Let No One Sit on the Sideline - Exploring the Godawari Botanical Gardens and Hiking to Marble Danda - A Pilot Study Blog
During our most recent monitoring visit to Nepal, 3 New Futures Nepal Trustees joined the Nirmala Foundation and several children from the Hope Centre on a yoga and nature experience at the Godawari Botanical Gardens in the Lalitpur District of Nepal. Unfortunately, a hike to Marble Danda had to be removed from the itinerary. However, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day, with the event showing just how much of an impact such an event can have on the well-being of these often overlooked children. Many lessons were learnt from the day, which will be useful in refining future events.
We caught up with Nirmala Foundation President Nirmala Bhandari to find out just how the day went:
“The event was a triumph, filling the children with joy and liberation as they savored every moment and engaged in yoga, nature exploration, delicious food, and playful games. They broke free from their usual confines, escaping the monotony of their daily routines. The children enjoyed the day from the beginning till the end without getting bored or injured. Andrew Sir, Alex Sir, and Lynne Mam were happy to spend most of their time with the children and talk to them as they had never done before”
Event Name: Exploring Botanical Garden and Hiking to Marble Danda.
Date: 16th March 2024 (Saturday).
Location: Godawari Botanical Garden.
Attendees:
● 24 Students from the Hope Centre, with 13 girls and 11 boys of diverse ages and with different physical conditions.
● 3 Trustees from Hope Centre (Andrew Sir, Alex Sir, and Lynne Mam).
● 1 Yoga teacher (Male) and 1 Assistant Yoga Teacher (Female).
● 4 Organiser members (Krish, Amy, Shanti, and Nirmala).
● Tilak Sir and one outside volunteer (Lokesh Chhetri).
● Driver and Conductor.
Event Objectives:
"Enlightening educational journey for dynamic young minds through the transformative power of nature's beauty and travel experiential learning."
1. To break the boundaries and set our children on a journey of self-discovery, fueling their curiosity along the way.
2. To show them there's so much more to see and a World of possibilities that is waiting to be explored.
3. To foster an understanding of the broader community and environment outside their usual surroundings.
4. To reveal the real World beyond textbooks and imagination, letting them witness what they've only read, heard, and dreamed of in the classroom.
5. To boost the motivation of our special people.
When we (Nirmala, Krish, and Shanti) reached Hope Centre at 7:00 am, we saw all the children jumping with joy and happiness. They were almost ready with everything as we taught them. We had our delicious breakfast (Beaten Rice with Potato Smash Curry) there and did our registration work with all the children. We then once again briefed them about the day's plans and the responsibilities of the volunteers towards their team members. Then we moved at 8:15 am from Hope Centre to our destination. We picked up the Yoga teacher, and Amy (Our Secretary) on the way.
Passing through the busy roads of central Kathmandu and the traditional villages of Lalitpur’s countryside, we reached to the destination approximately at 10 am. The event started with an inspiring yoga session after everyone arrived. Children were energised, with different Asans, meditations, balancing, and breathing techniques with music in the background and blessed with nature and the green surroundings. We then had a small formal session where we welcomed our Special Guests (New Futures Nepal’s Trustees), Tilak Sir (Hope Centre), a Yoga teacher, and Nirmala Bhandari (Nirmala Foundation President) with welcoming scarfs, smiles and applauds. Our secretary Amy Yonjan gave a small introduction about the event while the president encouraged us with the motive behind establishing the Foundation.
At approximately 11:30 am we started an exciting game, ”Treasure Hunt”. We scattered chocolates everywhere hidden in the big ground. The rule was simple, The team who managed to find the maximum chocolates is the winner. Surprisingly, every team got an equal amount of chocolates and all were declared winners. After that, we had our freshly prepared warm lunch (Chicken Biryani and Veg. Biryani). After some rest, we then proceeded to explore the big Botanical Garden following our day schedule. Everyone enjoyed the nature hike and got to see alot of varieties of plants, flowers, different types of gardens, trees, and how the garden is designed to preserve all these plants and trees. Everybody walked exploring the Botanical Garden and hiking to Marble Danda in a well-disciplined manner looking and helping one another in need. Due to unforeseen reasons (Skin Allergy to Lynne Mam and difficulty walking for one of our children), we canceled our “Marble Danda Hike”. We decided to explore more inside the Centre Garden as we now had plenty of time. We explored everywhere in the garden, took beautiful pictures, made videos, and finally took a break on the ground near the Glasshouse. By then the time was approx. 1:30 pm.
We exchanged our thoughts and experiences here with our guests and played the game “Introduction Game with Body Movement that Reflects You”. It was fun and we got to know each other even more in a fun way. After that, we went to our initial ground and played two similar kinds of games named “Communication by Words” and “Communication by Body Movement”. The idea of playing these games was to let our children know, how communication is important in our daily life and how a small miscommunication can lead the whole other direction and the importance of team-work. It was fun and insightful. After that, we played Hot Ball. Surpassing all the participants, Tilak Sir was able to beat all and become the winner. It was already 3:00 pm. We filled our hungry tummy with combo snacks (Chowmein, momos, Potato Fries with Pickles). We took a small break to rest and the children got their free time to enjoy themselves, roam around, make dancing videos, take pictures, etc.
Now the time was almost 4:00 pm and it was time to pack our stuff and prepare to head back. Alex sir bought the ice cream for all of us and also the flavourful chips for the children, this added extra happiness to the children’s faces at the end of the event. We said goodbyes to our guests at the end and we drove back to the Hope Centre, ending our memorable day with lots of memories.