Youday bounces back in her studies
At the time Youday Dukpa joined the hostel, she struggled with her studies. 13-year-old Youday studies in class V. She is from Chunabhatti village. Earlier, when Youday attended the school from home to and for journey on foot (more than an hour) was exhausting. This often left her with little time and energy to study at home. Often, she sat down for her homework or to study some lessons, and when she needed some help, she had no one to look up to. The absence of a person to help her with her studies was another reason Youday started to slack in her studies. Once she joined the hostel, she found help from her senior and hostel parents while she sat for study hours with her friends. Youday also received help from her school teachers, who came to the hostel and taught children in the evening. Seniors at the hostel also aided Youday in her studies. Gradually, Youday showed improvement in her studies. She is now happy to receive help for her studies from her teachers and seniors at the hostel.
Easier said than done
My name is Neha Subba. I am 15 years old, and I am from Barbote. Last year, I assisted Shantimo Lepcha, leader of the Nabgaon CTC club, in running the club. This year, I took full charge of the CTC club in April as Shantimo Lepcha moved to Kalimpong once her child got admission to one of the schools. Initially, I assisted the CTC club leader, and things looked relatively easy. Taking full charge of the club made me nervous, and it was a work that was easier said than done.
I found it even more challenging to grab the attention of the children and make lessons enjoyable for them. Earlier, when I was assisting Shantimo Lepcha, I took part in the CTC club leader’s training, but just once or twice.
Facing difficulties for 2-3 months while imparting lessons to the club children made me realize that I need to attend more training for running the club. Two sides were assisting the club leader and looking after the club on my own. I spoke to Philip Lepcha, community motivator for Barbote, about the problem I was facing. He motivated me to take part in the upcoming training which would help me learn new ideas and teach children at the same time. I started taking part in training conducted by HIMserve once in every quarter.
I found the training very different as it was not based on a lecture method. My participation was involved while learning the lessons. It involved all my five senses when I learnt about active learning, art and craft and communication during the leader’s training session. This also made me understand where I was lacking while teaching the children. I tried to be strict and lecture the children, failing to grab their attention. Since I also did not have much experience at my age, it was also challenging to analyze the situation I was going through.
Learning to teach children in an effective manner is helping me a lot. Gradually, I was able to arouse interest in children and encourage participation during lessons. I introduced games and used pictures and props according to subjects. This kindled the interest of the children.
The change I see in myself while teaching children in the club has made me happy. Some months ago I found myself going nowhere. I am growing every time I teach children a new lesson. So are the children learning with fun and ease and growing.
Nirmala Save her Father-in-law from a critical condition
Nirmala Rai is a married 29-year-old village woman. Her husband is a private driver of a private Taxi, and she lives out of the village. She lives with her mother-in-law, father-in-law, husband, sister, and 3-year-old daughter in the village. She passed class x. She works in the field and takes care of the home and every family member; that is her duty. Her in-laws are both over 50 years old. Her father-in-law’s name is Madan Rai, 52. Her mother-in-law is Hem Kumari, 54 years 2 years older than her husband Nirmala Ria, who trained HV. In 2021, Chv Training was held in the Rimbick area for the 3rd group in Kharka. Nirmala also participated in that group. Her home is far from the training centre it takes 1 hour to reach the training hall on foo down to hill from her home although she attended training regularly. She became graduated in March 2022. She was active in social work, and she is also the leader of one SHG Group in her village
On 23/11/22, AT, father-in-law of Nirmala Mdan Rai, started bleeding from his nose. Nirmala comforted, took care of him, and checked his B.P., B.P. was 200/180. that time was midnight. Nirmala was worried and frightened by his condition. She told her father he needed to go to the hospital, but he said no, I don’t want to go. It will be better after some time, and I am not feeling severely. Nirmala did not sleep; she watched her continue, but the bleeding continued..in the early morning, she said to her husband that we had to take her to the hospital without delay because the bleeding had not stopped till now; otherwise, it could be severe case can happened danger for his life. His husband calls a private taxi, and a passenger taxi is unavailable in that village because the road is rough. The village is remote. The road is not attached to the house. have to walk 20 mts on food from house.
On 24/11/22 morning, Nirmala motivated him to go to the hospital. Nirmala and his husband took him to the hospital. IT TAKES ONE HRS AND HALF TO REACH Rimbick Hospital from their home. Around 8 a.m., the morning reached the hospital. Then, they started IV fluid and were given treatment. In the afternoon time, bleeding was controlled At 4 pm hospital discharged him. Nirmala said if I would not do H training. I would not get the courage to care like my father-in-law and give advice. At least.HV training gave me incourage and basic knowledge of health.
Love and care bring transformation.
A touch of love, care and warmth holds the power to bring transformation. It becomes more meaningful when a lonely, elderly and ailing person receives love and care from her community, people who love her like their own and care for her needs while she cannot do it all alone.
75-year-old Kanchi Lama, a resident of the Dumsipara tea garden (Dooars area), has been living all by herself for many years. She relied upon her old age pension (provided as per government rules) to buy her ration and other necessities for everyday living. Though being old and going around doing everything all by herself was inconvenient but Kanchi was still able to walk on her feet to carry out everyday chores like cooking, cleaning and looking after her. About four months ago, things took a turn unexpectedly. Her stomach started swelling, making it difficult to carry on with her everyday tasks. Since she lived all on her own, Kanchi’s troubles had just begun. Her belly was getting bigger and bigger, with the swelling made getting up and walking uncomfortable. In the beginning, some of her neighbours started taking care of Kanchi. They carried on taking care of her for a while. However, her condition showed no improvement. Instead, she could not even go to the washroom by herself and started passing stool on her bed. Seeing her worsening condition, her neighbours gave up on her.
At this juncture, about 6 families from Dumsipara came forward to help Kanchi. These families have formed a house fellowship group. They take turns visiting each other’s homes and receive lessons on truth-centered transformation based on loving one’s neighbour, helping ones in need by identifying their needs and using available resources. These 6 families from Dumsipara take turns to visit each other’s homes and receive their lessons. The Lankapara United forum has taken the lead in providing training and necessary follow-up to these families. The absence of a building to come together for training forces them to conduct training in their homes on a rotation basis. However, this step has helped them come together to learn more about one another and work towards practising their lessons. The lessons of loving one another and helping an individual in need have been the base for all the love, care and service provided to Kanchi by these families. It is indeed a challenging task to look after and monitor Kanchi’s health during her bedridden days. Taking turns to lift her, help her sit and eat her meals….it is indeed easier said than done. Lankapara United Forum, Mashi Kalasia church and community facilitator Roshan Lama (also a member of Mashi Kalasia church) have been constantly motivating and providing assistance to house fellowship members at Dumsipara. Roshan Lama has stood with them when the need to hospitalize Kanchi arose. Her swollen belly made it difficult for her to get up from bed. (Even when her neighbours helped her) This made looking after Kanchi a challenging task for her neighbours. However, they did not give up on Kanchi because they knew she had no one else to look after her needs.
In the past four months, Kanchi had to visit a government hospital for treatment a couple of times due to her illness. Lankapara united forum and Dumsipara House fellowship members stood with Kanchi during this time. Since she was ill and unable to walk and sit on her own, her neighbours made all the necessary arrangements to take her to the government hospital. Families coming for house fellowship took turns to look after Kanchi while she remained at the hospital. The accumulated fluid from Kanchi’s belly was removed while she remained admitted at the hospital for few days. Kanchi’s condition improved and she was able to walk slowly on her own after fluid removal. The doctors at the government hospital have suggested that Kanchi may again require fluid removal in future days if same condition occurs once again. After getting discharged from the hospital, Kanchi was looked after by her neighbours. Now Kanchi is able to walk on her own, her neighbours remain by her side to help her. Kanchi remains ever grateful for her fellowship family for reaching out to her and helping her in need.
(During one of the visits paid by Roshan Lama, Community facilitator for Lankapara, Kanchi shared that she feels strengthened by the Lord. She feels that the Lord is continually guiding her and leading her every day in her life.)
There are many children like Youday facing similar challenges. By supporting our cause, you will provide vital resources and support systems that empower children like Youday to overcome obstacles, excel academically, and unlock their full potential.