Learn Nepali 2 - Words for people

Home farming by women

On a visit to a homestead farm in 2010,  I saw how village women learnt to grow vegetables to feed their family and earn extra income.It is evident they are hard-working and determined to improve their lives.

Growing their own food may seem a natural skill for all rural folks. But it helped to know what kind of crops to plant in a certain area, the why's and how's of crop-rotation, the best and most productive spacing between plants, good use of scarce water, and how to enrich the soil through composting.  Covering the compost heap formed from collecting farm and household waste with a large black plastic sheet helped to speed the composting process in a cold country like Nepal.

The women sat patiently listening to their instructor, just next to a  home farm brimming with succulent juicy broccoli plants. Hope was in the air for that family, with food from this farm as well as extra income of a few hundred rupees per month.



With such home farms established, each woman is  able to bring food to the table for her children. How empowering that is for all of them!

An afternoon in a Home

One April day in 2010, I visited a new children’s home in this land
Led by a fearless leader, it's a home where green fingers grow all things fresh
In a 3-storey house with a garden of corn and veggies
and flowers beaming on each floor to bless.


After the shy and dashing introductions by visitors and kids
We got down to cookies, buns and sweets.
Immediately the buns got eaten with dollop scoops of Nutella choc
amidst happy grins enbloc on faces right down to the dog.


After the sweet stuffing, we got down to games galore
Led by Jing in her jiffy red cap, adored by the kids on the floor
We played a game of math, where girls and boys equal 100 and 50 rupees
For each amount kids gathered their cocks and hens for Janice to check their math.
Oh boy, never before did I see, so many boys grabbing sweet gals and tots to match the math.

Next game was outdoor on the driveway, where kids paired up
sole to sole for snakes and ladders, a nimble jumping game
They ran up the ladder of legs, slided and climbed and plunked with a thud
The boys were really swift , the girls matched their deft feet
The tots needed helping hands for which way to set their feet
And this game was definitely Justin’s favourite one to keep.

Indoors again, Lynn showed how to play “Blow, wind blow”
And the kids blew, and blew, all kinds of “what”
It’s a blue shirt, a white shirt, blue pants and black hair
Once in a while, long hair with rubber bands, or all who had eyes and red dress
This game was little Melissa’s favourite, she excitedly said
which I could certainly see from her sparkling eyes and squeals through the mess
when the tiny tots were scooped in arms for larger siblings
who unceremoniously plunk down to rest
Forfeits went to Daniel who sang an uplifting song
and to Liliana, Samantha and Cindy who danced and wiggled for the clapping throng.


Next, it was the newspaper folding and stand-up game
Lena teamed all by size and it went off like a spinning dice
All could place five pairs of feet no sweat when the count down freezed
But the next folds turned up more twisting and dancing 
as the bigger ones carried smaller ones, some even two , on just one foot
It was the gutsy team of Annie’s who stood the longest and last
with five persons putting two soles on a sheet palm-size and no boot.


The last game was Charades as Lena brought the kids  
On an animal farm with a loony tortoise and a blow-top whale
And a hairy gorilla to boot with gangly arms and striding foot
Then it was singers by Jing and her Michael Jackson twist and zing
And as final category it was parables and Bryan guessed and it was right
- the Good Samaritan - and Group B guessed right - it was a search for the Long Lost Golden Coin.


Well, everyone had much fun on a hot and sleeping afternoon
We all sat down to watch the cooling buckets of water carried in
And clapped for Sophie with her dancing swaying hips
She really grooves this tiny tot, how much she loves to sing
and dance without much of a catnip.

A wonderful afternoon in a lovely home of kids
from tots to teens, each personality unique
Each one keen to know, talk and fit
Each one has grown to be unique.

Caring for the whole person

" I was hungry...
  And you discussed the problem of hunger.

  I was homeless...
  And you only preached about the heavenly home.

  I was lonely...
  And you left me alone and only prayed for me.
 
  But I am still hungry...homeless...and so lonely".

                                      by Christian Listen, Brazil


Cooking a meal takes much time and effort
just to find the fuel ( Dec09)


Carrying wild leaves to feed my animals
is a daily affair ( Dec 09)

 
A cement or brick toilet with a roof is rare
in most areas ( Dec 09).



    A simple meal of rice and vegetables in the sun is a thanksgiving
    ( Dec 09).



    A tiny shop is my livelihood to sustain my family ( Dec 09).


   Rearing a pig is not for every family, it is a luxury ( Dec 09).

Learn Nepali - 1. Introducing yourself

Learn to speak Nepali with these common phrases to introduce yourself.

How to pronounce:

Mero        = "May-row"
Ke           = "Kay"
Namaste  = "Na-ma-stay"
Ghar        = " Gh-ar-" as in "gar-gle" with a guttural sound
Kahaa      = "Ka -hi"
Naam       = " Na-arm"

Example of  a conversation is given below: