Teaching deaf Nepali young people how to make mosaics

Yesterday morning I joined Nepali Times journalist Pranaya Rana and photographer Min Bajacharya on a trip to Bhairahawa. This was to visit the mosaic course for deaf school leavers that we launched two weeks ago.

Meeting Pranaya at Kathmandu airport I asked what his latest story had been. He told me that he'd just returned from the south of the country where he'd been reporting on a couple of dentists who were cycling the width of Nepal with the oral health message on the need to brush teeth twice a day. As a former dentist myself I felt rather happy that I had found other, arguably more pressing, causes.

In Bhairahawa we linked up with my London staff member, Camilla Kinchin, over for her regular one month of field work - a great way to stay in touch with what's going on. She has been assisted by gap year student Holly Wheaton and the two of them have been superb leaders. I had also detached two of my mosaic-trained former circus girls, Manju and Rina, as instructors.

The course has gone extremely well and their are now 18 students taking part, including two young married couples. Once the word gets around others will be breaking the door down to join as there are so few job opportunities for deaf school leavers in Nepal. Interestingly, although able-bodied Nepalese call deaf people "lato" ("stupid") Rina has commented that they are faster and producing better work than the girls who are at our arts rehabilitation centre in Kathmandu.

This morning I followed up the visit with a trip to a "Bakery Cafe" one of five in a chain of cafes that employ deaf waiters. I am hoping that I have successfully encouraged the owner to purchase some mosaics for the walls of the cafe. That would be a great advertisement for him, for us and for the abilities of deaf young people.

The article is expected to be published on Friday 21st March and I will link to it through this blog.