Learning and Laughter
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
The past few weeks at Kopila Valley have been busy and filled with learning and laughter. The students have exams in a few weeks and are studying hard, but that hasn't stopped us from having fun at school. Here's a glimpse at what our lives have been like the past couple of weeks:
We had Sports Day at Kopila Valley, and the students skipped out on classes for the day to participate with their “houses” - sun, moon, star, and sky - in friendly competitions. There were too many soccer and badminton games to count. It reminded us of the field days we had growing up. We're grateful that our kids are strong and healthy.
Speaking of active children, the Kopila Valley Running Club had its first practice the other day! 60 students signed up but we only had space for 20, so now we are working on finding other ways to involve all who are interested. We warmed up on the community playground, did some stretching and running games, and went on a run around the neighborhood, lined up two by two. We sang at the top of our lungs as motivation and definitely got some funny looks from the neighbors.
This year we also created our first ever boys handball team. They competed against all of the other schools in Surkhet and came in 2nd place in the championship! Sadly, they lost 19-2 in the finals - such a heartbreaking match. The next day, they got a big shout out at morning assembly from Naim Sir. We also welcomed an inspiring guest speaker that day, Dibyaraj Khadka, who is a local hero from our very own neighborhood. He talked about how being in an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down transformed his life and taught him how to overcome life-changing challenges. He has managed to remain positive amidst diversity and is now speaking about disability rights and challenges in Nepal. What a good lesson for all of us - unexpected life events can cause huge changes of plans (and that's okay). The kids asked a stream of questions for almost an hour after his talk.
Also this week, our students learned about climate change in class. For homework, they interviewed their family members to learn about the environmental changes that have occurred here in Surkhet over the past 10 years. What did they find? More pollution, more development, hotter summers, fewer trees, heavier rains... The students learned how educating girls can positively impact climate change. When girls are educated, they have fewer children (which leads to a smaller population and better access to resources), are less likely to get HIV/AIDS (which means they can produce more food on their farms and keep their children healthier), and can better understand environmental changes (and take better care of the planet!). 62 million girls aren't in school today. We all need to commit to educating our girls. (Thanks to our friends at She's The First for the inspiration for this lesson).
We are committed to sustainability in all that we do and are teaching our students the same. There has been some awesome progress at the new school campus construction site. The school is really coming to life! Some of our kids took a Saturday walk up to the new school site and posed for a picture in their matching pajamas made by our very own Women's Center.
As always, thank you for your constant support of our family and our students. Stay tuned for more updates!
Love always, Team BlinkNow