DENER in Nepal , Nepal in LOVE
Time difference of two hours and fifteen minutes / distance of 3702 kilometers
At eleven o’clock in the middle of the night, sitting on the rocky jeep was the beginning of this journey. Even after ten hours of connecting flights and flying, my spirit was still high. For the first time, I tread on this country with our love. Carrying schoolbags that had traveled more than 3,000 kilometers, we went to Buddhist academy to support this love to the monks. The first scene in Nepal was that they couldn’t wait to unpack their backpacks.
When we were leaving, the sky began to rain heavily, we walked quickly. A little lama peeked out from the window of his room, asking with a shy smile to inquire about every details of the pencil case. I bent down and stared at him, carefully explaining that the eraser was not a candy and how to replace the mechanical pencil with pencil lead. After brief explanation, his first reaction was to teach and share it with his friends. This small move, I thought it was the meaning of their friendship at this Buddhist academy.
We went into their nature class. Under the guidance of the teacher, they found a lot of different leaves, put up the poster one by one, and then used Tibetan to write down the names of each leaf very hard and intently. From their eyes, we could see what they were learning in this small classroom and they had more happiness than I imagine.
The teacher invited us to sit beside them and experienced a different nature class. This small monk sat at the back of the classroom. I approached him and saw that he had kept his head down and carefully writing on the paper. He used his delicate strokes to paint beautiful eyes. I asked him: “Do you know how to say this in Chinese?” I borrowed a pen from him, wrote the Chinese, and then taught him how to read in Chinese. He stared at the words on the paper and tried to remember them in his mind. When I got up and left, I saw a very cute picture. He used a pen to frame the words I wrote, and then another small monk in front turned around and asked in excitement. Compared to his first expression when I sat down, I finally got a really cute smile on his face. In addition, I think it was his vivid eyes that he could paint such beautiful and clear eyes.
Even when I return to Taiwan, every time I open this photo of Nepal, I still cannot help but smile. After their class, they Immediately distributed many schoolbags very efficiently, and then asked us to wait for them to take photos together. The smile that she showed was so sincere that it was carved into my memories.
Another day, we went to a local kindergarten in Nepal with supplies and a big bag of candy. In the classroom, what surprised me the most was that children would automatically line up in a row. Although we held a large bag of candy, each child would only take one out of the bag; and they would carefully watch to see no one takes extra. Through them, I see that when I was a kid, I would be so happy with little candy. That was the most innocent and true childhood memories.
We brought a lot of love, but on this journey, I received more. Every move they made, the warm smile and the few words could not fully express these feedbacks. They are beyond my imagination, through words, through interaction and real laughter. With the blessing on my wrist on my way home, it is still same eleven o’clock at night. That day, the wish I made at the Stupa, I know it would be the beginning of the next starting point.
Volunteer Yingshan
dener.org@gmail.com
No. 29-2, Section 1, Sanmin Road, West District, Taichung City
04-23767919
Donation Support
We sincerely hope that if everyone is willing to contribute a little, these tiny but meaningful supports will eventually become a stream someday, then become a lake, then finally merge into a huge force of help as big as the ocean, benefiting many more children in need.
立案字號:台內團字第1050001715號
公益勸募許可字號:中市社團字第1110122969號
©2016 DENER All content rights reserved.