Drawing in Oda!

Hello!!! I've had to do some fancy footwork on multiple devices to get this to work. . . so hopefully it actually does. I also wrote this post over a month ago, so it's a bit outdated in the wording. I've officially left the village with immense sadness. I've been very fortunate to take up this opportunity and connect with so many amazing people! First, let's talk kids. Everyday, or every other day, depending on the rain and workload, a group of kids would gather on a rock and draw with colored pencils. They loved it! I would get asked multiple times a day by everyone (often about 5 times a person) if there'd be drawing later. I was great to see what the kids would draw, flowers (pools) were the most common object, followed by people (manches) and temples. I have no idea if I'm spelling the Nepali word correctly, most likely not, but it sounds like how it's spelled.

Most kids would be so excited they would show me their progress and ask if it was good (ramro). They could not leave until they showed me what they drew, even if I was in the kitchen having dinner. Very sweet and I loved all their drawings, even the scribblers. But there was some problems that would pop up. Caste. :( There is a big caste problem in rural Nepal and was very apparent during drawing. Three caste groups came to draw (who doesn't love to draw!?) which is why it often had to be on the rock and fighting/hoarding/tattling on others was common. 

The rock was common ground for all castes, being right of the footpath that continues through the village. To the left was the house I stayed in, a very welcoming, non-cascist(?). . . middle caste family. The lower caste children wouldn't feel comfortable drawing in their space and sometimes were chased off if they had wandered in. It seemed everyone knows the white people don't care about caste, which helped in facilitating a group drawing session, in helping ease possible tensions within the group. One girl in particular instigated a lot of problems, accusing the poorer children of stealing the pencils, not letting them use certain colors. Often kids would grab a handful of colors, a sharpener, and take their drawing to their own group. To which I countered with only providing one pencil sharpener. It worked out, overall the kids had a great time, but it was exhausting at times. Especially trying to communicate trust in them when I don't speak the language. The lower class children also had lower confidence in themselves and would try and slink away, embarrassed of their drawing. To which you make a big scene about how awesome it is. Again, it always started and ended with smiles but there definitely were a few snags.

Most of their drawings were very similar, like someone taught them how to do a flower and they all do it the same, same with birds and temples. But their people all varied and often changed every time they drew it. Such variety!