And… again I fell a little behind with writing. And… again I
felt like these weeks weren’t very exciting! And… then when I thought about it
there were actually some pretty cool things that happened during these three
weeks.
Amit: Two of my friends (we call them the hippies), work with an
organization here that helps blind people and teaches them different skills.
This organization is so cool, they even have a program that teaches blind
students to use computers, and one guy is a web designer!! How he can do that
without being able to see, I have no idea, but… I’m really impressed. The hippies teach outdoor education skills to blind people who would like to learn to
rock climb or canyoneer. They have one student, Amit, who is really determined
to climb Mt. Everest! And honestly, I believe he can! A blind man from America
climbed it a few years ago, but Amit is from Nepal, and he would be the first
blind Nepali to climb it!
The Lake: The hippies were getting ready to go back to America, and I
only had a few weeks left as well, so we decided to all go out on a boat
together! We have a lake here and people are always going out on boat rides,
it’s really pretty! So, we got all of our friends together, including Amit, and
went out on the lake! It was so fun getting to spend time with everyone and
just have a relaxing day. But, for me the coolest part was hanging out with
Amit. some of our friends were jumping off the boat and swimming.
Amit wanted to do it as well, the only problem was that he had never been
swimming before! He had a life jacket on, and we explained to him what he
should do and so he stood with our friends on the edge of the boat, and
they all jumped off together! It was SO neat. One of the best things I have
ever seen. At first you could tell he was terrified, but then once he grabbed
on to one of the guys he actually started swimming. It was so cool. And the whole time he
just kept asking if we were taking his picture! Ha! They have a program on
their computers that will tell them who is in the picture, all the different
colors, and what’s happening in the picture, so he always has his camera with
him and loves taking pictures with his friends. Eventually they all came back
in the boat and he was so excited about having gone swimming. Can you imagine
just jumping off of a platform having never been swimming before? And not only
that, but never even seeing a lake before? He has so much bravery and so much
delight in trying and experiencing new things! It was so inspirational!
The Hippies: The next couple of weeks were filled with lots
of goodbye parties for the hippies. After living here for the better part of
two years, they were going back to America! I’ve only known them since I got here
in January, but they have become very good friends! It was really fun getting
together with friends and all hanging out one last time! It was sad to say
goodbye, but I know that once we are all back in America, we will get together!
Village: Something else we did during these few weeks was
plan our next village trip. It kept getting delayed, but we finally made a plan
to go during the last full week in April. We will continue the art programs and
also bring some volleyballs and basketballs along so the kids can play with
them! This village is up in the mountains, so it has the potential to still be
pretty cold up there! And, if the weather is clear, it’s possible to see about
16 different peaks!
Blessings.
Blessings.
