After school on the playground, I caught a high 5 in action!

Girls playing on the swings. #Adorable!

Nurse Emily's new in-school toothbrushing program in action!!

4th grade super star Alisa Poori. Mark my words this little gal is going places!!

Awesome lunch cooking staff! Ubji, Amrika and Krishna. Imagine cooking a home made lunch from scratch for 350+ every day?

What my lunch looks like every day! I am a lucky girl.
Sisters!! (Me and Libby, our resident English teacher)

Our male teachers in their new snazzy matching shirts.Learning a song with Lexi and Principal Jeff for music month... "Aint no mountain high enough!"Thank you all for sharing in the excitement over the last couple days announcing our big surprise!  For those of you who were wondering, the strike in Surkhet was temporarily lifted and we've been able to run school all week. It's amazing how much better all of our spirits are when we get to come here to this place every day.

Things have been busy kicking off our first month of school. We're still waiting for a few last minute textbooks and other materials to come in and settling logistics and plans for the new year.  Our teaching staff is off the hook and I'm really looking forward to introducing them. If I've done my math right, we have a total of seven new teachers! We'll also be welcoming some new administrative members to our team starting next week so we've been busy making preparations to welcome them. Nurse Emily and our visiting health expert volunteer John have been very busy bees in the clinic getting profiles, medical assessments and histories on all of our new students.  We've got some big goals for the clinic and our school this year which we'll be sharing with you in the near future!

Love from Kopila Valley Kids and Team!

I'm sooo excited that I can finally let you all in on our BIG SURPRISE!!!  Keeping this a secret while all the wheeling and dealing and negotiating and legal proceedings were going on was almost unbearable.  But here goes...

The picture you're all looking at is the future and permanent site of Kopila Valley School!!!!

We were able to purchase our DREAM * MAGIC WAND * MOST BEAUTIFUL piece of property in a peaceful village a ways up the road from where we rent now. Our lot overlooks the valley and resides next to a sacred little temple (the first one in Surkhet) with a few huge ancient peepal trees. There's also a forrest in the back with a stream and dozens of fruit trees and a little farm house. The soil is fertile and perfect for us to grow even more of our own food. I also have a feeling our animals (turkeys included) are going to love this spot! Our neighbors are lovely.  The old couple we bought it from was lovely and this is officially where we'll be headed when our lease expires in two years time.  We also have plans of registering and expanding for Kopila Valley High School (9th and 10th grade)  Boy of boy, do we have a lot in store.  

As some of you know I've been on the hunt for YEARS now.  I've had many deals fall apart.  I kept watching the prices of land going up, (post civil war era) and getting incredibly nervous but I kept searching far and wide until finally the most perfectly perfect piece came out of the wood work.  It was one of those moments where I saw it and had to stop to catch my breath a little.  I wanted it so bad.  The actual acquisition and legalities of having it registered and put perminantly in our name took a long time and let me tell you, it was emotionally and mentally exhausting.  One of these days I will sit down and write the entire story.  But really, you should have seen me when I finally handed over the check and we sealed the deal.  My hands were shaking and it all felt surreal passing over the majority of our entire bank account out in one check.

Then something inside of me remembered a very familiar feeling... that I hadn't felt since I spent all that babysitting money 6 years ago.  I knew in my heart to trust my gut, intuition and the wise mentors around me.  I took a deep breath and minutes later, with a big stamp on a piece of paper, the land passed into the hands and name of Kopila Valley, forever.    

We've got a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of big dreams for the future!  I'm amped, stoked, excited, anxious, and of course a little scared.  My goal right now is to put a little fence around it, grow some vegetables, raise the animals there, take a breather for a few months, keep working with our staff and curriculum development, love and hug my kiddos every day, and dream up what's next.  I'd like to thank MedAssets for their generous grant last year that enabled us to do this.  It seems like so long ago that I was standing up on that stage. I'd like to thank Nicholas Kristof, one of my most favorite men in the universe, for telling our story and believing in me! I'd also like to thank all of YOU, for your love, trust, encouragement, and support. I am so excited for Kopila Valley and honored that I get to keep living my dream each day, doing what I love and bearing witness to the children blooming before my very eyes.

More to come!!!! For now, Thank you, thank you, thank you!

my mom

I love my mom and I have no idea where I'd be right now without her. She's been there behind the scenes supporting me the whole way through. Lib and I are missing her this Mother's Day.  It takes a really special mother to support and guide her three daughters in the way that my mom has. She's taught us to be strong, independent young women and I know I can speak for both my sisters when I say we feel really really lucky.

Happy Mother's Day to mothers everywhere! 

We're still waiting anxiously for the strike to lift over here!

Bindu and Namraj

What is it about t.v. that is so universal?  I swear our kids could watch 24/7 if we let them!  It's definitely a good way to keep 40+ kids busy and quiet and doesn't make a mess but I do find myself worried about how much and when and what.  We limit to weekends and holidays and days when there are strikes.  I walked in the living room this weekend and couldn't help but snap this picture.

The deadline to finalize Nepal's new constitution is fast approaching and there's a lot of talk and concern about the government making the deadline, especially since the date has already been pushed back so many times and leadership keeps changing. I love this country and its people with all my heart and I have only the best hopes and dreams for Nepal's future. I also really believe that no political party should have the right to shut down schools and institutions where children get access to food, health care, education.  Please keep Nepal in your thoughts and wish us luck this month as we navigate our way through the final phases of drafting Nepal's new constitution. 

A few articles on political happenings here.

Himalayan Times

ABC news 

Reuters

I'm trying to sleep train Namraj this week.  We set up a little mattress with a mosquito net in the room that attaches to mine but bedtime has NOT been a pretty scene.  I know it's time for him to start sleeping in his own bed or at least with one of his brothers but so far just about every night he's crawled back into bed with me and at some point I always give in.  It hasn't helped that he's been running a fever and a little under the weather but I need to get a little tougher– his and my sleep depends on it!  

It's so hard to hear him screaming at the top of his lungs for me and seeing him so upset.  The funny thing is he was totally fine while I was away for a month.  But when I'm here he cries like I'm abandoning him forever and I can't take it so I think to myself "okay fine, just this one more night" but then one more night turns into one more week and then another and here we are.  I also feel like since I'm working and running around all day, nights and mornings snuggling in bed is our bonding time but I'm definitely guilty of giving in to whining and crying a little more than I should.  I totally understand why there are so many parenting books out there!  This stuff is hard!!!

We're super excited about our 2012-2013 Kopila Fellows program! Learn what the Kopila Fellows program is all about and apply now! Know any excellent candidates? Please help us spread the word! ♥ xomaggie

Bhima at the Peck School (photo from the Daily Record)

Today was a good day!  We're all set and ready to start school tomorrow. Principal Jeff is starting everyone off with two days of orientation.  I'm thrilled to have all the kids back under the same roof again. I took it super easy today, talked with a small crowd of people who were unhappy about admissions, made silly videos on the computer with the little kids and then laid down and took a long afternoon nap with Shanti. The girls rehearsed for a cultural dance performance competition they got invited to this Saturday. Then we went out this evening to choose some fabrics for summer clothes- Nepali curta sural.  The boys helped Lexi bind some homemade school books and then played soccer and legos all day.  They are going through a lego craze! 

Here is an article about our two teachers Bhima and Man Kumari visiting the Peck School on the front page of the Daily Record.  So awesome!

More photos from the Daily Record piece:

The Peck School's Suzy Becker (from left), Kopila Valley School science teacher Man Kumari Sunar and English teacher Bhima Thapa join Peck's Lower School director, Nina SharmaBhima Thapa (left) and Man Kumari Sunar (right) teach kindergarteners at The Peck School.Man Kumari Sunar works with kindergartener Abby M., 5

Man Kumari Sunar and Bhima Thapa