Uttargaya Public English School
Uttargaya Public English School
Betrawati, 2000
Inside a classroom
Looking out to the slide on the playground
The cooking and eating area
Closed for the holidays
Children walking to Uttargaya school in the morning
Children walking to Uttargaya school in the morning
Betrawati, Nepal, Summer 2000
Letting some of my students lead the way, along the long bumpy road to our school.
A video taken by Serika, traveling the same stretch of road some twenty-three years later.
Nirmala reads Frog & Toad to her class
Nirmala reads Frog & Toad to her class
Balaju, Kathmandu, September 6th, 2018
On this trip, I brought along some of my favorite books to read to children, Arnold Lobel’s stories of Frog & Toad being the closest to my heart.
The boy on the right (leaning forward on the backpack) is Nirmala’s son Samrat.
Teachers at Niharika school
Teachers at Niharika school
Balaju, Kathmandu, October 4th, 2015
Three teachers that work with the youngest children at Niharika school—Anupama, Purna and Beli.
A candid taken between a series of posed photos.
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Peeking into the nursery classroom
Peeking into the nursery classroom
Niharika Shishu Kunja High School, Balaju Bypass, Kathmandu, September 22nd, 2015
Sarada was helping her nursery students with their writing of Nepali numbers,
when I looked up and saw these two girls peeking in through the window from next door.
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Santoshi
Santoshi
Uttargaya Secondary English Boarding School, Betrawati, 2000
[text below from a postcard I wrote on Tuesday, October 24th 2000]
"A few days ago during lunch I poked my head into one of the school’s class rooms. There, in a dim empty room filled with only six bench/desks and the sounds of one hundred children playing outside, sat a small girl.
Her arms were folded on her desk, her little face resting upon them. She seemed neither outwardly happy nor sad, but more resigned as if this was where she would be most comfortable—a warm bath in a cold house.
“Wouldn’t you rather play outside?” I asked her. She shook her head.
“We could play…”.
Again, she shook her head.
“Okay” I said smiling at her. I leaned across the bench/desk separating us and shook her hand goofily."
[from a postcard two days later]
"Yesterday I stopped by the orphanage on the way back from Trishuli Bazaar and for the first time I heard Santoshi’s (san-toe-see) voice. Since the day I found her alone in that class room at lunch, I’ve made it a point to walk into her class, say hello and shake her hand. I walked up to her today at the orphanage, said
“Hello Santoshi!” and gave her a goofy handshake.
She smiled, then laughed, then asked (in English) “What is your name?”
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Santoshi running across the rock-strewn football field to class.
Four friends on their day off
Four friends on their day off
Manamaiju, Kathmandu, January 7th, 2003
On my way back from Manamaiju, I met these four students who were enjoying their day off.
They are, from left-to-right, Kamala, Sumitra, Roshni and Rojina—all from Shree Ganesh Himal Boarding School.
I wrote down the name of their school, and after a bit of looking a few days later, I finally found it and was able to give them their photo.
Now they are all 25 and 26, and I'm sure they are doing great things.
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Apsara and a friend
Apsara and a friend
Kathmandu, 2011
In one of the two school-rooms of a school that my friend Mana started for rural children—about a 6km walk west of Manamaiju Marg—Apsara (in the turquoise sari), a teacher there, shares a laugh with a friend.
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Bonus: a 16-second video from 2011 of Leena, one of Mana’s students (who you can see in the background of the above photo), doing a chicken impression.
Shanta laughing
Shanta laughing
Balaju Bypass, Kathmandu, 2011
Shanta’s classroom is a simple rectangle of concrete, with two open-air windows facing the courtyard, and a door made of sheet metal.
But even on the coldest days, there is the warmth;
of Shanta bahini standing, with her smile, at the front of her class.
Ready to give all of her energy to those children.
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(You can see a photo of Shanta's classroom by scrolling down the page of a previous post)
Three sisters
Three sisters
Balaju, Kathmandu, 2011
While visiting Sanju’s family, I got to meet her downstairs neighbors—a trio of little girls—all dressed up in their school uniforms and ready for school.
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