Photo: Students and mentors showing the lanterns they had made Photo Courtesy: Kundan S. Rana

On 30^th April 2015, a group of DWIT students volunteered in the workshop organized by the Social Service Club, in collaboration with the DWIT News Club, in a government school named Shree Bal Byabasayee Kendra Secondary School located near the Siphal ground. The workshop, which will be conducted for 7 weeks on weekends, commenced on 30^th April. Since the students of the school had gone for an annual break after having completed their final examination, the workshop had been halted till a later date.

The workshop, according to the organizers, will be based on giving students some creative knowledge regarding writing and art. Prabina Neupane, one of the organizers, said, “Students in such government school aren’t as privileged as the ones in private school. They rarely have extra activities where they get to sharpen their creativity. Our motive is to help them get that opportunity, though to a smaller degree, via our workshop on art and creative writing.”

On the first day, the students, according to their choice, were divided into two classes: one was the art class and the next was creative writing class. 19 students chose to attend the art class whereas, 8 students stepped into the writing class. Later, after the writing class was over, population increased in the art class.

[caption id="attachment_5666" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Photo: Shila Parajuli giving the students some writing tips
Photo Courtesy: Kundan S. Rana[/caption]

The creative writing class had three mentors, Dipesh Poudel, Bimal Gaire, Shila Parajuli and Kundan S. Rana. They decided to dedicate the first day to analyze the current writing status of the students who participated. The students were told to write either a story of their choice, or answer some interesting questions. They were given freedom to choose the language of their choice, either Nepali or English. Most of the students chose Nepali. There were only two students writing in English. Dipesh Poudel, one of the mentors, said, “This obviously reflects that they feel more comfortable in Nepali. However, we are here to teach them what they do not know. We will give them knowledge about English grammar and essay writing tips in the upcoming sessions.”

Shankhar Chaudhary, a fifth grader who attended the writing class, said, “The workshop was 20-30 % helpful. We expect more.” Suman Chaulagain, a seventh grader, remarked, “Today’s session was only 10-15% helpful. I expect to learn more about English grammar.” Vesumaya Shrestha, also a seventh grader, added, “I am interested in writing poems. I hope you all can help me improve.”

On the other hand, in the art class, the students were taught some basic art tricks, such as making a lantern out of A4 sized papers, abstract art via thread and ink, and a 2D flower vase using gum, glitter and relics of colored pencils. Everyone was having fun. Nisha Sunam, Asmita Chaulagain and Shanti Tamang, the sixth graders attending the art class, rated the class as being 100% interesting.

[caption id="attachment_5668" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Photo: Sharun Sangat, art mentor, at work
Photo Courtesy: Kundan S. Rana[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5669" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Photo: All the mentors and students busy being creative
Photo Courtesy: Kundan S. Rana[/caption]

The first day was quite successful. However, there was clear unavailability of sufficient materials in the art class such as scissors, erasers and glue sticks. Nevertheless, the mentors managed well with whatever they had in their hand, and the organizers were busy managing materials that weren’t enough. “We ran out of materials because there were more students than we had expected. We will make sure that we have more backup for the next sessions,” said Rojina Karki, one of the art mentors. Prabina Neupane added, “The first experience was good. Nonetheless, we shall be more prepared and organized from next sessions onwards.”