Thank you for your love and support.
A small gift for our supporters!!
Our students tried writing in Japanese too. We are really grateful for the love and generosity of our supporters that actually acknowledged our hard work and believed in our vision of creating a better world through education. Thank you for being a part of our YouMe family. You all have made our journey beautiful and worthwhile.
Happy New Year – Nepali New Year
The New Year’s Day in Nepal this year was April 13 (2078). Why is Nepal’s New Year different from other countries? This is because the calendar used in Nepal is the lunar calendar, and the New Year is usually between April 12th and 18th.
The New Year is often marked by social gatherings or parties and meetups. However, this year’s celebration became different and unique on its own. Due to the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in Nepal, many people celebrated staying indoors with the family.
This photo was found and sent by the staff at a shopping mall near the Kathmandu office.
The Nepalese flag is illuminated to celebrate the New Year. The yellow letters on the left are Nepalese numbers “2078”.
Here is the picture of our Biratnagar school staff on a New Year dressed up in a sari.
Our staff is looking so pretty in a colorful sari. Sari is traditionally worn by women of Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc. In Nepal, women wear a sari on special occasions. Also, most of the school’s women staff have a saree as their uniform.
<YouMe School, Khotang>
Dr. Eric’s online lecture
As we announced in the previous newsletter, YouMe Nepal is conducting online classes with guests living overseas.
The second guest lecturer this time was Dr. Eric, a friend of our Founder Sharad Chandra Rai from the University of Tokyo graduate school. We also had Dr. Eric’s nephew Ludvig from Sweden.
Our students were enlightened from basic knowledge about Sweden’s population and capital to deep knowledge about Swedish school history and education.
At the end of the session, we set up a question corner where our children asked a few questions directly to Dr. Eric.
Our 6th grader Susana Rai asked some questions she was interested in knowing about Dr. Eric.
Susana: “How many countries have you visited so far?”
Eric: “About 40 countries!”
Susana: “Have you been to Nepal?”
Eric: “I haven’t been there yet, but I want to visit Nepal someday. I hope to meet you guys in Nepal someday.
Thank you Dr. Eric and Ludvig for their wonderful and warm lessons. When the world calms down, please come visit us at school.
The video of the online lecture is on YouTube, so please have a look. We have shared the link below. ☆
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4RcgMGroVs
Our students have written some thank you Letters to Dr. Eric and his nephew Ludvig.
We have some letters of our students attached below. Our students are privileged to have such meaningful sessions with you both. Thank you again for your time.
<Home Visit>
Before the spread of the COVID19, we had been continually implementing a home visit program in Khotang. This was halted for a year when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak. When the situation slightly improved we immediately planned a home visit program where our YouMe Nepal staff and a registered nurse Nisha Rai and the teachers from Khotang School headed to the children’s house.
The most important objective of a home visit for us is that teachers and nurses can get a glimpse of our student’s and their parent’s lives together.
We constantly follow up on our children’s dietary habits and discuss at home the changes that have been or should be brought about for their health.
It is very encouraging for us to be able to interact directly with our children’s parents. Our team will learn more about parenting skills, the health of children and their families, and their relationships with children.
【Football project】
The other day, [Waccell], which donated the representative Laiga online, donated soccer balls and volleyball.
Football Distribution Program is all about the encouragement and support to schools and clubs of Durchhim ward no. 5. The Football distribution program also aims to bring the opportunity to those who really have an interest in making the football sport more professional. It is the part of the school curriculum which provides the knowledge of teamwork and develops good health.
This project was delayed due to the influence of the new coronavirus, but in early April, all 100 soccer balls were safely donated to a school in Nepal.
The Football distribution Program was initially planned to support schools and clubs with football support. The beneficiary of this program will be the students of schools and players of the Clubs of Halesi Tuwachung Municipality, ward no. 5, where YouMe School is also located.
10 schools (1,200 people) and 9 soccer / volleyball clubs (200 people).
Everyone was really happy about it ^ ^
Thank you again, Waccel, for your donation!
Thank you for your continued support for YouMe Nepal. (^ ^)
【Musical Contest】
A musical contest was held on New Year’s Eve (April 13th) in Nepal. Our students from kindergarten classes to 6th graders showed off their proud performances in each class and individually.
Yasodha Rai, a 4th grader who won individually.
Singing ability and rhythm comparable to adults.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7hwc_pFa7M
song[RAIL LAI MA]
Below is the performance for each class ♪
Kindergarten class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pt-kXywfJE
Song [Making Melody In My Heart]
A song that a small child can sing while dancing
1st grade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSYPdeATgRk
Song [Jun Ta Lagyo Tara Le]
A song about love for children
Second grade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehVVYfoie_c
Song [Chaubandi Ma Patuki]
The song about my heart is always with Nepal and a daughter of Nepal who loves her country.
3rd grade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PskYDrEMZI
Song [GAUN GAUN BATA UTHA]
Let’s bring the villagers together and liven up the country!
4th grade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNwnIz3edLQ
Song [Bipul Chettri]
A song made in the hope of the happiness of the born daughter
5th grade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chc1apWB1p0
Song [RATO RA CHANDRA SURYA]
A song that proudly sings Nepal, such as the Nepalese Army
6 Year Student
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mnnB9QZxcA
Song [SOORA BARSE UMERAIMA]
It’s a kind of peepy song where a guy explains his shenanigans of his sixteen. And expressing love for a girl.
At the end, the contest ended with the performance of the teachers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhPGRr5-wcU
It’s been more than a year since we couldn’t hold such an event every month before the spread of the coronavirus.
The children really enjoyed this event and it was a refreshing experience.
We hope to keep continuing creating opportunities for children to think for themselves and demonstrate their individuality.
<YouMe School Biratnagar>
Dr Eric’s class was held at the same time at Biratnagar as well as at Khotang.
Our children from Biratnagar also wrote a thank-you letter to Dr. Eric and his nephew Ludvig. We have shared some of the letters here.
[English class! ]
April 19th (Monday)
Our English teacher Vijay Giri from YouMe School, Birtnagar is teaching English subject. English is our mandatory subject included in the curriculum. We wanted to share a glimpse of our English class. The video link is shared below.
This is class 8 (second grade of junior high school).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqd2JVXmw_4
In today’s class, we are learning Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Our teacher checks minutely to see if the children understand it properly.
This way, children who do not understand can ask questions without hesitation at this time.
<Online Project>
Our team in Kathmandu had a meeting with Baraha School and Balamta School teachers this week. Our teachers from Kathmandu and the teachers from Baraha and Balamta had a detailed discussion and planning in regards to the upcoming SEE examination. The National Education Examination has decided to conduct SEE amid the Covid 19 pandemic. The examination will be held by following all the safety precautions instructed by the Government. The examination is scheduled on May 27th 2021.
【Asha Project】
Six years since the devastating earthquake struck Nepal, causing damage to half a million buildings and taking away the lives of so many people. This destructive incident left indelible scars on the people as most of them suffered from being separated from their families forever.
www.nset.org.np
The deadly quake-affected every sector of the country including the educational sector at that time. Several thousand schools had a hard time resuming classes owing to the damage inflicted and the fear of repeated aftershocks then.
The educational institutions were nearly closed for two months; students were bound to stay back home because of the constant fear of aftershocks and the severe damages caused to the buildings by the earthquake. After the quake, the main priorities were education and shelter.
Considering the situation of that particular time YouMe Nepal was determined to help some earthquake-stricken schools by building a Temporary Learning Centres. Initially, setting off with Lamjung district’s remote village Pahcok, VDC; in the Gandaki Zone of northern-central Nepal.
This village was one of the most earthquake-affected areas of Lamjung district. Pachok Secondary School with 350 students, serving the 2 wards of the village was not in the condition of operating classes.
And the second school was Ilam Devi Primary School with 37 students. It was the same village but the wards were different. However, with many challenges and hurdles ahead we still managed to do everything smoothly and successfully.
Though it was for temporary usage we didn’t want to compromise on the safety and quality so we opted for a metal truss for a long-lasting result.
It was a life-changing experience for us, we went through a process where we had to build a school that is functional and safe at the same time. Our primary objective was to provide the earthquake affected children a safe and protected learning environment where they can study until the government reinstates the school.
We started off Asha Project as a sponsorship program to help a few needy students depending upon the organizational capacity.
The financial support our organization offered was not only merely focused on making the children’s future secure but also was determined on helping them mentally and intellectually grow stronger.
In this case, we believe nurturing the children by providing them with the right guidance and counseling. Initially, we had 5 students, later we couldn’t continue due to our financial crisis and had to leave 4 of them in between. We terminated the contract with mutual consent from the student’s guardians. Now we have 2 students whom we support financially and emotionally in their overall well-being.
Aftermath the earthquake was a phase where we saw the downfall as well as experienced the power of unification. Therefore, the whole journey from making TLC’s to sponsoring children has made us a little wiser and relatable to the situation and life of whom we work with or work for is priceless emotion and encounter.
Learning from the mistakes and still moving forward only to bring a little change to the people’s lives and their thinking is the asset we want to achieve and own in our every work and effort.