Marissa taught some of the older children the cutest dance routine and they performed last night at satsung in front of everyone.  I'll try to get it on tape.  I can't wait to show it to them when they're in their twenties.  Speaking of them getting older, they definitely are.  There's a new tween attitude vibe in this house among the girls all of a sudden that we've all been noticing.  I'm 23 and I don't even feel like I'm done going through puberty yet.  I'm definitely not ready for them to start.  And they've picked up the "rolling your eyes when you're annoyed" mannerism from me.  I have to stop doing that! 

I had a meeting with the Minister of Education yesterday.  In an effort to make Surkhet schools more sustainable the government has just created a rule that when you open a new school you can only open one year/grade at a time.   So for 24 hours I had this horrible feeling that our school would only be able to open this year through the first grade and not to any of my students in older grades of which there are so many.  I went and sat with two of the ministers and explained our situation to them.  I feel like I have meetings with ministers and government officials down to an art these days.  You have to be sweet but firm at the same time.  They have to like you and listen to what you have to say.  Our meeting went well and they have decided to grant us full primary registration which means we can open this year K-5. By next year we will have our K-8 registration.  With the new laws set this month, they also decided to shift the pre-primary registration to a different municipality so we had to submit a whole additional set of documents and signatures and deposits to another office for approval as well yesterday.  It's been a roller coaster ride for sure. 

Anyway, that's all the news here.  I heard about the blizzard that hit the east coast from my friend Michael this morning, so I thought I'd send this sunny photo your way!  I love Nisha in that straw hat.

Love from all of us at Kopila.

Little Nisha in Bardia National Park

Hi everybody!!

TGIF...  it's been a long week over here.

I haven't had a chance to talk with the teacher and principal yet because we haven't been able to find a time for all of us to meet.  It's good because it's given me some more time to think about how I want to approach the whole thing.  I think it's always best to go into these situations drama free when your emotions are cooled down so I'm glad I've had some time to think about it.  I really appreciated all of your advice.

Today Big Nisha, Shova, Bhukta Krishna Boy, Angeli, Karma, and Naveen were all chosen to compete in a drawing competition at school.  We got brand new fresh markers to celebrate and they've been practicing the entire week with Marissa.  They were all so nervous.  Actually this drawing competition is all they've been talking about.  Remember how serious things like that used to be when you were little?  

Our new volunteer, my friend Brandon arrived.  He just graduated from Mendham High, and is on his gap year. It's so nice to have someone from my hometown around!

We all got new sneakers this week.  Our first real sneakers ever actually!  Of course I chose the sneakers two weeks ago based on the fact that the shopkeeper said that she could arrange 40 pairs of the same model for me.  I sized all of the kids only to find out later that there were only 7 pairs available and that model was no where else to be found in the entire country.  So for the past few weeks I've been running around to every shoe store in town looking for kids sneakers.  Mission accomplished, they absolutely loooove their new sneaks.  The best part was watching them all try them on for the first time.  There was soooo much excitement in the air.  Shanti took three step backwards and then shot off like a rocket running around in circles around the front yard.  Madan couldn't figure out how to tie them so he just tied his laces in about twenty knots until I saw what he was doing and taught him the bunny rabbit ear trick.

My favorite was Krishna (boy) the first time he was putting them on.

Me:  "Krishna, you have to try them on with socks!"

Krishna:  "Maggie, can't I just practice in them a little first?"

Me:  "Okay, you can practice for 5 minutes and then go get some socks on."

We're excited for the weekend and our big chowmein dinner tonight.  The weather is getting warmer and sunnier by the day.

Blessings on your weekend everyone.

xo

Maggie

p.s. I ALMOST FORGOT!!!  I just had my first SOLAR HOT SHOWER ever in Kopila Valley!!  As Sarah said yesterday, soon we'll be ready to start calling this place the Kopila Hilton Children's Home.

That made me laugh.

Well, one of the male teachers at school asked small Nisha why she wore her flip flops to school.  She calmly explained to him that she had just brought them to the cobbler to get stitched and do you know what that teacher did?  He gave her two slaps across the face.

Nisha told me about it when I came home from my big shopping extravaganza late this evening.  We needed some new pots and pans and an additional stove and with all the running around I was doing I forgot to pick up the shoes from the cobbler.  And then Anjeli told me that when she got a math problem wrong today her teacher hit her on the head.

Part of me wants to march into school tomorrow and confront the guy face to face, although I'm worried I'll lose it all together on him.  There's just something about some one else hitting one of the kids in my project that really irks me.  Especially after years of trying to teach them to solve their problems through conversation and expressing their feelings and not physical violence like so many of them were used to.  Part of me wants to go up to this teacher and scream "how dare you?!"  This is the angriest I've been in a really long time. 

deep breath.

But really, how are we supposed to build this country and make it a better place when all we do to teach and discipline our children is beat them?  Getting a math problem wrong warrants getting hit over the head?  An 11 year old girl who has never been to school before and is trying to make it in the second grade? An 8 year old, Nisha?  SERIOUSLY?  I know my kids have been hit before in school.  We've had many conversations about it. The teachers chose a few of our kids to be class monitors and then gave them sticks to beat the other kids in the class who misbehaved when the teacher was out of the room.  I've gone into this school and spoken with the teachers and the administration about it countless times.  They know how I feel.  Me losing my cool is NOT a pretty sight.  I'm counting down the months until we have our own school up and running and I can prove to them that there IS another way.  And in the meantime I hope I can keep it together so that I don't verbally rip into this guy tomorrow when I see him.  Just curious... what would you say to this teacher if you were me?

and then the windows arrived!

Krishna Bogati last night

Other things we're loving

Jack Johnson's Curious George Soundtrack

Chico bags! Thank you Everybody's in Iowa and Marcus for bringing them here to us. I bring them everywhere with me.  LOVE THEM! Perfect for shopping, I carry all my fruit and vegetables in them. They're made of 99% recycled materials, carry up to 250 pounds and fold up into nothing.  Tell everyone you know about them.

Very hungry hippos (remember that game? I loved it when I was little)  Thank you Momster, Irene Nam.

The Blue Man Soundtracks! AWESOME to dance to.  Thank you to the Goldmans and the Blue Man Group. We've got a few blue kids here who I swear could audition for your next show.

And lastly, oh my gosh I am loving this book!!  Another one I highly recommend if you haven't read it already.

***Krishna is doing much better!!  We're all taking it very easy this weekend.  Thank you all for your kind comments and messages.

We had a big scare last night.  Krishna was playing with a stick and accidently poked herself in the eye.  It was my worst nightmare come true.  Thank God Marcus was here and he is an EMT who has a lot of experience with medical emergencies.  He came and calmly got me in my room and said "Maggie, this is more than I can handle, we need to get her to the E.R." 

We got to the E.R. and there was no doctor on staff but the emergency team suggested that we get Krishna to Nepal Ganj to an eye specialist asap.  I remembered in that moment the eye hospital set up by a swiss NGO because I had been there with Juntara.   Krishna's eye was more serious than they thought they could handle in Surkhet.  The girl on staff in the emergency room barely had it in her to even look at it, and at this point it was draining alot of liquid and the surface white of the eye looked like it had a huge wrinkle in it.

We got in the ambulance... well let's just say it was more like an old jeep with the words ambulance written backwards on it and a blue flashing light.  We rushed three hours to Nepal Ganj Eye Hospital.  We had to stop so I could vomit a few times.  I think it was a combination of motion sickness, complete and utter fear, and our old broken jeep that was leaking exhaust.  I tried to support Krishna's head so that her eye would move as little as possible but it was hard on the bumpy dirt roads.  These are the moments when I don't like living in Nepal.  She kept her eyes closed and stayed completely calm while I proceeded to have a three and a half hour conversation with God and came up with a long ridiculous list of things I would in exchange for Krishna being able to keep her eye and see again. I tried to do reiki.  I thought about how much I wished I could rewind the day backwards all the way to the beginning; waking up in the morning with all the kids sleeping on the floor, going to school to get report cards, the entire afternoon at the park.  

A lot can go on in your head in the span of three hours.  I feared the worst; a rupture, her eye ball falling out right then and there on my pant leg, blindness.  My whole body shook in terror and my muscles tightened.  I was already planning how to get her to Kathmandu or India the next morning.  I called my dad in a panic but couldn't hear him on the other end. (1-800-dad as my mom always jokes) The poor guy only gets a call when something bad happens.  Sorry dad. 

We got lost and couldn't find the hospital but eventually we made it.  The hospital guard called the doctor and explained the situation. BLESS him, even though he was sleeping he came right away and laid her on the table and had a look, and you know what he said? "it's going to be fine."  The puncture and trauma occurred on the far right side of the eye and the fact that it was so swollen was a good sign.  Then he covered up her good eye and tested her vision and it was perfect and I started bawling and I'm pretty sure Marcus cried too.

We got medicine and drove straight home with our kick butt ambulance driver MOHAN and I must have said thank you a million bajillion times to God and the angels who continue to watch over us, while Krishna slept on my lap and held my hand.  I swear it's a miracle.

She's fine this morning too, just swollen. We're taking it easy, laying in bed, eating big purple grapes, coloring, and listening to the new John Mayer.  She just drew a picture of our house that said "happy" on it. I'd say that pretty much sums up how we're feeling this morning.  Happy to still have an eye.

Construction is slow today.  We're waiting for the carpenter to finish his window frames, the blacksmith to finish up the iron work, and cement to set.  

My abs are sore from holding them so tight last night.  Has that ever happened to you?  I'm surprised I didn't wake up with a head of gray hair.  Having kids is hard.  Thank you Marcus for being there for me last night and Marissa, Daju and staff for praying with the kids and keeping them calm and Mr. Eye Doctor, whose name I don't even know and Mohan, our ambulance driver and dad, and Dr. Melissa... and for all of you kids who read this blog (I know there are quite a few of you,) let this be a special lesson straight from Krishna Bogati to you... be careful with sticks!  Maybe stay away from them all together.  

"Yes," Krishna agrees.  "Don't play with sticks ever again."

(that's Krishna, pictured with me at the top of this blog)

in the brick truck (7:30 AM)

The bricks arrived yesterday at around 7:30 in the morning. 

The kids all got to climb in the truck and go for a little ride and run around on the bricks.  There were alot of smiles.  It's the little things right?

There were 9,000 bricks in there and all I could think about was "how the heck are we going to move all of these?" and "where are forklifts when you need them?" But as the saying goes, many hands make light work and we successfully unloaded the entire truck load plus 4,500 bricks from the day before- although I am definitely a little sore this morning.  Many bricks make for raw painful fingers.  That's all I have to say.  

The kids unloaded for a while and then they ate a really big breakfast.  Afterwards Marissa walked up to me and said "your kids eat more for breakfast than I eat in an entire day!"  And it's true.  They make me proud and like my dad said before it is really special to see them all being a part of the process of making this new school and helping in their own little way, brick by brick.  Everyone wants to feel a part of something right?

And lastly I hope you got my Greg Mortenson reference as the title of this blog post.  If you did, then give yourself a pat on the back.  I finished Stones into Schools on my travels and I highly recommend it.  It will make you want to get up off your chair and move some stones and bricks until your fingers hurt.

Krishna Boy

I remember meeting them when Santosh was two.  She would tie him to her back with her shawl and walk him all the way to our house and tell him "this is where you are going to live some day and you're going to study and become a big big person."  Santosh came to live with us when he was three going on four and she'd stop by to visit occasionally and on holidays Santosh and I would ride the scooter to her little hut and have tea.  She was a very gentle and loving woman who made Santosh exactly who he is now; loving and kind, and sweet, and funny.  My sisters always say that he acts and looks like a little old man and it's true.

I felt an overwhelming amount of emotions today when I heard the news.  I mostly feel for Santosh and hope that even though he is little he can still process it all and always remember his grandmother and the gifts she's given him.  I also feel thankful to her for leaving and trusting his precious little life with us.  There are really no words to explain how thankful I feel actually.  We will miss her very much.

Santosh in the tractor this week

It's a........  

drum roll please.....

Marissa and Marcus in front of the new solar panels

SOLAR HOT WATER HEATER!!!!!!!!!

It arrived today and we'll be assembling it tomorrow.  Next time you hear from me it will most likely be after my first hot shower EVER in this house and the kids' first hot showers in their entire lives.  I think it's safe to say we have the first solar hot water heater EVER in Surkhet.  If that's not amazingly luxurious then tell me what is!

People always ask me what it is that I miss the most from home in NJ and hot showers are always at the top of my list.  Next up, a bath tub and some bubble bath.

xoxo

Maggie

I realized while watching this video that it definitely looks like we made the kids dig the entire hole. 

"Welcome to Kopila Valley Children's Home where the kids don't actually go to school, instead we make them dig holes all day." 

So here's my disclaimer:  The children begged me to let them climb down there and they dug for a total of about ten minutes.  Got that people?  There is no child labor going on here.

Although they do remind me of snow white and the seven dwarfs.   

As for our school I'm starting to feel like the last 6 months of craziness is finally starting to pay off.  Things are coming together and it feels really good.  We bought a piece of land next door on one side and signed a lease for the building on the other side of us.  This is where we plan to run our nursery, kindergarten classes and lunch program.  Our other piece of land is just a stone's throw away across the street where our main school building and other classes will run.  We had a crazy final push to the finish line to get our final approval for the school through. (I owe a lot of thanks to my Nepali Board of Ds!) The next 3 months will mean construction up the whazoo with the help of a sweet architect gentlemen volunteer coming in the next few weeks from Australia.  On top of all this we're building three more rooms and a bathroom on the third story to accommodate our ever growing family.  So things are good!  Busy, but good.  I don't particularly like living in a construction zone with 30+ children running around.  I find myself having to breathe and count to 5 a lot more than usual but it is what it is and this new school of ours is going to be one of a kind!

More really good news to come so stay tuned!