Routine and Adventures

The week of the 15^th was filled with both routine and adventures. Our routines include, Jess teaching music class and me teaching computer class in the morning. The number of students, who show up, varies each day. Sometimes I will have ten students and not enough computers, while other times I have one student and teach one on one. I like this better because I feel like I can actually teach to their level. I have a wide variety of students, some know a good bit about computers and others are still mastering the use of a mouse.

Another routine is going over to the Kids Home each evening. There are two homes and about 14 “kids” in each. I say “kids” because not all of them are that young. There are a few in their mid to late teens, while most are a bit younger. I enjoy sitting on the top of the roof and talking with the older guys. One is training for the British military so he goes running for around two hours each day. Since they are older they have responsibilities around the house like cooking, cleaning and going to the hospital when a younger brother gets sick. They live in such community. Most of them are not blood related yet they treat each other like brothers and sisters. It’s encouraging to see how they care for each other when they are in need.

Some adventures include, going on a picture scavenger hunt, visiting a slum area and carrying water. Jess put together a picture scavenger for the rest of us. She sent us all over the surrounding area to get pictures of things such as; us drinking tea with two new friends, us riding on the back of bicycles and many other interesting things.

One afternoon our host Mom took us to a slum area down by the river. It’s hard to believe how people live in such grimy conditions even when you see it with your own eyes. We stopped at a fruit market and bought 40 pounds of mangoes. We had to carry it back so Shane, Kush and I took turns carrying it on the walk back. We had fun sharing them with the kids that evening and eating some ourselves.

Our outreach coordinator had a baby and invited us and many other people over for a party. Since there is water shortage right now in Kat-mandu he asked us to help him carry water from the tap about a mile away. Going to a tap is an experience in its own. People come to it to; bathe, wash clothes, get water for household needs, and what ever else you can think of. We had to wait while one man scrubbed himself down under the water before we could fill our bottles. There are many people and every body wants to use it at the same time so you just have to weasel your way in there to get your turn.

Praises:

good health

plenty to be involved with

Requests:

Focus for the last weeks

Austin Showalter