VaaO episode 11: 18/03/2017 - 'Movie time'

Last week was Holi (festival of colours celebrated in India, Nepal and other neighbouring countries) so we couldn’t go and visit the students. This week we decided to do something more entertaining with the children and something that they don’t probably get to do as often. We came to a conclusion to show them a movie. This idea worked very well and all the children were engaged and enjoyed watching “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani” (a Hindi movie of 2013). I was delighted to see the happiness and joy in their eyes, seemed as if it was something they always wanted. When we told them today we are going to watch a movie then they all quickly arranged the table to sit and watch the movie- I just don't have any words to describe their excitement. I felt satisfied to see them happy & excited and once again it reminded me of how privileged I am and don’t even realise the importance of having a laptop to watch movies whenever I want. Later after an hour and half we gave all the kids colouring sheets and books to read. At 1 pm we finished off! Today was fun and the kids seemed to have enjoyed! Hope to see them next week again. 

 

VaaO episode 10: 04/03/2017 - 'Shout UNO (card game)'

There was gap in visiting the orphanage because of our school’s sports day, but we went this week :) Today we didn’t have anything special, besides teaching the children how to play card games such as “UNO” as well as showing along with teaching them card tricks- shuffling/magic. After doing this activity for 30 minutes we gave them printed sheets to color and coloring pencils. I am actually very happy to see the joy on their face when they see coloring sheets to color, probably because that is something they do rarely. This reminds me of how privileged I am and why I shouldn't be wasting or misusing resources along with reminding me the significance of it. Later, we gave them books to read and we read with the children who weren’t as good in reading or maybe they were just learning. They actually enjoy reading books, and look forward to us to bring them books so they can read it. Towards the end, some of the children started playing football and mini drills of football in small groups, it was pleasurable to see them being creative and doing exceptionally well. They all seem to have benefitted from us today, which is positive and inspiring for us! Another good thing is I also benefit when I go there because it makes me realise the the second type of life, what I have- if I am using it efficiently and I thank god for giving me birth in a privileged family. We’re looking forward to doing another new and interesting activity with the children next week!

PS: We forgot to take pictures/videos today, sorry! :(

VaaO episode 9: 11/02/2017 - ‘Those hands on sheets though’

Luckily, we went this week to the orphanage, we missed last week. Today our main activity besides reading, coloring and sports was hand printing. To begin with we made tang juice for the kids and served it to them. Then we gave them pictures to colour and meanwhile we set up the posters, paint, etc for hand printing. We bought 2 big posters, on which the children did hand printing. We asked all of them to stand in a queue and come to us one by one to paint their hand, followed by printing it onto the poster. Also after printing, they wrote their name beside the hand print. All the kids enjoyed this activity very much. Later towards the end this very nice girl made mouth-watering tea for the 3 of us. This was a very appreciated surprise! We had lots of fun and enjoyed these precious 2 hours spent with the kids!

VaaO episode 8: 28/01/2017 - ‘Let's dance, color and read’

Thankfully this week we went to the orphanage. As usual we served them tang again, they liked it. Later on we gave them sheets with pictures to color. Some professional artists! After 20 minutes we read with them. This was an hour. For the next 20 minutes we had like a mini football competition with some of the stars in which they were only allowed to do a single touch and pass, aim was to do maximum passes without losing control of the ball. Rest of the children continued to color or read. Towards the end we had a game which involved everyone to dance. In this they had to keep on dancing until the music stopped and when the music stops they freeze. The person who moves is out. We had 2 winner in the end, we will get them chocolates next time! These 2 hours were glorious. Overall, it was fun, hope to see them next week again. 

VaaO episode 7: 21/01/2017 - ‘Origami along with guitar’

Again we couldn’t go for a while because we had holidays from 16th Dec onwards and school reopened on 9th January 2017. On 14th December the children at the orphanage had an activity so they were gone out somewhere, unfortunately we couldn't go. But the week after 21 december they were free so we went over and had lots of fun! At first we made them tang and served it to everyone, next we did colouring and sports with them. After that we got all the children to come in and then we taught them origami and their were some unexpected masterpieces by some extraordinary students! Later we did a bit of reading with them and towards the end at around 12:45 pm, one of my friend had bought his guitar so we sang with the kids and he played guitar it was mini musical session, they enjoyed it!  Overall, it was fun we are looking forward to see them next week. 

PS: Video quality is not very good, sorry!

 

VaaO episode 6: 10/12/2016 - 'Creativeness overloaded'

Today was our 6th day at the orphanage. Today we did lots of different engaging activities. At first we gave each child a balloon, which we had bought for them. They all enjoyed inflating it and then asking us to tie it for them. This was our starter activity- to get them active and going. Then we played some music and then gave the kids books to read for sometime- some read books and some played with the football. Later, we gave them drawings to color and blank pieces of paper to the ones who wanted to draw. Results were fascinating! (pictures attached). While most of the kids were drawing or colouring, a few kids were sitting in the other side of the room. I went there and I saw them play with the football, basically what they did was they flipped around one of the chair and used it as a basket and use the football as a ball and played basketball. (Picture attached). This was such an innovative and creative idea- literally they played basketball with a chair and a football! We all were very happy to see those kids be so creative! Towards the end, we gave them the pack of juice we had brought for each kid, they enjoyed it! Also, I have a few stars of the day; who came up with the idea of the basketball game:

1. His name is Sowropp Tuladhar, he is years 8 old studying at Kantipuri school
2. His name is Sabin Magar, he is 13 years old studying at Kantipuri school

Today was really fun overall!

VaaO episode 5: 3/12/2016 - 'Beautiful Bracelets'

Finally after 8 weeks we went to the orphanage today :( We couldn’t go firstly for the 4 weeks because of dashain- we had gone outside and also the kids of the orphanage were gone away for their holiday. After that we had a school charity activity which we had to attend from our school for the next 2 weekends. Then in the previous 2 weeks the students at the orphanage had gone for a picnic so we couldn’t go :(

Today, we reached there at 11:00 pm, the kids were excited to see us and they all said “Namaste” to us. Seeing those children always makes me happy since they always look very excited and eager to learn from us. They expect a lot from us and we expect a lot from them too! After reaching the orphanage we first made tang for them and served them tang. We had music playing in the background so they enjoyed and were engaged as well as  entertained. Then we kept the reading books we had for them on one table and they came and picked one and started reading. Some students who probably didn’t enjoy reading much they played with the football which we had brought for them. After sometime one of my friend had brought a box which had items to make bracelets. All the children were very excited, they all ran towards us, which made me immensely happy. We guided them at first on the steps to make the bracelets and then they were so smart on their own that they didn’t even need our guidance later on. Each and every student made a bracelet for themselves. After making the bracelets, we did the mannequin challenge with them (video attached), which they hopefully enjoyed. Last but not the least we had a few colour pencils, so some of them drew very nice pictures and some played games with their friends such as tic-tac-toe and hangman. Me and one of my friend went outside and played football with the “sporty” kids who were eager to play football for sometime. (Pictures attached!).
We all finished by 1 pm.

All of us enjoyed these 2 hours spent with these astounding, astonishing and awe-inspiring children. We hope to see them again next week!