Saturday, March 26, 2011

Literacy Program

Yesterday we met with the literacy ladies at the Hamja stone quarrey to match new sponsors.  Not all the ladies were there as it was Saturday which is a holiday in Nepal and it was also the Potato Festival.  This is celebrated in Hamja as they grow a lot of potatoes here and so a once a year festival is held with music and dancing and a lot of selling of potatoes at a cheaper price. 
Matching the ladies is extremely difficult as so many have the same or similiar names.  We have three Bhim Mayas and they are either a Gurung or Tamang and nearly all the ladies have Maya in their name.  Everyone is talking and laughing while I am trying to get the names straight and photos taken.  Have more work to do there yet. 
In the morning we met with all the mothers of the children in Simpani.  As costs are rising we are having to ask the parents to pay for the children's notebooks and pencils this year for the children in private school only.  The parents were agreeable to this.  Some really cannot afford to do this and we will buy for them.  A school principal suggested this to me as she felt it was a good idea for the parents to have some responsibility as everything else is paid for them.  I had fun going around testing myself on placing the child's name with each mother.  With about 90% I knew which mother belonged to each child.  We then went for tea with Shree Ram Pun who is one of our oldest literacy students at 67.  She had a letter already written for her sponsor in English.  She has been in the program for two years now and her accomplishment is amazing.
Today we are going to Dulagouda about an hour away to visit some children and a school.  A Rotarian is driving us in a private car so that will be a treat.
Still cannot upload photos here so if I have time later I will go to an internet shop to see if I can do it there.

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