Yesterday I received an e mail update from Lynne Rawlings, the Trust's volunteer in Hetauda:
"Namaste! Each day between 9 and 11 girls assemble in a large upstairs room at the Refuge. They don't need any encouragement to put out the mats and start work on their mosaics. A few girls have tried a couple of days with us, but they prefer to sew and can now be found each day contentedly working away at black Singer sewing machines. Most of the girls sew their own clothes and every day we are greeted by a wonderful rainbow of colours in their trousers, tunics and long scarves. Three girls had check up appointments at the hospital and dressed in their brightest and most beautiful clothes for the occasion.
The mosaic class is from 10am to 4pm with half an hour for lunch at 2pm. I'm writing this after we have just eaten roast potatoes, hard boiled egg, roti (bread) and black tea. Throughout the sweltering heat and humidity of the day, the girls remain focussed on their work. They are keen to learn, have amazing concentration and in the few days we have worked with them, the standard of work has improved – considerably in some cases! Preeya and Maya move around the girls, encouraging, demonstrating their skills and operating quite a strict quality control – we've seen many tiles removed that didn't reach their high standards!! But the girls don't seem to mind, they just want to get it right and seem equally keen to show us their finished product. They all demonstrate an amazing patience – not just in the working of the mosaic, but whilst they wait for us to draw out their patterns or wait while the 'teachers' check and amend their designs. Not once has anyone shown the slightest hint of impatience.
With each day the girls seem more comfortable with us being here – even the most shy now smiles and says 'Namaste'. Eye contact with one or two was not happening at first, but now all of them look at us and acknowledge our presence. Singing happens whilst they work and at the end of the session on the third day, we were treated to an impromptu display of tumbling, balancing and juggling. The girls were being children, they evidently wanted to show us what they are good at and good at it they were. But it was difficult to watch knowing where they had learnt the skills!
Some girls are not doing mosaics, they spend much time in their rooms studying, but like the mosaic girls they are keen and eager to show us their work. They are keen to learn, eager to accept any help we can give them and want to speak English with us. There's lots of laughter as we try to understand each other and sometimes get the sense of the conversation completely wrong!!
Last night we were invited to eat with the girls – an honour to be asked to do this in Nepal. The mosaic studio was transformed into a dining room and the girls sat on mats on the floor, whilst a table and four chairs was very carefully positioned under the ceiling fan for us. Dinner was prepared by some of the girls and was rice, two types of fish, dahl, poppadoms, cauliflower, beans and grated cabbage, carrot and radish. Delicious! As a treat we'd bought bottles of Fanta for the girls. Clearing up is difficult to help with – any attempt by us to clear plates is quickly followed by cries of 'No Sister' (the term that they call female visitors to the house, men they call brother) and several helping hands take the plates away.
One evening the four of us went into the street outside the Refuge to get a rickshaw into town. We were going to have dinner and a beer at the local hotel – it gives us a couple of hours chilling time when we can reflect on the day. But this evening there wasn't a rickshaw in sight. There is a small family shop opposite the Refuge and the lady was soon coming over to our rescue. She shouted to her husband who appeared in his vest on the roof, but quickly came down to us in the street, buttoning up his shirt. A brief conversation between the two of them and he was leading us down the street to a place where there were several rickshaws parked. Minutes later and we were on our way – once again being a focus of attention as we rode in convoy along the main street in Hetauda.
The hospitality and kindness of the Nepalese people is sometimes overwhelming."
Lynne has promised me another update before they leave Hetauda in a couple of days' time. It will all have been very worthwhile as their top one or two mosaic students will transfer to my studio in Kathmandu. The remainder can repeat the Hetauda course (with different volunteers) until they are selected or try different opportunities.
Last evening by candlelight I derived a great deal of entertainment from dipping for the first time into a recently published local expatriate cookbook that has very strong echoes from the start of the last century. It is hard to imagine anyone taking this kind of stuff seriously but I expect there are some diehard thrifty memsahebs out there in Kathmandu for whom this is compulsory reading. Here goes with some selected extracts:
[From the introduction]
"Working with your cook to ensure understanding of the recipes, you will experience delicious, delightful and tasty dishes."
[Special tips]
"Servants - persons employed in your home should appear healthy. They should have evidence of or get a chest X-ray for tuberculosis when they start working for you. The chest X-ray whould be repeated during respiratory illnesses that cause them to lose weight or in two years' time."
"Freeze leftover egg whites in ice cube tray, one per cube; when frozen pop out and store in plastic bag until needed."
"Nuts will keep longer if refrigerated in tightly covered containers."
"Muffin tins can double as ice cube trays. Jumbo cubes are attractive floating in punches and last longer."
"When measuring molasses or honey, coat the measuring cup first with margarine or butter for easy pouring."
"A local stone grinder may be used instead of a blender [why????]. Choose one of uniform color, 20 cm wide. Before using soak with 1-2 tablespoons salt water for 7-10 days."
And so it goes on. Confucius eat your heart out. I must add that the book was not a purchase but presented to me as a gift.
