CHATTERBOX - Lochwinnoch

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VISIT TO NAXAL ORPHANAGE In Kathmandu On 9th October last year, I flew out to Kathmandu (via Bahrain) to work as a volunteer for a month at Naxal Orphanage in Kathmandu city. Daily temperatures were still very high in October, rice was being harvested and preparations were being made for the spectacular Festival of Light, known as Tihar, one of many festivals held in Nepal throughout the year. The Naxal Orphanage is one of 3 run by the OCCED (Organisation for Community, Child and Environmental Development), which was established in 1999 to care for and campaign for Nepal’s most vulnerable children. The OCCED works to provide shelter, education and training whilst trying to find the children new homes. I was one of a group of 5 volunteers; 3 schoolteachers, one paediatrician and myself - a former social worker with a special interest in child care. Every day, we were bused from our hotel in Kathmandu to the orphanage, which was just over a kilometre from the city centre. Central Kathmandu is a lively, intense city with narrow lanes, motorbikes, rickshaws, traffic jams, pollution, ageless temples, fabulous architecture and sacred cows roaming the streets. The streets are filled with the sounds of bicycle bells, religious music, construction works, car horns and the smells of incense and spices from the bazaars and sewage and car exhaust fumes from day-to-day living. Power cuts, strikes, and protests are part of daily life, as are the many rich and spectacular festivals of the Kathmandu Valley and traditional buildings and palaces in the old city of Kathmandu. Children in the orphanage are grouped by age. Our team of 5 volunteers helped with the 1yr – 3yr old groups in the afternoons and the 3-6 year old groups of children in the mornings. At 7 years of age, the children go to a nearby school, where English, Maths, Science and Reading are on the curriculum, though educational books are rare in classrooms. YOGA CLASSES Classes for Beginners recommence on Tuesday 13th January 2009, McKillop Institute from 1pm till 2pm. Classes for Intermediate/Advanced students YOGA & MEDITATION are held on Wednesdays from 7.30pm till 9pm at the McKillop Institute. Contact: Mary for more info on 07971-277870 or 01505-842877 The orphanage is located in 2 rented buildings, which are fairly basic structures with walls and roofing made out of beautifully crafted split bamboo, beaten earth floors and no windows or artificial light. No laptops or iPods here! The accommodation may be basic but it is spotlessly clean; solar panels heat hot water, bath nights are on Thursdays and the children are looked after by nursemaids, known as didis. Girls can become didis at age 17; some do the cooking whilst others do housework, laundry and general child-minding to name but a few of their duties at the orphanage. With our social, educational and paediatric backgrounds, our team of 5 volunteers was also able to assist and support local staff by spending time with the children. For me, as a mother and grandmother myself, this was a very rewarding experience. Although I don’t speak Nepali (or any of the numerous, regional languages of the outlying areas), it was still possible to communicate with the children on other levels and to witness the great joy and excitement they experienced in the daily reading sessions we shared and, just as importantly, the song and dance routines including jiving, salsa, doing the Hokey Cokey and Ring a Ring o’ Roses! The children are often confined to the buildings due to the intense heat and the cramped city-centre location of the orphanage, where outdoor space is at a premium. The photograph shows some of the children, from a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, playing together on a small outdoor balcony area, which is only partly shielded from the scorching rays of the sun. As volunteers, we were able to spend some of the money we raised on treats for the children, one of which was a day out at a local zoo. This proved to be a great hit with the children who spent hours gazing at the tigers, elephants, leopards and all manner of other exotic creatures. It was exciting for us too! The didis came along too and provided a fabulous lunch, which we all enjoyed under the canopy of huge trees nearby. There are many more happy memories that I would like to share with you but space is limited. However, if you would like to find out more about the Naxal Orphanage and about Nepal and its people, I will be giving a slide show and talk at some local events. The first of these presentations will take place on Thursday 29 th January at 2pm at Paisley Abbey (as part of Women’s Friendly Hour) and the second event will take place on 19 th February at 7pm at Barr Mill (as part of the SWRI evening). Finally, on behalf of the children and staff of Naxal Orphanage, I would like to say a very big thank you to family, friends, Lochwinnoch Community Council and St Vincent’s Hospice for your donations of money, school books, reading books, early reading books, crayons and other educational materials, all of which have brought such joy to the children we met. If you would like to donate or help with the Naxal Orphanage project in any way, please get in touch with me on Tel: 01505 843805. Diana Adam YOGA WORKSHOPS January 17th Saturday "JOY" February 21 Saturday "FREEDOM" March 14 Saturday "AWAKENING" April 26 Sunday "KINDNESS" May 17 Sunday "TRUTH" June 21 Sunday "ENTHUSIASM" All workshops are held in Kilbarchan Guide Hall and cost £15.00 Contact Rebecca on 0141-881-6700.
Provost’s Community Awards Nominations are being sought for the 11th anniversary of the Provost’s Community Awards in Renfrewshire. They aim to reward those members of the community who tirelessly work to make life better for others. Provost Celia Lawson said, “As Renfrewshire's Provost, it's my privilege to meet many people in our community who show such dedication to others and achieve so much. The Provost's Community Awards are your chance to tell us that you admire these people too, and you'd like them to be rewarded for who they are and what they do. If you know someone who helps others, who makes a difference in their community or who battles to overcome physical or emotional barriers in their life, nominating them for one of these awards is a great way of showing what you think of them.” Two new categories have been added to the 2009 Community Awards: the Spirit of Fairtrade Award, introduced to support Renfrewshire Council’s commitment to raising the profile of Fairtrade in the area, and the Arts and Culture Award for any person or group who has (or have) shown commitment and passion for music, photography, painting or any other such creative outlet. The new categories join returning categories: Child of Achievement, Carer, Community Volunteer/Group, Special Needs and Adult Achiever. The awards ceremony takes place in March 2009. Each individual winner gets a trophy, a holiday for two in London (including flights and 4-star hotel accommodation), £200 spending money and a £500 donation to a charity of their choice. If a group wins an award, they receive £800 that can either be donated to a local charity or spent on their own specific needs, such as buying equipment. For further information please contact: Drew Gibson or Mairi Brown,Telephone: 0141 840 3363 or 0141 840 3706. L L o o c c h h w w i i n n n n o o c c h h r r e e ss s i i d d e e n n tt t t s s - Can Can I I help? help? help? If If so, so, please please don’t don’t don’t h h e e s s i i t t a a t t e e t t o o g g e e t t i i n n n tt t o o u u c c h h . . Douglas Alexander, Lochwinnoch’s MP Write to: 2014 Mile End Mill, 12 Seedhill Road, Paisley, PA1 1JS Tel: 0141 561 0333. E-mail: dalexandermp@talk21.com or come to one of my advice surgeries. Hear Here Renfrewshire Renfrewshire Hard Hard Hard of of Hearing Hearing Support Support Group Group Renfrewshire Hard of Hearing Support Group is a new group formed to raise awareness, campaign for positive change and to provide support and activities for those of us with a hearing loss. It has been great to see our numbers gradually increasing. Hearing loss brings problems of understanding in a noisy world. It is an invisible difficulty and other people don’t realise the need to communicate clearly. Sometimes it is easier for us to withdraw and become isolated but we aim to encourage others to overcome these difficulties. At our meetings every effort is made to make sure we all understand by having a loop system and a text writer available. There will be no meeting in January. The next meeting will be on Thursday February 5th, 5th, 2009 2009, 2009 at 1.30pm in the Mile End Centre, 30 Seedhill Rd, Paisley. The subject will be a talk on Deaf Awareness, a topic which will be interesting to family also. Hope to see you there. Tel: 0141 847 4950 (for further details) A Burns Supper will be held on Friday 23 rd January (7pm for 7.15pm) in the McKillop Institute, hosted by Lochwinnoch Choral Society This promises to be a good night of entertainment with local speakers, singers and other local musicians. Tickets are £15 and are available from any choir member. J Quinn & son Memorials Personal Service & Quality Guaranteed New Memorials Additional Inscriptions Cleaning & Renovations Mon 10am –5pm, Tue –Fri 10am –2pm Evening & Weekends by Arrangement 4a Dalry Road, KILBIRNIE Please Call 01505 68 54 55
Page 1 and 2: Nuisance Nuisance Nuisance Helpline
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