Rotary International is about, 1.2 million neighbors, friends, and community leaders who come together to create positive, lasting change in local communities and around the world. The motto of “Service Above Self” is something that I’m well aware of, having been a Rotarian for a number of years in New London, Connecticut, USA. Since being in Nepal I’ve met with a number of Rotarians, discussed potential ideas, but until this Holi I hadn’t seen any of the many Nepali chapters in action.
I’m the host of the NTV2 show, Inspirations and recently I conducted an in-studio interview with Mr. PK Chettri from the Rotary Club of New Road City Kathmandu. Mr. Chettri invited me and the producers of the show from Media Gallery to conduct some field interviews and to attend a Holi celebration, which was being conducted at the Patalini Lower Secondary School in Adhimara VDC in Dhading District, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Wynnum & Manly (W&M), Queensland (District 9630).
As most of us know the Holi Festival has many purposes. First and foremost, it celebrates the beginning of the new season, spring. In 17th century literature, it was identified as a festival that celebrated agriculture, commemorated good spring harvests and the fertile land. Hindus believe it is a time of enjoying spring's abundant colours and saying farewell to winter. Holi festivities mark the beginning of new year to many Hindus, as well as a justification to reset and renew ruptured relationships, end conflicts and accumulated emotional impurities from past lives. Holi symbolizes a new beginning to me an opportunity for rebirth, a positive change that enriches our lives and the lives of people around us..
Tony Fox from the W&M club arrived the day before Holi and we drove to Adhimara, with some Nepali Rotary friends. Tony’s club has worked on a number of projects in India, as well as, in other countries. He told me about how there are Rotary donation boxes at the Brisbane airport which has raised approximately $500,000 since 1995, all spent on international projects. During my interview with Tony, I came to find out that there are 25,000 women in Australia who knit “blankets of love”, three of which Tony brought with him to give to locals. (Another 200 will come once shipping is figured out).
Although the main western road was being majorly repaired, the drive to Dhading was uneventful, a few Holi water bags were thrown at the car, thanks to the lack of traffic due to the holiday. We had to turn off the highway to get to the village and I decided, along with some others, to walk the 45 minutes or so, on a dusty road to the newly painted School, another Rotary project, which was full of parents, teachers, administrators, teachers and Rotarians.
The reason that Tony came to Nepal was that Rotary’s matching grant fund program was making it possible to purchase furniture, uniforms, a computer and various other items which the school and its students badly needed. Given that it was Holi, there was a festive atmosphere, as students lined up to hear a few speeches but also to receive some materials for making uniforms and trying on and being given new chapels.
The school community consists mostly of Dalits, Chepangs, Janajatis, people who are at a disadvantage from the moment in which they are born. But one could see possibilities, thanks to this and other Rotary projects, e.g. providing goats to create empowerment opportunities for women.
What I’ve learned about building capacity/sharing skills and development during the past five years of living overseas is that it doesn’t make sense to “give people a fish”, but that it does make sense to “teach people (various methods) how to fish”. In my visits to government schools I know that it isn’t easy to provide education to large classrooms, full of children, but in Patalini School, thanks to a focused interest by local and international Rotarians the possibilities become endless.
I could picture more child friendly classrooms, something which VSO volunteers work on, photos from around the world, enlarging the children’s universe, and brightly painted walls full of children’s art work, as well as, locally produced low-cost teaching aids. I could picture beautiful school gardens, maybe even greenhouses, producing the necessary “irrigation” through solar energy and rainwater harvesting having implications for so many school subjects; I could picture an accessible playground, as opposed to a dusty play area, where children could learn more socialization skills. I could also see a Rotary sponsored exchange program in which teachers from Patalin travel to Australia for a few months and teachers from Australia travel to Nepal, volunteering in classrooms, creating more understanding and people to people friendships lasting a lifetime.
Thanks to the Holi festival and the efforts of Rotarians, a new beginning or year has begun for the Patalini School community. Being part of the Holi celebrations by the Rotary club was not just about having fun. It was also about how a small effort from a committed organization can usher a new beginning in the lives of people.
My further hope is that the children who I spoke with and wanted to be doctors or teachers will, in fact, have these opportunities, that the children’s families will not have to struggle their entire lives, having full rights. I think about the young woman who I interviewed, a former student and now a teacher, who has the potential to be a strong advocate for uplifting her students, as long as she is given further opportunities to enlarge her world. From living overseas I’ve learned that nothing is impossible, it just takes a little Holi spirit and well intentioned people.
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