It’s Thursday, tomorrow is a public holiday for a Hindu festival, so our last day sharing the message of equality. 4 school on the agenda all very welcoming. The first, Mills school, teachers and children taking on the learning of catching throwing and batting and the madness of catching tennis over the volleyball net led by Ed, where Lee and Tim couldn’t resist joining in throwing their bodies to the dusty grounds to win the ball.
I had a young lad who decided to work alongside me and coach the other children who circulated to catching and everyone had fun. The teachers and wee kids also joined the station. We then hailed a tuk tuk round to Orchid school, a visible difference in the discrimination of the role of the boys and girls, reflected in the discussions and actions on the field. Boys glued together and the girls ditto. We worked hard to teach the importance of teamwork, valuing the strengths of individuals and looking out for each other when Tim and I ran rapid fire. As for the teachers their enthusiasm over-stepped so continual removal to the side-lines was required. Ongoing coaching and much time will infiltrate change as we’ve seen elsewhere.
Our Everest moment was after a quick veg momo stop which was very tasty, taking a tuk tuk to a rural part of Biratnagar and landing at a school for deaf and mute children, where a few could speak and partially hear. The teachers spoke to us signed to the children and taught us a couple of signs to communicate. 155 children, relays set up in rows of 10, demo stations shown and away they went.
The focus on the children’s ability to replicate was such a reflection on how watching is so powerful a tool to teach, the peer support and the sounds of joy was beautiful. All ages, all abilities were absorbed, such an air of peace yet sounds of laughter. At the end an older boy pointed to Lee to show his bowling, he was sharp and a wicked bowler. We saw so much skill and at the end Nepal Cricket Foundation and CWB agreed to support further integration for equality for coaching for the deaf. A fantastic feeling to see how CWB really does a support the local coaching moving forward.
All in all, our time in Nepal has been one of joy.
Sian
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