The Coronavirus quarantine took hold just as out students were finishing their spring semester. This gave some students the opportunity to go to stay with family and get out of Kathmandu for a little while.
Due to limited internet access in remote villages the students have returned to Khushi Ghar to insure they don’t fall behind in their studies.
For some of the students, this was their first time spending time with their family. We asked them to reflect on these experiences:
Tashi:
I finished my final exam and I came to Khushi Ghar for my summer vacation and my mom came to Khushi Ghar to take me to my village. I went to Kohlpur where I met every family members and I was really happy and excited. My village Kohlpur lies in the Terai part of the region. It is a very hot place. I had difficulties in accommodating with the weather. It was my first time going out of the Kathmandu valley with my very own family. It took me one and a half-day to reach there. I went to my sister’s place there.
I stayed for about three months in Kohlpur. Every morning I woke up at seven and had my breakfast and then I would study fo
r an hour. I would also help my sister in cooking. At ten o’clock we would have lunch. After lunch, I would do the dishes. Though I had my online classes regularly I only got a chance to join the class for a few days due to lack of internet connection.
I spent three months with my family and I got to know them better. It was my first time that I spent this long time with my family and I got to know and learn about my village and my family struggle in their day to day activities. Despite this, I also had a great time watching movies together, helping them in household chores, and helping in the field. I learned how to cook but yet I am not perfect. At this time I got to know and learn about village life better and also came to know about the difficulties people face in villages.
It was a long vacation for me. therefore, I had a lot of leisure time. So most of the time I slept, chit-chatted with my brothers helped my family in the field, and played indoor games like ludos. Besides, I often helped my mother in doing the dishes, washing, and cleaning the house.
Since it was a very long vacation, I missed my friends, brothers, sisters, aunt, and uncle at HCC. So I often used to call HCC and talk to everyone. It felt good to talk to them. Realizing how badly I had missed HCC and also since I was not able to take online classes as there was no internet service at my sister’s place, Dinesh’s (should just be Dinesh) uncle came to take me. I was filled with happiness that I was finally coming to Khushi Ghar. It took me two days to reach Kathmandu. On the first night, I stayed at Dang as uncle had work there. Then the next day we drove to Kathmandu and I was finally at Khushi Ghar.
I’m very happy to be here again. I have started taking online classes. I shared about my experience in the village with the HCC family.
Rina:
The Novel Coronavirus has been spreading in the whole world like a wildfire. Day by day the number of people dying from this virus has been increasing. So the countries were forced to impose lockdown.
So far, we believe that the only medicine of this virus is maintaining social distance and avoiding social contacts. So I visited my family. We were three of us at home (my mother, younger sister, and me). My two older sisters are already married. We didn’t move out of the house often except in case of emergency cases like buying vegetables and grocery stuff. We avoided social contacts, we did our best to stay at home and we utilized time wisely.
Before visiting my family, I had attended the “Happiness Course” of “Art of Living”. I had learned different ways of breathing techniques that would help me in my health condition, concentration, and overall for succeeding in anything I do. But we had to give our hundred percent to what we would do. So every morning, I would wake up at six and do the various breathing techniques and Surya Namaskar for an hour. Then I would do concentration yoga and study for at least one hour. After this, I would go for tea and help my mom in household works. I would also help my sister in her studies. Besides these, we spent time playing Ludo (I think this is Parcheesi and it might be good to mention it that way) , watching movies, and chatting with our friends and relatives through social media. We also utilized our time sharing our life experiences. I shared about my life at HCC with my family and they’re very happy for me because I am getting such a beautiful opportunity to build up my career. My mother talked about our past life. I had a very bad childhood story. I was deeply saddened when I heard how difficult it was for my mother to raise four kids. The positive aspect of the story of my underprivileged childhood as I was once again filled with the hope to do something better in the future.
I stayed with my family for about a month. I really enjoyed being with them. I am happy because I got a chance to learn about my history and now I am filled with a strong determination to become a successful person in the future by achieving my goals.
Suman:
After my final term examination of grade 9, I visited my village in Malekhu, Dhading. I went there with my mom. As soon as I went there the government declared a lockdown in the whole country due to coronavirus. I had to stay there for around one and a half months. During this time I learned lots of things. I went to my birthplace and I met with all the family members and got their blessing then I went to visit all the places around my village and the memorable moment was the time when I went to get the berries in the top hill with my friends. I climbed the tree and got almost half of the small bag. Then I got all the barley, millet, and buffalo ghee. Then In the early morning, I returned to Malekhu taking all the berries, millet, barley, and I learned to work with all the traditional technologies. Here in Kathmandu, we used to grind in an electric grinder but in Malekhu I learned to grind in dhiki as well as in janto. I learned to cook all the vegetables, I learned the way of cooking in a traditional cooking stove in which I had to burn the fire by blowing wood which was really tough for me in the beginning. I also grew crops and the learned way to do agriculture. In around half a month I learned lots of things in the village but still, the lockdown was not open so our school decided to start an online class which I joined after a week. There were lots of problems in the network there through which I was not able to join online class properly so I decided to come to Kathmandu during lockdown only. I woke up at sharp 4:00 A: M and came in a truck filled with wheat, around 12 at noon I reached Sukedhara, Khushi Ghar. I then was able to join my online class properly in well mannered. I spend my time playing guitar and singing.
Ambika:
After my pre-board exam, I had one month of holiday for my board examination but suddenly due to the outbreak of the COVID 19, there happened to be a lockdown. Before going to my sister’s home I had attended art of living class. I learned different kinds of breathing techniques. It was very effective and good for our health. It was different from the other way I learned. Then after a few days, I went to my sister’s home. I had taken my books along with me. During the holidays I prepared for my board exam. I used to watch reality shows as well. I love watching it. During the day, I used to read for two hours, and other times I used to do some light exercises. I used to play badminton and along with it, I used to play with my sister’s daughter. Also, I used to help my sister before her exam had been canceled. Apart from this, I had a very good time with my sister. I really enjoyed talking and sharing things with her. She taught me many things. I was more concerned with the things that I had to do in my daily life. This was my first time staying for a long time with my relatives. I learned more about my family relationship and I understood their values. I had learned life skill activities from my aunt in Khushi Ghar so I did not have to worry much about it. I was very happy as I had learned every kind of life skill activity in Khushi ghar after my SEE from my senior members and my aunt. I am very happy to be part of the HCC family. I would like to thank all my members for love, support, and for helping me become a strong and empowered girl.
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