The Volunteer Experience: Rice Eating Ceremony

Posted on August 13, 2013

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     On the night of my arrival in Udhin Dhunga, the whole village gathered at the home of Miss Nicki, Maya Universe Academy’s  science teacher. About ten families live in Udhin Dhunga, which means “sharp knife,” and they had come together to mark the life of Miss Nicki’s first-born child. When we arrived Ms. Nicki was holding her son proudly, rocking him back and forth. The boy, wrapped snuggly in a Tigger the Pooh winter snowsuit, stared unblinkingly at his visitors with wide, brown eyes. At the age of 6 months, children are officially welcomed into the community with Nepali tradition known as the Rice Eating Ceremony.   Having survived the fragile first stage of their life, the child is fed their first rice. Rice is a vital part of any person’s life in Nepal, and the feeding ceremony symbolizes the child’s emergence and permanence in the community.
     After Miss Nicki welcomed Sharon (another volunteer), Manjil (MUA founder), and I into her home, we each blessed the child and anointed him upon his forehead with a red paste made from sugar, rice, and an unknown colorant called “tika.” By the time he received our blessing, the boy’s forehead was thickly smeared with the sticky red dye. The ceremony had started early in the day and we were one of the last guests to arrive. The child anointed, we offered Miss Nicki Maya Universe Academy’s gift, a small bundle of Nepali rupees. After I placed the money at her feet, Miss Nicki smiled graciously and implored everyone by emphatically waving her arms to sit, eat, and drink. No sooner had we sat down then drinks and platters of food were being passed around for all. Glasses sloshing over the top and plates heaping with an assortment of curried meats, vegetables, “sel roti,” and candy, I struggled to imagine how this could only be a starter. The local liquor, “Rak-si,” is made from fermented millet and tastes similar to sake when watered down. Fortunately, they water it down, usually. When not diluted, the firewater blinds the senses and burns to touch.
     A couple glasses of “raksi”and three overflowing plates of food later, we all went outside to enjoy the party, listen to the music, dance, and warm our hands over the fire. The villagers sat divided by the flickering flames: women to one side, men on the other. The women outnumbered the men two to one. Manjil, Sharon, and I sat down by the side of the fire between the two groups. The men and women were singing the “dohori,” a traditional call and response ballad about love. Two men sat at the group’s core keeping time with hand drums called “madals.” Each round of call and response become more raucous as the women heckled the men louder and more severely with each passing round, jeering at the unlucky singer. Manjil translated the more passionate responses, describing the “dohori” as a platform for village romances to be voiced covertly in public. Secret lovers crooned one another, wives berated their cheating husbands, and mistresses fantasized about the men they could never openly love. Soon the thwarting cries of the women grew more and more infuriating to the men, and the lurkers on the edge of the circle were pulled reluctantly towards the center to strengthen the men’s voice and partake in the poetry.
     As the music intensified, some of the women deserted the singers and began dancing by the fire, the flames of light wildly projecting the dancing figures shadows onto the dusty earth and up the walls of the mud brick house. After a quick lesson from Manjil in Nepali, I stood and asked an older woman to dance. She accepted begrudgingly as I pulled her onto her feet. We confusedly mixed the traditional Nepali steps with my own rock n’ roll groove before setting into a mellow flow of swinging arms and legs. More women joined in the dancing, excited to share the spotlight with a young man.  Soon, Sharon pulled Manjil to his feet. We all danced heartily, laughing at our inconsistencies and lack of rhythm.  Our only ability to communicate was the steady slap of skin onto a goat skin stretched over the wooden drum.  The rhythm held our slowly twisting bodies in communion.
     After a few hours of laughter and dancing, we walked home down a path tangled with roots and stones. Towering trees lined the way, each draped with spiraling vines. As we walked, Manjil joked about the jungle nights, teasing us with stories of tigers and leopards as birds and insects sang their midnight melody.

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Signing the ABCs

Posted on August 4, 2013

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Susmita and Korina sign the ABCs at Maya Universe Academy, Nepal (Tanahu). We taught it to them in one day, and by the third day they were able to understand sentences--these kids are brilliant and will be cheating their way through the rest of their school days with this skill!

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Mayan Recognized as 1st Changemaker of the Week by AshokaU!

Posted on August 3, 2013

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Changemaker of the Week: Surya Karki

“I work to provide free education to children in rural Nepal; to be a hope to the hopeless and an inspiration to the hopeful; to listen, act, and lead.” – Surya Karki

Surya Karki, a student at College of the Atlantic, describes his work founding Maya Universe Academy, the first completely free private education institution in Nepal.Surya Karki is being featured as part of Ashoka U’s new series, “Changemaker of the Week” which highlights extraordinary student changemakers in college and graduate programs around the country. Check the Ashoka U blog each week for a story of a new Changemaker of the Week!

 
Manjil, Surya, Subash, and local teachers, volunteers, and students gather after school.

Interview with MUA's Agricultural Director Surya Nepali Karki:

What is Maya Universe Academy?           
Maya Universe Academy (MUA) is the first completely free private education institution in Nepal. It’s currently operating in three districts of Nepal: Syangja District to the west, Tanahun in the center and Udaypur District in the east. We provide completely free quality education to the rural poor of Nepal in return for two days of volunteering at the school in operations or in the school farm.


How did you decide to start Maya Universe Academy?
I used to be one of the kids that I was going to serve, (poor, without enough resources for a quality education without placing burden). The desire to help children living my childhood motivated me in the founding of Maya Universe Academy. After completing my agriculture studies in Venezuela in 2011, I returned home to Nepal and teamed committed students and visionaries; Manjil Rana, Shil Chu Yoon, Ian Blanchard, Asish Adhikary, Urs Riggenbach, Joseph Layden, and Subhash Rana, to start Maya Universe Academy.


How has being a student changed the way you act as a changemaker?
College has provided me with the freedom and support to be a changemaker with a holistic view. My first step to changemaking started at Budhanilkantha School where in 1998 my mom, who has never received any formal education, said “You are the only person that can be the change you wish to be.” After establishing Maya Universe Academy, and keeping in mind what my mom had once said, I reached College of the Atlantic (COA) where the freedom to act has given me greater horizon to act as a changemaker in education, policy making at the United Nations, sustainable business planning in Germany and even committing to economic change in Nepal through coffee and fruit farming.


What’s the best part of working on your venture?
The best part of working on my venture is waking up and seeing the kids coming to school, playing, talking and screaming. The appreciation the kids show for what I do at MUA has kept my adrenaline and my motivation high, to continue to strive for a better future for the kids and for the country. Every day I am reminded that the investment that my team and I have made, and are making, on the future of these kids is worth more than the days that I have gone broke.

Surya feeding some chickens!


What’s one piece of advice you’d give to any college student thinking of becoming a student changemaker?
One piece of advice, simple as it is: “Believe in yourself, believe that you can do it, and believe that the first step is what you need to take. The second step will follow upon the first one. If you are thinking you are going to be alone in your journey, then you may be wrong because the place you are intending to serve will support you throughout.”

Or, take it this way, “College is a place to learn – to learn to pursue your dreams, but the most important thing to remember is that college is a place to be free to seek your dream, to put your changemaker adrenaline into action. Your move will be one of the most important steps to becoming the kind of person you wish to be.” How has being at College of the Atlantic helped you as a changemaker? There are hundreds of opportunities around, but without the immense help of my school I would not have had the opportunity to adjust within my course work. The school and my teachers have so far supported me by giving me a go-ahead for anything that interests me. They have given me the opportunity to attend the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) 2013 in St. Louis, Jacobus Business Challenge in Germany, 51st CSocD at the UN Headquarters in New York and a landscape economic study of Yucatan Peninsula. Trusting my abilities to act, the school also selected me as a grantee for one of the “100 Projects for Peace” to establish an organic coffee and fruit farm in Nepal to sustain my venture. This can only happen at College of the Atlantic.

 
Our newest location in Syngja District!

For more about Surya’s work, check out MUA's website at http://www.mayauniverseacademy.org/. More information about Surya Karki will be featured on social media this week, so make sure to like Maya Universe Academy on Twitter and Facebook or Ashoka U on Twitter and Facebook! Check out Maya Universe Academy website and blog for updates and opportunities to get involved.  Subsribe to Ashoka U’s blog for weekly updates about new stories of phenomenal student changemakers making a difference in the world.

Surya Nepali Karki



by Beeta Ansari
Beeta is Ashoka U’s Exchange Director, the world’s largest global convening for social entrepreneurship education.

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Mayan Honored with Changemaker of the Week Award from Ashoka U!

Posted on August 1, 2013

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Changemaker of the Week: Surya Karki

“I work to provide free education to children in rural Nepal; to be a hope to the hopeless and an inspiration to the hopeful; to listen, act, and lead.” – Surya Karki

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Surya Karki, student at College of the Atlantic, describes his work founding Maya Universe Academy, the first completely free private education institution in Nepal.

Surya Karki is being featured as part of Ashoka U’s new series, “Changemaker of the Week” which highlights extraordinary student changemakers in college and graduate programs around the country. Check the Ashoka U blog each week for a story of a new Changemaker of the Week!

–
What is Maya Universe Academy?
Maya Universe Academy (MUA) is the first completely free private education institution in Nepal. It’s currently operating in three districts of Nepal: Syangja District to the west, Tanahun in the center and Udaypur District in the east. We provide completely free quality education to the rural poor of Nepal in return for two days of volunteering at the school in operations or in the school farm.

How did you decide to start Maya Universe Academy?
I used to be one of the kids that I was going to serve, (poor, without enough resources for a quality education without placing burden). The desire to help children living my childhood motivated me in the founding of Maya Universe Academy. After completing my agriculture studies in Venezuela in 2011, I returned home to Nepal and teamed up with five other students; Manjil Rana, Shil Chu Yoon, Ian Blanchard, Asish Adhikary and Subhash Rana, to start Maya Universe Academy.

How has being a student changed the way you act as a changemaker?
College has provided me with the freedom and support to be a changemaker with a holistic view. My first step to changemaking started at Budhanilkantha School where in 1998 my mom, who has never received any formal education, said “You are the only person that can be the change you wish to be.” After establishing Maya Universe Academy, and keeping in mind what my mom had once said, I reached College of the Atlantic (COA) where the freedom to act has given me greater horizon to act as a changemaker in education, policy making at the United Nations, sustainable business planning in Germany and even committing to economic change in Nepal through coffee and fruit farming.

What’s the best part of working on your venture?
The best part of working on my venture is waking up and seeing the kids coming to school, playing, talking and screaming. The appreciation the kids show for what I do at MUA has kept my adrenaline and my motivation high, to continue to strive for a better future for the kids and for the country. Every day I am reminded that the investment that my team and I have made, and are making, on the future of these kids is worth more than the days that I have gone broke.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to any college student thinking of becoming a student changemaker?
One piece of advice, simple as it is: “Believe in yourself, believe that you can do it, and believe that the first step is what you need to take. The second step will follow upon the first one. If you are thinking you are going to be alone in your journey, then you may be wrong because the place you are intending to serve will support you throughout.”

Or, take it this way, “College is a place to learn – to learn to pursue your dreams, but the most important thing to remember is that college is a place to be free to seek your dream, to put your changemaker adrenaline into action. Your move will be one of the most important steps to becoming the kind of person you wish to be.”

Surya Karki Photo

How has being at College of the Atlantic helped you as a changemaker?
There are hundreds of opportunities around, but without the immense help of my school I would not have had the opportunity to adjust within my course work. The school and my teachers have so far supported me by giving me a go-ahead for anything that interests me. They have given me the opportunity to attend the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) 2013 in St. Louis, Jacobus Business Challenge in Germany, 51st CSocD at the UN Headquarters in New York and a landscape economic study of Yucatan Peninsula. Trusting my abilities to act, the school also selected me as a grantee for one of the “100 Projects for Peace” to establish an organic coffee and fruit farm in Nepal to sustain my venture. This can only happen at College of the Atlantic.

For more about Surya’s work, check out his website at http://mischwald.ch/mayauniverseacademy/. More information about Surya Karki will be featured on social media this week, so make sure to like Ashoka U on Twitter and Facebook! Check out Ashoka U’s blog each week to see new stories of phenomenal student changemakers making a difference in the world.

http://ashokau.org/blog/changemaker-of-the-week-surya-karki/

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