Rupa, in her Uttargaya school uniform
Rupa, in her Uttargaya school uniform
Betrawati, 2000
A student who lived to the northeast
A student who lived to the northeast
(I think her name was Sabatri or Sajani)
Betrawati, 2000
Nisha dances
Nisha dances
Kathmandu, May 21st, 2011
My first visit back to Niharika Shishu Kunja High School, I discovered they were putting on a dance exhibition the following day. Over thirty students of varied ages performed beautiful dances, both traditional as well as Bollywood-style.
Nisha was one of the especially brave students who took her place in front of her entire school and danced alone.
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Santoshi
Santoshi
Uttargaya Secondary English Boarding School, Betrawati, 2000
[text below from a postcard I wrote on Tuesday, October 24th 2000]
"A few days ago during lunch I poked my head into one of the school’s class rooms. There, in a dim empty room filled with only six bench/desks and the sounds of one hundred children playing outside, sat a small girl.
Her arms were folded on her desk, her little face resting upon them. She seemed neither outwardly happy nor sad, but more resigned as if this was where she would be most comfortable—a warm bath in a cold house.
“Wouldn’t you rather play outside?” I asked her. She shook her head.
“We could play…”.
Again, she shook her head.
“Okay” I said smiling at her. I leaned across the bench/desk separating us and shook her hand goofily."
[from a postcard two days later]
"Yesterday I stopped by the orphanage on the way back from Trishuli Bazaar and for the first time I heard Santoshi’s (san-toe-see) voice. Since the day I found her alone in that class room at lunch, I’ve made it a point to walk into her class, say hello and shake her hand. I walked up to her today at the orphanage, said
“Hello Santoshi!” and gave her a goofy handshake.
She smiled, then laughed, then asked (in English) “What is your name?”
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Santoshi running across the rock-strewn football field to class.
Suntahli, Somjana and Lakshmi
Suntahli, Somjana and Lakshmi, a mother and her daughters,
Betrawati 2003
One of the reasons I love this this photo is—notice the natural placement of everyones hands—how it wordlessly just tells you so much about their love for each other.
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