By Pratikcha and Sarita Jr.: Spotlight on the children of the SEA Home

As we have been giving daily tuitions to the junior kids of the SEA Home we would like to take time to take stock and provide you with fresh new insights into the kids and their school progress. While reading these comments, please bear in mind that the Nepalese education system places the emphasis on rote learning, which explains why we often mention the memory power of the kids.

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Alisha (formerly Phool Maya): a sweet and cheerful girl.

Alisha (Phool Maya)

When she joined the SEA Home in April 2013, Phool Maya (now 13 years) decided to start a new life by changing her name! So please greet Alisha! Alisha lived at Shree Liti’s little hostel in Dhading for a year – where she scored good results (72% at the end of grade 3) – , before being shifted in the SEA Home. In the Home, we have noticed that her memory is not that strong, so she has to learn over and over the same thing to be able to do well in the tests that we give. But it’s been less than two years that she has been attending school regularly and she has lots of things to catch up. She now studies in 4^th grade at MAV, and she did well in her first term, securing a percentage of 74. She gets good reports from her teacher as well.

At home, she is disciplined and very helpful. She looks healthy, but actually she eats very little. In fact, she does not like to eat anything and given the little food that she takes we wonder how she manages not to lose weight. Alisha is great company. She is very cheerful and laughs all the time. She is very funny too and everyone is very happy to have her in the Home.

Alisha (formerly Phool Maya) by Elias SFAXI (Copyright)

Anjali: An introvert but very sweet little girl.

Anjali

Anjali (9 years old) moved into the SEA Home in April 2012, and she joined MAV (a private school) straight from a public school. She studies hard and brings very good results (76% in her latest test in 5^th grade), although her memory power is not that strong. She gets good marks by sheer hard work. Her teacher has only positive things to say about her. English is the subject that she finds most difficult.

At home, she helps as well, but she is a quiet child. Although she seems to be cheerful, it is sometimes hard to understand her. When she does something wrong and we tell her, she acts weird. She cries, and she doesn’t talk to the people she does not want to. Sometimes, we think that she shares with Laxmi Jr. some common behavioral traits, which might reflect unhealed psychological wounds. But no doubt that, like all of our kids, she has had her share of suffering in her short life. Overall, though, she is doing very well, and she has adapted with great ease to her new life both in the Home and at school.

Anjali by Elias SFAXI (Copyright)

Ankit: A very funny and playful boy!

Ankit (left), with Suman (middle) Tara, and Simran

Ankit (7 years old), who joined the SEA Home in May 2012, is now in grade 1. He is very good in studies, but he is very naughty and always comes up with mischievous things! He is always getting scolding, though it’s quite natural at his age. He is very, very funny and makes us laugh with his innocent quirkiness. But we must admit that he has a good brain. We suppose that his brain is like that of Anga. He is too small to understand that but there are moments where he answers us in such a way that we are left open-mouthed. He studies very little and tells us to ask him questions. Sometimes he provides wrong answers but most of the times he is right. It’s amazing how fast he can memorize! His trick? Learning through fun! He brought 83% at his latest test in 1^st grade and ranked 5^th.

Ankit doing homeworks ! by Elias SFAXI (Copyright)

Anu: A very hard-working girl filled with enormous shyness.

Anu

When she joined SEA in June 2012, Anu was already 12, which explains why she is now just in 5^th grade at the age of 13. Prior to joining SEA she was going to a village school, and her attendance was irregular, because she also had to work as a maid. So she has had lots to catch up, but she tries very hard to do her best. She is very hard-working and at school she has become a good student. She secured a percentage of 71 at her latest exams, and she ranked 8^th. Her main problem remains her still weak English (a language that she had never learnt before joining the SEA Home). Yet she has made great progress at understanding it. In the homely tests that we give she does well and gives her best.

Anu is very shy and cannot speak in a group, but she is disciplined. She is a very sincere and nice girl. In the SEA Home she is very helpful and hardworking. And she understands what is going around. She likes very much to sing songs and watch movies during her leisure time.

Anu

Prabin: An introvert but playful little boy.

Sarita Junior aide Prabin ! By Elias SFAXI (Copyright)

Prabin (7 years old), who is the son of Sabita didi, is now in 3rd grade. What he likes the most in life is playing football! He is very active in playing, all sorts of games. Otherwise he is introverted. He does not speak in a group. Actually it’s quite difficult to understand him but it’s funny to observe him. He cries easily and for small things and then he looks really pitiful, before he becomes absorbed again in another game. In the tests that we give at home, he is an average student. He tries still, but the result is not that good. But each time he amazes us with his good results at school (84% at his latest exams, where he ranked 2^nd!). His teacher commends him as a good student – albeit naughty! which is not though a serious topic given his age.

Prabin

Simran: A bright student and a seemingly cheerful character but a bit of a mystery.

Simran by Elias SFAXI (copyright)

Simran (9 years old) joined the SEA Home in April 2012. Within a few months she was able to catch up on her schooling. She is a very good student, hard-working and very studious in her homework. In homely tests she is as good as Sudip. She gets excellent reviews from the school. She ranked 2^nd in her latest exams in 5^th grade, and got a score of 84%.

In the home, she is helpful, and disciplined, and sometimes she helps the juniors in doing their homework. But somehow it’s difficult to understand her. She seems to be cheerful, but she is clever and can sometimes lie. But she is just a child, so we don’t expect this to be consequential. Overall, she has adapted beautifully to her new life, and she is friendly with everyone.

Sneha: A loving and mischievous girl.

Sneha

Sneha (10 years old), who has been living in the SEA home since 2007, is an average student (she got 70% in her latest tests in 5^th grade), but she has made great progress over the past two years and has the capacity to do even better. She is the type of child who just can’t stay still. She is constantly moving around and has difficulty concentrating. In her homely tests she tries to study but it seems to be hard for her to pay full attention. She is sometimes mischievous and disobedient. She does not do her homework right away and has to be told to do it over and over again. She finally tries her best and ultimately does it. It might come to mind that she is suffering from some sort of internal disorder but we rather think that she is lazy. She is not depressed or anxious, although, because of family problems, she sometimes cries and becomes sad. She is not shy or withdrawn. Quite the contrary, she is sociable and fun loving. Whenever she gets leisure time, she loves talking about movies and songs with Anu. She is a very affectionate and very endearing little girl.

Anjali (left), Sneha (middle), Simran (right)

Sudip: A cheerful, sincere and good boy.

Sudip by Elias SFAXI (Copyright)

Sudip (11 years old) who joined the SEA Home in 2011 is a cheerful but shy and quiet boy. He gets stressed out very easily. He is a bit introvert, yet friendly with all. He likes to play football a lot. He is a very good boy and a very good student (he ranked 5^th at his latest exams in 5^th grade, where he got 81%), with good manners in all circumstances. He is a very studious and obedient student. He is hard-working and does his homework regularly by himself. But when he doesn’t understand something, he doesn’t hesitate to ask us. If given any creative work at school, he talks with seniors, takes ideas from them, but does the work himself. He helps juniors too. He does well in every test that we regularly give. In fact, he is the first one to memorize everything. He is really a model child.

Ankit

Rammaya: Another little mouse at SEA!

Ram Maya by Elias SFAXI – Copyright

Rammaya (7 years old), who joined the SEA Home in April 2013, after having spent one year at the little hostel of Shree Liti in Dhading, is a very sweet and funny little girl. She is very small but her voice is like that of an adult! Like a little mouse she is always running here and there. She is so like little Satikshya some ten years ago. She talks a lot and she is a fun-loving girl. She is an average student. In homely tests she also has to learn over and over to get the desired result. She tries hard to study though. She now studies in 2^nd grade and got 61% at her latest exams. She is a very nice and playful little child who brings joy in the home.

Ram Maya, prête à aller à l’école by Elias SFAXI (Copyright)

 By Sarita & Pratiksha

Sarita Junior

Pratikcha by Elias SFAXI (Copyright)

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