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Morgan and Niklas’s Diary – November 15, 2017
Morgan and Niklas’s Diary – November 15, 2017,
Morgan:
This morning was quite sad as we headed back to Kathmandu today. The goodbye was not as emotional as I was expecting. Only samjhana, Sunita and Binita cried a little, while the rest of the children said goodbye and ran off to school. I think the children are used to my coming and going now which is a good thing. I’m going to miss them all very much, but it’s nice knowing that I will return again and see them soon! This trip has been very fun, and I’ve had a great time with all of the children.
It felt great to be able to see it up and working before we left and even see the school students make stools, start using the wood carving tools and sewing machine. I cannot wait to return and see what other projects they have been able to create! I know that this classroom will be very beneficial for them, by giving them new knowledge and skills that they can use and apply in their futures.
It’s been a bit more energetic at Home of Hope with more children, but very interesting to see all new personalities. I was happy to see that our four new children, Saroj, Rajan, Salina and Anita who moved into Home of Hope at the beginning of September have settled in and get along well with our other children. Saroj is now the youngest and is loved by everyone. He is very cute, and now smiling, laughing, playing and looked after by everyone. Rajan and Anita both have similar personalities in the sense that they can both be serious, and then the next minute they can be very silly by making faces at you. Salina blends in with all of the kids, and it looks as if she’s lived at Home of Hope since it opened. I was very happy to see that they have all adjusted well to their new home and none of them are feeling too home sick for their relatives.
I’ve loved the duty of being the mail lady for the sponsorship program. During my interviews with the children, many of them said that the reason why they love the sponsorship program is because someone cares for, loves and helps support them in making their future better. To see the children’s faces, light up when they get their letter and photos, and also have them follow me asking when I will be handing out the letters was great to see.
It was very nice to follow up on the greenhouse and see all of the vegetables that are now growing inside. Many of the plants we started as a nursery in the greenhouse are now replanted in the outside garden and growing. Inside the greenhouse they are growing three different types of beans, peas, cauliflower, chili, squash and spinach. The chicken house is also doing well. They had fewer chickens than in May as some of the smaller chickens didn’t survive the monsoon season. During this visit they bought eight more chickens. Now the chicken house has 14 hens and one rooster! In the last couple of days one hen has laid eight eggs, which will result in eight more chickens. It was very fun to go each day with the children and collect eggs. It really made me proud, knowing that the last two projects I have helped with are continuing to thrive and provide for the children.
I have been very impressed by Niklas’s work this trip. He has been fantastic at capturing the beauty of the mountains, Home of Hope, the creation of the workshop and all of the children. He truly worked as a professional and was always ready with his camera or drone. Aside from his main mission of making movies from this trip, he also connected with all of the children. He spent quality time with them, and I could see from each child that they really took a liking to him. I think it was important for the boys to have a male representative that they could relate with. As sad as it is to leave Nepal again, I know I will return and that Home of Hope is running smoothly and in the great hands of Asha and Shyam!
Niklas:
It has meant a lot to me to be able to explore Nepal by being able to see the different culture and way of living. When technology and materialistic items don’t exist, then what really matters is family and communities. Everyone here not only takes care of themselves but also for those around them. Whole villages come together and care for each other collectively. I really mean it when I say that it was a great pleasure to meet the Home of Hope children and see how each one can come from different backgrounds but find unity and to be able to start a new and better future. I hope that I can return someday and see how their personalities develop and gain knowledge of the world.
It has been an amazing experience. Nepal has overcome all of the expectations that I had. It is indescribable, there are endless green hills as far as the eye can see, rivers and small villages clinging to the hill tops in remote places that I could never comprehend how they were first created. Every morning I got up and watched the Himalayas in the background, made me appreciate my life. I will miss Asha and Shyam because they are such good people. I’m going to miss Shyams laugh the most. The love that I received from all of the Home of Hope children was something else.
I loved being a part of creating a new classroom and I think it turned out really great. It was really fun seeing the school kids enjoy creating. Being able to capture life in Ratankot has been really great. The only challenge I had was that there were so many new things to see and capture that it was hard to not hit record. If anything, I have filmed too much as I am leaving Nepal with close to one terabyte of footage. I hope to return back to Nepal and stay in contact with the children through video.
Morgan and Niklas
