and decided to do something together so it would be more beneficial. We had a brain full of different ideas of what we could do for a service, but could not decide on which would be perfect and meet all the requirements. After involving a lot of discussions, we came to a conclusion that we should volunteer at an orphanage and help little children live a better life. That way, it is beneficial for the society, gives us happiness and satisfaction and we also learn how to cooperate with small children and also enhance learning leadership skills.

My dad had also given me a brilliant idea of volunteering at an orphanage and also encouraged me. Also, my mom used to regularly go to an orphanage to donate items with a few of her friends. I got to know that, the orphanage she used to go was nearby and was suitable for us to go and volunteer. My mom helped me a lot in organizing this; she called one of her friends asking her for the contact of the orphanage. When I went to the orphanage with one of my friends just to organize everything, as soon as I told them that I live in sunrise homes and my mom and her friends come here, they immediately recognized me. Without my mom supporting me attend the orphanage, this would not have been possible. Thanks a lot to my mom.