Orange Village Team By: Amy Scharman

Every day when we’re at our village school, I pinch myself. Are we really near a mountain top in a village school overlooking the Himalayas with a bunch of beautiful brown-skinned children? As the YMAD kids teach, local women in their vibrant, colored scarves and men in ornate hats often appear behind the school wall and watch and smile. Our lessons all take place in one small courtyard, each group bunched together in separate tiny areas.

Bentley has been a big hit during group play time. He swings the kids and they also love to hang on him. One kid, Vikrant, during class drew a picture of Bentley with deliberate muscles. Don’t be deceived by this tough-guy persona, though. One of his favorite students is the most soft-spoken shy girl named Astha, a little cuddlebug.

Calvin has a gentle demeanor with the kids. He is especially good with the 4 oldest boys who are probably aged 10-12. I think they think of him as a cool older brother as he understatedly laughs and jokes around with them.

Grace is a natural teacher. The kids are always cuddling with her or she’s holding the smaller ones on her lap. You can tell she really loves the kids. She’s also really good at instinctively knowing what others need.

It is so fun to watch Lili’s amusement with the kids. They are constantly cracking her up. The kids can feel this joy and love being around her. Lili is also good at improvising when supplies or lessons don’t always go as planned. Her lessons are fabulous.

Quiet but not shy among his peers, we were pretty surprised by the outgoing fun teacher Owen has turned out to be. The children adore him. They are animated and excited during all of his lessons. When he’s standing or sitting, it’s fun to watch his tall lanky almost-a-man body lean over quite markedly so he can speak with the kids eye to eye.

Today McKelle showed the students some of her gymnastic tricks. They were very impressed. McKelle even did an aerial for them, much to their delight. One kid, Sahil, who already knew a few tricks of his own, including a pretty sweet front handspring, declared in awe to his friends that he wanted to learn that one. (Thankfully our translator was nearby to tell us.) McKelle is also such a sweetheart with all the kids.

Today was filled with clapping handgames, secret handshakes, Old McDonald had a Farm, and Head Shoulders, Knees and Toes. McKelle helped the children make paper airplanes, too, during playtime. That was a hit with the boys, especially. Calvin shared Fruit Loops and became the most popular teacher for a while. Owen hid Easter eggs and the kids got to go around the tiny courtyard and find them. Bentley played a similar game with flashcards. The kids were beaming. Grace got to be group leader today and was so considerate in seeking out each group or child that needed help throughout the day. McKelle had the kids dressed up in some pretty fun outfits as she taught them about articles of clothing.

We’ve collected a couple of extra village children that aren’t even enrolled in the school, even. Word has gotten out.

It has been a great few days. Thank you for sharing your awesome kids with us for a couple of weeks.