During the school break, HCC Program Coordinators at Khushi Ghar have been hard at work to expose students to a variety of supplemental subjects as well as fun community activities to help them rest for a busy school year while still keeping their minds active and engaged. Samata Shrestha, currently studying International Studies and Psychology in Germany, returned to Khushi Ghar to teach poetry writing workshop to students.
The goal of the workshop was to encourage the students to learn the basics of poetry, perhaps discover a hidden talent, and realize that poetry is a way to convey emotion. The two-hour workshop began with welcoming the participants and the facilitator. Samata recited one of her own poems and shared her experiences in writing poetry, giving the students some techniques on how to begin writing a poem. Later, participants were asked to write their own poems.
“Love is hard to gain
We should do hard work again and again
But my love is fail
Complicated love is like a rain”
writes Dhirendra Malla, who said that he never thought he could write about an open topic in such a short amount of time. Dhirendra was happy he attended the workshop because it taught him how to begin writing a poem. Student Anukaran said, “I used to think that to compose a poem we should know more and more rhyming words but that is not true. I came to know after the workshop that poems should express the feelings of the writer.” Other participants had written poems before in Nepali about different topics, but this workshop encouraged them to be creative with words, and that poetry and other writing can be a medium to express their feelings. “Before I used to think that it is hard to write a poem, which used to take a long time, but now I came to know that it is very easy to write a poem and can be done in short period of time if you know the topic and technique,” said Koshish.
HCC utilizes innovative techniques to help students work through emotions and develop coping skills. Providing access to a variety of creative outlets is just one way of navigating emotions. Poetry can help process pain, anger, love, joy, and even patriotic pride. Dinesh inspires us with his poem about his love of his home, reminding us of the value of looking around at the goodness in our lives.
“Nepal is the country
That has a unique flag
A country that is small
But filled with full of proud
The highest mountain
And the beautiful temple
Everybody loves it
Any many country loves to come.
To see the beautiful places
The best of best Nepal”
-Dinesh, HCC Student
