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Second Biggest Festival
Tihar
Tihar is five days long and the second biggest festival in Nepal after Dashain. This festival is also called a festival of lights. Throughout the Tihar festival, people decorate their houses with beautiful lights and diyas inside and outside the houses. Tihar is also a celebration of love and reverence people show to animals like cows, crows, ox, and dogs. On the first day of Tihar crow is worshipped and it is referred to as Kaag (Crow) Tihar in Nepali. It is believed that offering and worshipping crow takes away the grief and sadness and brings good luck and happiness to the houses.
On the second day of the festival, dogs are worshipped and this day is called a Kukur (Dog) Tihar. The dogs are celebrated with tikas and garlands with delicious food. The Third day signifies another special day worshipping the Goddess Laxmi, God of wealth and cow. In the day people worship cows and in the evening the Goddess Laxmi. People clean their houses and replace old items with new ones. They make rangoli (art created with the colors on the floor) at the entrance of the house to welcome Goddess Laxmi. People perform puja extravagantly and seek blessings from the Goddess Laxmi for all the wealth and prosperity.
On the fourth-day people worship oxen, called Goru Puja. They are worshipped as they are reliably an essential part of farming culture.
The last and the fifth day of Tihar is known as Bhaitika, the most significant and important day of the Tihar festival.
On this day sisters offer tikas to their brothers praying to Yama, the God of death for their long life, success, and well-being. This day the sisters put multi-color tikas on the forehead and garland the brother alongside food consisting of Sel roti, sweets, and different varieties of delicacies.
Chhath puja
Chhath festival is celebrated soon after the Tihar festival. It is usually six days after Tihar. Chhath festival is dedicated to worshipping the Lord’s sun and is done with utmost love and dedication. On this day devotees take a holy bath in the river early in the morning performing puja to Lord Sun. People observe rigorous fasting especially women during the Chhath festival.
People preparing for the Puja of Lord Sun
<YouMe School, Khotang>
Back to School
Returning to the daily routine of school life after a long month’s vacation can be exciting and challenging at the same time. Our students seem to care less about the anxiety rather they looked prepared to get back into the swings full of energy and exuberance.
Deusi Bhailo Program at School
We believe it is the school that gives them much-needed focus and stability after an extended period of holiday they spent at home. To build the excitement, our teachers planned a fun activity of the Deusi and Bhailo Program at school. This is a kind of singing and dancing traditional culture, especially during the Tihar festival.
Our students relived the moment by singing and dancing together. Our teachers also accompanied them by playing guitars and other instruments.
We could tell our audience students were flooded with excitement and elation. Everyone’s energy was at its peak and fellow students were seen clapping and cheering the participants.
Energy Busting games and activities
The reopening of school got started with some really fun hands-on activities and games. We are always providing learning and creating an environment that encourages students to bring the best version of themselves.
Treasure Hunt Game
This game is bound to put a smile on everyone’s face. This game can be played with any age group of students and is a treasure hunting game where participants seek to collect or gather the items that are hidden in a specific place. Our students were given a list of clues and a specific time to hunt for the assessment.
It’s more of a teamwork-based game helping students in reasoning, cooperation, and mental engagement.
This was an inter house game competition. Our four houses, Sakura, Sumire, Marigold and Rhododendron were the participants. Soon the winning team was announced and Sakura House won the game. The game was full of adventure and participants rejoiced together and they were proud of their efforts.
Musical Moments
We can’t get enough of our teachers and students’ musical bondings in the Extra-Curricular Activities class. Our students are enthusiastically playing pianica with our multi-talented teacher, Mr. Kedar Thapa who happens to be a Science teacher.
Our students Smayal, Lochana, and Bebina from Grade Two, are practicing “We shall overcome ” song. This is our morning assembly song. The message behind the song is encouraging and comforting which makes us believe in ourselves.
<YouMe School, Biratnagar>
We are also officially open as the celebration of our festivities has come to an end in Biratnagar. It is always a pleasure to have children back at school. The festival is all about spending quality time and enjoying time with families and loved ones. We could see our students back recharged and full of energy.
Morning scenes at school. Our student Shaksham is preparing for the morning assembly on the first day of school after the holiday.
Students march past after assembly heading towards the class. We are regularly running the classes. With the Covid situation settling in gradually, we commit to building a safer environment for our students.
Student Corner
Our dear student Ayuna from Grade Three, has a lot to share about the Tihar vacation she spent in her maternal village, Diprung Rural Municipality. Diprung is located in the Khotang district. She fondly remembers her Tihar holiday, the fun she had with her brothers and family members.
On the way, she took a photo with her mom on the bridge. She recalls she didn’t want to miss an opportunity of capturing beautiful scenery.
Usually, the way of transportation in Nepal is via road. Aayuna says she was all very excited when she got on the bus to her village. Before, the road conditions on the way to her village were not good. They had to walk for days to reach her village. Now the road conditions are improved they have the bus dropped them off nearby her village.
On the day of Bhaitika, she’d put tikas on her brothers and enjoyed playing and eating with them. She wants to go back to her village next year’s Tihar as well.
We are sure you all are happy to hear about her village stay experience and her journey.
<Bag Project>
This is a project started with the purpose of inspiring students by supporting them with a Japanese school bag as a token of love. After a struggle with the Covid crisis and a year-long delay, we are so thrilled to announce our bag project is finally proceeding apace.
We firmly believe in education for empowerment and creating a community where people from all backgrounds are well-educated, skilled, and self-reliant. However, many students lack basic necessities they require at school and one of them is a school bag. This initiation we hope to motivate students to go to school. Having a proper school bag they can carry their belongings safely and well-organized.
The bags were in the store in Kathmandu for almost eight months. Finally, the bags were transported in trucks. Three trucks carried the bags to the destination, Khotang.
It generally takes 7-8 hours to reach Khotang from Kathmandu. But we have people on the field working on the process and receiving the bags. We will keep sharing the distribution updates soon.