Winter Newsletter – 2009

Dear Friends, Season’s Greetings to everyone!!

As heaps of red chillies were languishing in the sunny and dry autumn days of Dashain and Tihar, cold wintry weather suddenly blew in from the west. Everyone was struck down with a cold or flu - viral flu, swine flu, bird flu.......no one knew for sure what was going around.

In October ’09, the students of Tashi Waldorf School from classes 1,2 and 3 attended a dental camp organized by the Global Dental Relief Organization based in Colorado at Thrangu Rinpoche’s Shree Mangal Dvip School in Boudha. An expert team of dentists from Colorado and organizers Laurie, Carol, Mary and Joanna provided dental care at no cost to many school children. Children’s cavities and dental problems were seen to with great care. There were toys and games to keep the children amused. Everyone was taught basic dental hygiene and how to properly brush their teeth each day.

We celebrated Dashain and Tihar festivals with lots of fun, delicious food and sweets. We were thrilled by the visit of Heather Maclaren, one of TWS's founding members during the festival, all the way from Bowen Island, Canada. The nicest thing about Dashain is kite flying. Everyone from the Kindergarten to the Grade Classes at Tashi Waldorf School made kites and enjoyed kite flying immensely. Kindergarten teachers Durga and Chandra enacted a Tihar story: The good King Bali Raja’s life is saved by his wise sister when she tricks the Underworld King to extend Bali Raja's life to the length of time it takes to dissolve a walnut in the hard shell.

Receive the children in reverence; educate them in love; let them go forth in freedom. Rudolf Steiner Parents and Teachers Meeting was held on Nov 7th. Kindergarten teacher Chandra demonstrated and discussed various kindergarten activities, like indoor play and outdoor play where children learn by seeing, copying and imitating others. Teachers and students both give and take. Timetable and schedule provide rhythm and structure in the activities of the child.

Tashi Waldorf Students’ testimonials:

Norbu: I love to play with my friends, Samir, Kumar, Kusal and Bishal. Srijana: I want to be the best and I can be myself here. Bishal and Kumar: We love Tashi Waldorf School and we like Rajen, the office manger. Aastha Rana Magar: I like to dance with my friends during Morning Circle. I like my teacher, Ms Lobsang. Sangita: I am learning a lot and I want to be a teacher when I am big.       Sangita Lopchan: I love what we’re taught here, especially painting. Taro Ravi Ghale and Dipu Dahal: We love the Morning Circle and English Circle. It makes us happy to sing. Lalita Ghale; I feel very happy to paint and read stories.       Saroj Magar: Other schools are too difficult and there’s too much homework. Students who don’t do their homework get punished. Yagya Giri: TWS is just right for me as in other schools, students have to buy many books which is very expensive for my family. Babita Nepal: Other schools have lots of books. Here, we don’t read and write a lot. Kusum Rai: I like all the teachers here at TWS. I love painting and beeswax modeling.

Dr Bimal Poudyal and team from Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangha, affiliated with SEVA Foundation conducted an Eye Check-Up Clinic at TWS at the end of November’09. The good news is that TWS students were found to be free from eye ailments except for one student who needed glasses and one with an eye infection.

We send our gratitude to all our very generous friends who have given us their time, money and expertise. The TWS faculty and staff would like to thank the many kind visitors who have donated much Steiner educational materials to TWS, such as colored felt, beeswax, and block crayons, which are not available in Nepal. We also thank our hardworking volunteers and pashmina sellers, Arlene & Brenda, Barbara and Heather. Big congratulations to Arlene and Brenda for raising over CAN $11,000 in pre-Christmas sales. Meg Infiorati very kindly invited CON fundraising team - Rinzing, the thanka painter to demonstrate TWS bag painting and Doma, the fundraiser at her Bake Sale at the US Embassy Recreational Club. We raised about Rs 9000($120) from the sales of TWS bags, Handcarved bamboo knitting needles and Tibetan cookies. Many thanks also go to our kind visiting volunteers. We hope to get more help to have a part of the our website in German. With sincere thanks and best wishes for the New Year 2010! Doma Chudon, Fundraiser Tashi Waldorf School Thanks You for All Your Kind Support

You can help:

1. Please send a donation to our funding associations as listed below and on our
     website, www.childrenofnepal.org , and have a visit to the site.
2. Sponsor a child for $25 USD or $50 USD a month.
3. Sponsor the purchase of the school’s land for $18 USD a month.
4. Sponsor a TWS teacher for her Waldorf education training seminars in Bangkok, Thailand.
5. Tell your friends about TWS and encourage them to make a contribution.
6. Publish this newsletter in your school, organization, or community newsletter,
     and link to www.childrenofnepal.org on your website.
7. Volunteer to sell pashmina products or jewelry to support the continued operation of TWS.
8. If you are traveling to Nepal let us know and we would be delighted to have you visit.

All cheques should be made out to the respective organization, as listed below.
Please write “Children of Nepal” in the memo portion of the cheque, or we will not receive the donation.

RSF Social Finance
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque:
"Children of Nepal"
1002A O'Reilly Ave.
San Francisco,
CA 94129-1101 USA
Tel: 415.561.3900, 1.888.RSF.3737
Email: mail@rsfsocialfinance.org

Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiner e.V.
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque:
“Children of Nepal – Project # 4405”
Weinmeisterstr. 16
Berlin , D-10178, Germany
TeL: +49 (0) 30617 026 30  Fax: +49 (0) 30 617 026 33
Email: berlin@freunde-waldorf.de

Internationaal Hulpfonds
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque:
“Children of Nepal”
Herengracht 276
1016BX, Amsterdam, Netherlands
M: 06 2697 2310
F: 020 627 4856
Email: info@internationaalhulpfonds.nl

Waldorf School Association of Ontario
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque:
“Children of Nepal”
9100 Bathurst Street, No. 2
Thornhill , Ontario, L4J 8C7, Canada
Tel: 905 889 2066, Email: info@waldorf.ca

King’s School Worcester Nepal Trust
c/o John Walton
King’s School, Worcester
England , WR1 2LL, U.K.
Tel: 01905 350065
Email: j_walton2@hotmail.com

Prometheus Ethical Finance
Please write in the memo portion of the cheque:
“Children of Nepal - Account #4144”
P.O. Box 969 , Napier, New Zealand
Tel: 06 835 7138
Email: ethical@prometheus.co.nz

When you sponsor or donate please e-mail the following information to Doma, tashiwaldorf@gmail.com
• Your name and addresses
• Whether the money is sponsorship or a donation
• The amount *Where you sent it *The date *Child's full name + Adm # if available

If you are receiving this newsletter by post and have email, please email us your address so you can start receiving the newsletters in color, and help us save paper and postage.
Email tashiwaldorf@gmail.com with the subject line: subscribe to newsletter, and your name in the message body.

The Nepal Post Office is unsafe: Do not send anything of value through the mail. Letters are safe.

Newsletters:
Fundraising Autumn 2009
Fundraising Spring 2008 || Fundraising Autumn 2008
Christmas 2009 || Summer 2009
Christmas 2008 || Summer 2008
Christmas 2007  || Summer 2007
Christmas 2006 || Summer 2006
Christmas 2005 || Summer 2005
Christmas 2004 || Summer 2004
Christmas 2003 || Summer 2003
Christmas 2002 || Summer 2002
Christmas 2001 || Summer 2001