Before
Painting
After
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Bipana Thapa's update
Bipana
Thapa is one of the brilliant students we have. She successfully completed
Grade 9 in first division and now promoted to Grade 10. This is the last year
for schooling and she will attend SLC (School Leaving Certificate) exam. After
Grade 10 she will join college. Her school team is very happy to have her for
her academic excellence and also very active in non-academic activities. Her
favourite sports in Basketball and plays with her friends in her school. She is
also very well behaved and so far no any complain from the school.
Bipana and
her younger brother Saroj were brought to Kathmandu about a year back to
provide better education for their future. They are now staying in the hilly,
peaceful area near by the school. They all live in one large room and cook in
one corner. Our MySmallHelp, volunteer Binod has been looking after them.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Chepang shelter project, Lamjung
The Chepang community is a nomadic group amongst the poorest in society. Historically they have been nomadic but in more recent years they have been encouraged to settle into small communities and live a more sedentary lifestyle. In April MSH agreed to construct 3 family shelters for the poorest members of the community. Land has been secured and materials have been purchased to begin the construction process.
So far, all the required materials for the foundation work are delivered to the site. Old huts are demolished and foundation and construction of wall has started. All labor is contributed by the community beside a day meal.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Antoine y Sarai en la escuela de Rumira
Antes de llegar a Ollantaytambo, tenÃa la ilusión de
poder enseñar a niños; sin saber que el sueño se harÃa realidad.
A los pocos dÃas de habernos instalado, nos dijeron, nos
vamos a la Escuelita de Rumira, el camino duró solo quince minutos.
El hecho de llegar al lugar, lleno de alegrÃa nuestros
corazones y finalmente interactuar con los niños sobrepaso todas nuestras
emociones.
Cada uno de ellos, con una especial historia, inocencia,
sonrisa y ganas de querer aprender inglés y francés; y con su infaltable
estruendoso saludo de ¡Buenos dÃas Señorita y Señor!
Nos designaron tres clases cada una compuesta por dos
grados, desde primero hasta sexto de primaria, con diez y ocho alumnos
aproximadamente por aula y edades que bordean desde los cinco hasta los diez y
seis años, en un caso excepcional.
Un martes empezarÃan las clases, y con mucha emoción irÃa
con Antoine, habÃamos preparado material; realmente me sentÃa toda una
profesora y querÃamos dar lo mejor de nosotros.
Cuando llegamos los niños nos esperaban con ansÃas,
iniciamos las clases con 5to y 6to de primaria, con el abecedario, los colores,
los dÃas de la semana y otras lecciones más; pero no siempre podÃa ser flexible
con ellos, ya que no faltaba alguno que iniciaba el desorden, y es ahà donde la
gran ayuda de Antoine era infalible y mi carácter se hacÃa presente.
Sin embargo, esa situación era solo cuestión de minutos,
ya que el resto de la clase tomaba su propio rumbo; lleno de lecciones, juegos
didácticos, enseñanza personalizada, dedicación y mucho amor.
Al dÃa siguiente nos tocarÃa tener el desafÃo de
enseñarles a los niños de 1ero y 2do de primaria, niños los cuales muchos de
ellos no habÃan si quiera llevado inicial, percatándonos de la falta de nivel
educativo; sin embargo eso no fue motivo para decaer, unimos esfuerzo con
Antoine y buscamos alternativas de enseñanza.
3ero y 4to es un aula especial, tenemos niños con mucho
interés y algunos otros que requieren más de nuestro
apoyo constante.
Ésta última semana nos sucedió algo increÃble, algunos de
los niños de diferentes clases nos esperaban afuera de las aulas, cerca del
paradero y otros en el gras de la escuela;
para que les podamos seguir enseñando, detalles como esos, para nosotros
valen más que cualquier otra cosa y por supuesto nos motiva a seguir con ésta
ayuda desinteresada.
Después de tres semanas de ésta increÃble experiencia,
puedo decir con certeza que el sueño me lo hicieron éstos niños, al darme la
oportunidad de ser su profesora de turno.
No ha sido fácil ganarnos el respeto de éstos niños, pero
a pulso, sentimos que lo hemos logrado,
y no solo eso, sino que también estamos seguros de tener sus corazones.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
The MSH sewing project
Xoxo
Meca (the teacher)
The MSH sewing project started because we thought it will be great if the mom's of the bus kids, whom are usually helping in their fields or at home, can also help provide for the family another income which is always welcome.
In our organization, we help not only the kids, but we like to provide a whole environment for them to have a better life, trying to help their families as well.
The sewing project seemed a good idea, mostly in these lands, women usually know the ancient art of embroidering and doing magnificent stuff with what the land provides. But as there's always a “but” they need motivation, help with new designs and of course also sewing machines, which they couldn’t previously afford.
The initial idea…
So we decided to make it happen. The whole idea of this project was to teach them how to make things which are easy to sell, don’t cost that much to make, and also are pretty and different from the stuff they sell around Cusco (such as bags, cushions etc).
We decided to hire a fashion designer to help them, meaning me (laughing) and I started to buy everything we needed in Lima before travelling to Ollantaytambo.
So we bought 1 sewing machine, also i brought mine, rulers, paper, fabrics and tons of stuff to start the classes but now the question was how to pick them? Because we only had space to start with just 5 or 6 mums tops.
The picking…
We went to speak to all of the mums of the children that go on our school bus mums to tell them about the project, and we knew that the ones that were really interested will stay. There was plenty of interest but the ones that have shown the most commitment are the ones that I call students now. They are: Ana, Rosa, Goya and Rina.
They are so cool and willing to learn so much to help their families.
The rules
As we offer the classes free of charge we had to put certain rules to maintain order.
- A small percentage of the profit will be for MySmallHelp as a way of giving back and helping us to continue to cover the project costs. It is important to teach them that everything is not handed for free, that one has to work to earn and that one should give back when u are handed something. “Teach how to fish, don’t give the fish for free”.
- Class attendance sheet, if they are not coming they must call before, otherwise it’s considered as skipping class. It 's funny because it's like going back to school, they even ask me for recess sometimes and usually call me “Profe” (which means teacher in Spanish slang). I am so much younger than them but they are so polite!!
The classes
Four cute ladies and I started a cool journey together. It was an amazing adventure, some of them are illiterate so we had to go slowly.
The first class was drawing and painting a handbag and mannequin, just to know how they can do it. Learn about their abilities and we had lots of fun! They needed to work on the drawing, so I gave them homework.
The second class was how to make patterns we made a really easy one, but it took us almost two classes to finish it. Again they need more polishing.
The third class, half of it was finishing the patterns and the other half we started cutting the handbag on fabric. We used simple fabrics at first so we didn’t waste expensive materials. They were really committed and did really good.
The fourth class was also about cutting and drawing the design in the fabric to start sewing. The mums were really excited! Soon they will use the machines.
The fifth class was about learning how to use the machines and also they had to sew some patterns I made for them and follow the lines, so they can sew the handbag properly. Funny story, one of the mums said: “I think I am doing the ruins instead of the lines you made teacher” jajaja we all aughed , these kind of thing make classes much cooler!
The sixth class was at last sewing the handbag, they were really awesome doing them. They still need more practice but we are taking baby steps. It took us two classes to finish sewing them.
The seventh class was the beginning of embroidering the flowers to make the handbags prettier. That also took us 2 classes embroidering with beads, which is really time consuming even for me. We had such a blast doing that! I let them pick the colours they wanted to see their taste. They have a good one I may say although the need some more work but they are on the right path!
The eighth class was also embroidering and so we finished their first handbags. They were really pretty!
The ninth class was starting to make cushion covers. We made the pattern and some of them started cutting them. Now, they had more practice and things were easier and faster to make. The tenth class, and sadly the last one of the first round, was finishing cutting the cushion patterns and sewing them.
We have much more to do so classes will restart soon.
The goal
Have the mums make cool handbags, cushion covers and more things that I will help them to design and MSH will sell to tourists in the Cusco area with the aim of eventually exporting them outside of Peru.
This story doesn’t end here, it will continue with the support of our donors and the good will of the people we help.
See you on the next period of the MSH SEWING PROJECT
Xoxo
Meca (the teacher)
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