The second morning, I woke up before 5:00 and couldn't go back to sleep, so I went up to the roof to pray and worship and watch the sunrise. It was an awesome way to start the day - very peaceful, and quiet. A little cold (I could see my breath), but I felt my spirit lifted up by the Lord as I prayed over the people of Kathmandu. I knew His Spirit was praying with me. It was dark when I got up there, and I stayed until the sun had completely cleared the horizon. It was very foggy, so I couldn't see as much of the mountains as the day before. I later found out that two other people from our group - I think it was Melissa and Lauren - had also been up there praying that morning, one before me and one after me, although we didn't overlap.
That day we all went to visit a special needs school in another section of Kathmandu. On the way, we drove past the president's house, and heard some local history from our driver - the king had previously been deposed and no longer had any power, and the new prime minister had really moved forward with improving the roads in Kathmandu, to the point of tearing up nearly all of the main thoroughfares at once throughout the city. Besides improving the quality, they were also trying to make them wider. As a result, hundreds of houses and other buildings were being torn down alongside the road, with the occupants kicked out to find somewhere else to live. We asked what the government was doing for those people, and our driver said that they were on their own, but that it was also partially their fault because all of the buildings had been illegally built too close to the street to begin with, and this was just the first government to actually care about it.
The nine of us arrived before the Ghimeres (Shailesh/Aimee/kids), so we wandered into the courtyard of the school and found a couple of kids hanging around outside. Robert had brought a little Nerf football to give away, so we played catch with them for 15 minutes or so while we waited. After we finished, Shailesh and Aimee showed up and we realized that the school was actually next door (I'm not sure what courtyard we were in), so we left the football with the kids and went to get a tour from Kulpana, the woman who coordinated the school. She was probably 30 years old or so. Shailesh's cousin was also there, because his daughter was a student at the school.
Kulpana led us through the classrooms, telling us about the various schedules they have, how they try to teach vocational skills as well as traditional school subjects. She showed us the music therapy room and the "sensory" room. It was inspiring to see how much they offered the kids with very few resources. After the tour, we went across the street and down a very uneven (and dirty) alley to the house where some of the students were living. There were also a few orphans living there. We hung out with them for a little while - once again, on the roof - and they were very happy to see us. Most of them spoke at least a little English. We prayed over them, as a group and over each child individually, anointing some of them with oil. There were about 12 or 15 kids there. Robert told a story, James did a rap, Melissa led some simple Christian songs in English, and we played a singing/hand slapping Nepali game with them. These kids were pretty awesome.
Aside from a few orphans, most of the children there had disabilities. One girl couldn't walk, and one of the smallest boys there hadn't spoken since he arrived at the school. I was amazed at how young some of them looked. One girl introduced herself as being 13, but could have passed for 8. It was strange to see the loving, caring hearts of the school leaders we met and all the great stuff in their curriculum juxtaposed against the Hindu idols and shrines we found throughout the first floor of the building. They had no problem with us speaking about Jesus to the children, which was good, but it would have been nice to have a chance to witness to the leaders more.
That day we all went to visit a special needs school in another section of Kathmandu. On the way, we drove past the president's house, and heard some local history from our driver - the king had previously been deposed and no longer had any power, and the new prime minister had really moved forward with improving the roads in Kathmandu, to the point of tearing up nearly all of the main thoroughfares at once throughout the city. Besides improving the quality, they were also trying to make them wider. As a result, hundreds of houses and other buildings were being torn down alongside the road, with the occupants kicked out to find somewhere else to live. We asked what the government was doing for those people, and our driver said that they were on their own, but that it was also partially their fault because all of the buildings had been illegally built too close to the street to begin with, and this was just the first government to actually care about it.
The nine of us arrived before the Ghimeres (Shailesh/Aimee/kids), so we wandered into the courtyard of the school and found a couple of kids hanging around outside. Robert had brought a little Nerf football to give away, so we played catch with them for 15 minutes or so while we waited. After we finished, Shailesh and Aimee showed up and we realized that the school was actually next door (I'm not sure what courtyard we were in), so we left the football with the kids and went to get a tour from Kulpana, the woman who coordinated the school. She was probably 30 years old or so. Shailesh's cousin was also there, because his daughter was a student at the school.
Kulpana led us through the classrooms, telling us about the various schedules they have, how they try to teach vocational skills as well as traditional school subjects. She showed us the music therapy room and the "sensory" room. It was inspiring to see how much they offered the kids with very few resources. After the tour, we went across the street and down a very uneven (and dirty) alley to the house where some of the students were living. There were also a few orphans living there. We hung out with them for a little while - once again, on the roof - and they were very happy to see us. Most of them spoke at least a little English. We prayed over them, as a group and over each child individually, anointing some of them with oil. There were about 12 or 15 kids there. Robert told a story, James did a rap, Melissa led some simple Christian songs in English, and we played a singing/hand slapping Nepali game with them. These kids were pretty awesome.
Aside from a few orphans, most of the children there had disabilities. One girl couldn't walk, and one of the smallest boys there hadn't spoken since he arrived at the school. I was amazed at how young some of them looked. One girl introduced herself as being 13, but could have passed for 8. It was strange to see the loving, caring hearts of the school leaders we met and all the great stuff in their curriculum juxtaposed against the Hindu idols and shrines we found throughout the first floor of the building. They had no problem with us speaking about Jesus to the children, which was good, but it would have been nice to have a chance to witness to the leaders more.
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