Monday, November 29, 2010

Renuka

Renuka is a 8 year old gentle child. She is an absolute pleasure to watch. She loves skipping ropes and makes sure that nobody is hurt while she is playing. She, (along with 3 other little girls), lives with her didi. All these five girls living in a small room are bonded by humanity even though only two of them are sisters.

Like most of the other children at Koseli, Renuka was also a happy child and never complained of any physical pain. Then, during the monthly medical screenings we realized that she bleeds. It was quite a shock for us as Renuka was too young to be menstruating. After a round of questions and answers we realized that there was blood in her stool. And it had been there for so many days, months, years..she didn’t know.. 

Its amazing how most children at Koseli have no proper sense of timeline. They relate to time through events. Usually there are long mental gaps between two events. No event is significant enough to remember at length. As young children, they keep moving from one place to another depending on their circumstances. Most of them don’t live in a place for more than 2-3 months. In addition to this, there is also the movement between the village and town. The days are filled with trivia, so to remember the details is actually too much of a pressure on their little minds. Thus, the stories they construct and relate are very vague and open ended.

So, Renuka too on her part was also not able to tell much. She able to tell when she spotted blood in her stool for the first time or if she had experienced any kind of pain in the past. Physical pain is a part of their lives and they don’t know what life is without it, so it generally goes unaccounted.

The stool test report confirmed that she had an ulcer in her intestine. The ulcer had become so big that it had started to bleed. The intestine was on the verge of rupture and here we had this girl still skipping her rope, not complaining of any pain and attending school regularly. In situations like these, I am at a total loss of words and feelings. It is beyond normal human capacity to react.

Fortunately, Renuka was diagnosed before it was too late. She underwent medication and has recovered fully. 

I request everyone who is reading this to take a moment and think about the whole situation. I wonder if any of you would react differently, if life ever  brought you face to face with a little child like Renuka.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Students of Primary Section

Manoj Jirel, 14yrs

Madan Tamang, 14yrs

Sulav Thapa, 14yrs

Srijana Gurung, 13yrs

Mnaisha Shrestha, 12yrs

Poonam Adhikari, 13yrs

Chandra Tamnag, 14yrs

Paras Rai, 13yrs

Namrata Rajbanshi, 13yrs

Manju Jirel, 12yrs

Raj Lama, 14yrs

Rajesh Magar, 12yrs
Aman Karn, 10yrs

Yogesh Rajbanshi, 7yrs

Neha Karn, 12 yrs

Sunita Tamang, 10yrs

Chandrakala Mahat, 12yrs

Manish Rai, 10yrs

Manish Shrestha, 7 yrs

Mamata Gajmel, 10yrs

Monica Shrestha, 9yrs

Suresh Gurung, 11yrs

Ujjwal K.C, 9yrs

Obit Magar, 12 yrs

Ashish Bayalkoti, 13yrs

Kanchan Mangrati, 14yrs

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Kindergarten

Unnati KC, 6yrs

Jason Lama, 8yrs

Anita Tamang, 8yrs

Sanjay Srivastava, 9yrs

Hari Karki, 11yrs

Sanjiv Nepali, 10 yrs

Santosh Karki, 12yrs

Januka Dangol, 10yrs

Bimala Khadka, 11yrs

Gaurav K.C, 8yrs

Karma Singh Tamang, 8yrs

Neeran B.K, 6yrs

Renuka Dangol, 8 yrs

Puja K.C, 9yrs

Divya Lama, 12 yrs

Raj Shrestha, 10 yrs


Bicky Karna, 8yrs

Rejina B.K, 7yrs

Kushal Adhikari, 6yrs

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Mamata

Home is the ultimate security or atleast I assumed that till I met Mamata. She is 9 yrs old and lives with her aunt and studies in Grade 1 in Koseli. She loves dancing and is passionate about her studies. It is not unusual for children of Koseli to disappear from school for long durations. But when Mamata didn’t come to school for a month we were worried and started digging for clues that were keeping her away from school. 

Mamata’s parents live in Boudha. Her father and step mother didn’t think that it was important for her to go to school. After all she is a girl and at nine years, she is  capable of doing all the house hold chores. So she was kept away from school. During that one month her father was sick, so she was also his nurse along with being the keeper of the house. Once her father was better, she expressed her desire to return to school, all she heard in return was a stern NO. As days passed Mamata missed school more and more and finally she decided to confront her father. On hearing a yet another NO, Mamata left home and came to live with her aunt who stays very close to the school. She has been very regular since then. 

Yesterday, Mamata’s aunt for some reason got very angry with her and threw her out of her house. She spent the night at a friend’s place. The problem came to our notice when she came for dance practice today. We have arranged for to stay with another family whose children also study at Koseli and tomorrow we hope to make her aunt understand the gravity of the matter and let her return home.

Mamata is not at discomfort about leaving her father’s house, being thrown out of her aunt’s house and now spending the night in a stranger’s house. Mind you, all these houses are shanty one rooms with already four, five or six members living in them. While it is impossible for most of us to even imagine leaving our homes, it is not a big deal for the slum kids to stay wherever they find space and with anyone who is willing to accommodate them. It is not a sense of security for them but a place where they spend their nights. And that is what makes them extremely vulnerable.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Nursery

Saurav K.C, 6yrs
Sanjit Srivastav, 4yrs

Sushma Tamang, 6yrs
Kanchan Jimi, 5yrs

Panas Rai, 6yrs

Anish Rai, 7yrs

Bicky Lama, 4yrs

Sneha K.C, 6yrs

Rachana Dangal, 5yrs
Sahara Pariyar, 7yrs

Aryan Bisunkhe, 6yrs
Ram Tamang, 7yrs

Sudip Karki, 7yrs

Maria Gadal, 7yrs

Ganga Tamang, 8yrs
Biswas Khadka, 8yrs