shabaley

I haven't known what to write. It's been a month now since the earthquake, and though the kids and their families are alive and safe, they have lost so much. For most of them, their homes, and entire villages are gone. The school is so badly damaged, with 120 kids still living under a tarp, sleeping on the ground. With the monsoon season upon them, I don't know how they will cope. Aftershocks have become too many to count, and just when they feel the ground has finally stopped shaking, it begins again. I cannot imagine their fear, their anxiety.



Tsering Lama told me that something in his back was broken after that wall fell on him, but he assures me that he feels much better, and now he plans to trek to what is left of his village. Tsewang found out that Pemba Tsering is in his village and unharmed, and Pemba Gyaltsen managed to contact me to tell me he's ok too. The only one we still have no word on is Phurbu Nyima. I keep hoping that his phone just ran out of battery and he's safe with his loved ones, but how I worry...



These snapshots are from our week-long SMD After School Artists reunion this February. We dined on shabaley and momos, and I added some Turkish helva to the mix. Pedro sketched Tsewang, and Kiran drew a cup of tea on a square of tissue, which I then slipped between the pages of my sketchbook.

There go my eyes again. They keep getting all watery!



Please donate to the Himalayan Children's Fund if you can. The funds go directly to Shree Mangal Dvip School if you write "SMD School" in the designation box— any little bit helps!

hope

Sangita is one of the original Shree Mangal Dvip After School Artists. She was about thirteen when we first met, intensely staring at me with huge eyes from the back corner of a tiny, dark classroom. You could have heard a pin drop in the silence of the room, though it was full of kids. Over the years, she has grown out of her shyness into a bold, intelligent, and confident young woman with a fantastic sense of humour. I would never describe her as quiet now— hers is a voice that is always heard, a voice of support and kindness, a voice that stands up for the people who need it most.

Sketch of Boudhanath Stupa, by Sangita

When Sangita completed her 10th and final year at SMD, she was awarded a full scholarship to complete high school at International School of Asia, Karuizawa (ISAK), in Japan. I was so proud, so impressed with the little girl with the ponytail, who became my model of perseverance. Being a person who needs to get things done, she and the other Nepali students at ISAK, Karma and Himanshu, banded together and began a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the rural areas of Nepal devastated by the earthquake. With the students and staff of ISAK rallying behind them, and the help of Sherab Dolma Sherpa in Canada, these clever and compassionate students have created ISAK's ProjectNEPAL, where you can easily donate money to help. Please visit ISAK's ProjectNepal's GoFundMe page for more information.

an update, and a way to help

The week has been frustrating, with dropped calls and connections so bad that Tsewang's voice was chopped into nonsensical sounds. Nevertheless, we have managed to talk nearly every day since the earthquake, and this is what I know:

The 240 kids and staff at Shree Mangal Dvip School (SMD) are safe, though still sleeping outside under tarps. They have food and water so far, and they have opened the school grounds to others for shelter. Many of the children's villages are gone, and some still do not know if their families are alive and safe. Tsewang's family is safe, though their homes are gone. Most of his village in Nubri, which is in the hardest-hit district of Ghorka, has been destroyed. Like many of the remote villages in Nepal devastated by the earthquake, they are in desperate need of water, food, and shelter. I cannot imagine the stress and fear that the kids must be feeling— not knowing the status of their loved ones back home, and not knowing how to help them. The news from Nepal is that the government is not sending villages any help and support, and that most of the aid is being focused on the Kathmandu area. Survivors are essentially starving on the hillsides and mountains.



As for my dear artists, the original group whom I've been teaching for the past five years, news has been trickling in. Most are safe, though emotionally exhausted and fearful of more aftershocks. They are doing their best to support the littler ones, and to help out in any capacity they can (you can see Kiran, Tsewang, Nyima, and Tsering D. above). As several of the original group graduated (SMD only goes up to 10th grade), many of them are no longer at school. One of my boys, Tsering Lama, was hospitalised after a wall fell on him, and no one seems to know exactly where he is or how badly he is injured. No one has any news from Phurbu Nyima, or the two Pembas. Last I knew, they were in their villages.

I have had a difficult time sleeping and focusing, not knowing if they are safe, not knowing if the families of all the kids are safe, and knowing that they are afraid. I do not know yet how to get help to the villages, but I do know how to help the school.



The Himalayan Children's Fund (HCF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in the United States, dedicated to supporting SMD, along with the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and abbey founded by Thrangu Rinpoche. I fully trust HCF, as I have donated funds through them in the past, and know that they money does indeed reach the school. I also sponsor one of SMD's fine young artists through HCF.

One of the easiest ways to donate is through Network For Good. Follow this link to the HCF page:
https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=954121177

To support Shree Mangal Dvip School, please type "Earthquake relief for SMD" in the designation box when you are making your donation. Your donation however, can be designated or undesignated— if it is undesignated, the money will be distributed where it is needed between SMD, SMD's clinic, the monasteries, and the abbey. For more information, please read the latest HCF newsletter.



I thank you for all the kind words of support that I have received, and hope that you will keep my dear ones and the people of Nepal in your hearts and thoughts.

All photos are from Shirley Blair and Tsering D.

nepal

I am left without words, with a terrible pain in my chest. Yesterday morning as I was walking through Taksim Square, I saw a plane with its right engine on fire streak across the sky, a ring of debris floating to the ground. I was filled with dread, and thought of the terror the passengers and crew must be feeling, and spent the day hoping for their safety. When I returned home, I learned that TK1878 had landed safely, no one was injured, and I breathed.

Then I heard about Nepal.

As I clicked through news story after news story, and the emails in my inbox— panic. I tried calling my loved ones in Kathmandu, and the phone just kept ringing. I couldn't breathe.

Finally, I got a hold of Tsewang, one of my students. He assured me that everyone was safe, though his home in his village had collapsed. His aunties in Swayambhunath are safe. It was the middle of the night for him, so I told him to try and get some rest, and that Pedro and I love him.

Today I managed to contact Tsewang again, who told me that he was trying to help manage the situation. Everyone slept outside, they had some tents. Everyone was still safe. Many villages were destroyed. He then passed me to Shirley, the director of Shree Mangal Dvip. The school was substantially damaged; it is now unusable, and they are in desperate need of water. There was another aftershock that registered 6.7.

As soon as I can find a way to help them, I will let you know. Until then, please keep my kids and the people of Nepal in your hearts and thoughts.

the moments that change your life

It was in this dark little room that my life changed, five years ago. I remember that first art class as though it were yesterday— the room full of shy kids eager to draw, who scarcely uttered a word for the first few days. We had copier paper and pencils, the erasers were cut into four pieces so everyone could have their own, and we drew whatever was around— ink bottles, keys, each other.

It's funny how you never know what moment will change your life until time has settled in. I never knew that the kids in front of me would become so dear to me that they would be my family, and that I would return to Nepal year after year.



Our group grew larger, and we moved to the cafeteria balcony. Some students got scholarships to study abroad, some returned to their villages to do service, some went to college, and some got jobs. Pedro and I got married. It's amazing, all the things that can happen in five years.



It's amazing how kids turn into young adults when you're not looking!

art class

If you've been following my blog for the past four years, then you are probably aware of the reason why I spend summer after summer in Nepal:



On the balcony of Shree Mangal Dvip School's lunchroom, under violet-grey and charcoal monsoon skies, I teach art to some extraordinary kids.

the passing of time

The After School Artists Exhibition at SMD marks the end of another wonderful adventure in Nepal. It gets harder and harder to go, and the knowledge that this may be the last time I see some of my students, leaves me with the feeling of a stone in my chest. There is no room at the school past tenth grade— and when I ask my tenth grade students what will happen next, they smile, shake their heads Nepali-style, and simply say "I don't know."



These past few months have been overwhelming in many ways, and I haven't known what to write, or what to share. I miss my kids. They have become such a large part of my life, and come June, I hope I'll see all of their smiling faces. If I find that my tenth graders have moved from Kathmandu, I'll just have to find them, and visit them elsewhere.

sketching at the stupa

On a fine, bluish afternoon, Pedro, Pema and I took the art students to Boudhanath Stupa to sketch. For the older kids, this was a rare treat; to be able to leave school grounds to draw in public, and for the younger students, who had never done something like this before, it was utter excitement. Due to the high risk of child trafficking in Nepal, students are not allowed out of the school gates until their final year at SMD, so getting to explore the world outside their dorm room windows was a unique thrill. Their concentration was astounding— the wee ones drew for nearly two hours without losing focus or interest, and the older kids looked after them like hawks, offering advice and making sure the little artists were comfortable.



Just look at all those beautiful smiles!
How can I not keep returning?

sketching the school

Shree Mangal Dvip is a boarding school. Some kids have not seen their parents in years, as their villages are more than a week's trek from the nearest road, lying at altitudes that would make us gasp. The peeling buildings at the school are home, while fellow students and younger teachers become brothers and sisters. Many former students grow up only to return as teachers, as they just cannot bear to leave the arms of the school.

While most of my younger students are content to draw mountains, princesses and Justin Biebers, I wanted them to draw something that truly mattered to them— something that was a part of them. I hope they learn to find inspiration in the everyday, and begin to really look at the world around them.

After the rain one afternoon, we began to sketch the school.



As we scattered about the yard with papers and pencils, others wanted to join in or huddle around and watch. Most kids drew the dorms or the playground, while others drew their friends or some plants.
 


My favourite moment was when this little girl— who often appears at the window to the balcony where we have class, ready and willing to model for portraits— asked for a piece of paper and a pencil. Gripping both tightly in her hands, she climbed into the see-saw, and very seriously sketched the swing set. She was not originally in my art classes, but seems to have been listening to a thing or two while posing for the artists, and has been a part of the lessons since this sketch.

this is what it's all about

This is my Nepal; the reason for my return— the kids at Shree Mangal Dvip. For a third summer, a third monsoon, it has been my privilege to share my love of art with these wonderful young artists— and thanks to the success of the students' exhibition last year, I've got a new group of eager artists. When I first arrived at SMD in the summer of 2010, if I remember correctly, we were a little group of about twelve to fourteen kids. This summer, we are squeezing over thirty kids onto the benches of the cafeteria's balcony to learn about line, value, and colour. I am continually overwhelmed by their eagerness, dedication, and talent. It is my goal to get these kids sketching their experiences, and expressing something of themselves, to use art to tell their story and bring them joy.

Thanks to the generosity of Laloran Sketchbooks in Portugal, the donations of Kim Marohn and the Paris Urban Sketchers, Orling Dominguez, Jim Richards, and Cathy Johnson, we've got beautiful handmade sketchbooks and a variety of art supplies in these excited hands. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you from the kids. Stay tuned— I will be posting photos throughout the summer of our work.



 These kids are my home.