Cinder blocks and smiles
The Nepal group arrived in Okhale several days ago and are settling into their homestays. The first night was naturally a bit awkward with the language barrier, but the students pushed through and are now well on their way to finding paths to communication with their families.
When speaking with Brooke and Dan today, we caught them just as two of the students were dropping off some “treats” from the local store for the everyone to try. The students got on the phone with us and told us their highlights and observations so far in the community: Through lots of smiles and gestures students are participating fully in daily family life and really enjoying the kindness of their host families. Everyone is enjoying the plentiful and delicious foods, although a lot of dal bhat the group enjoys the spices! Many of the students are also learning to cook and helping clean and tidy around their new homes. Today the students successfully hand washed their own clothes, the only trick will be getting them to dry as it has been quite rainy!
The group is working hard on the work site and in just a few short days managed to build up two 12 foot walls of the school! The group has been rotating leaders of the day, every two days and Brooke and Dan are continually impressed by the breadth of leadership among this group! They are often engaging in interesting discussions, recently they have been discussing integrity, community inspiration, and what makes each of them “come alive”.
In addition to settling into their homestays and working on the service site, the group also toured an organic farm where the farmers grow typical crops like potatoes and turnips, and also are experimenting with kiwis!
This weekend Brooke and Dan are planning to take the group to an organic coffee farm and visit a small nearby town. Also, they are planning to host a music night where the group and community members can come to together to share music. On Monday the group will host an afternoon of activities for the younger children in the community.
Check out the photos from Okhale here!
