Enjoy this partial blog post from Ama Ghar visitor Matt Mason. Matt spent a great deal of time with the children, doing tutoring, sports, activities and generally hanging out with them, much to their complete delight:
“…I stayed eighteen more days at Ama Ghar, but with a renewed sense of exuberance and love for the kids that increasingly grew more and more close to my heart. The next few weeks were, as the theme goes, chaotic as could be. Luckily, my time there fell during both a period of standardized testing in the schools, letting the kids out of school early and giving me much more time to spend with them, as well as the lead up to Dashain, perhaps the biggest holiday in Nepal, where Nepali people return to the villages and homes of the eldest members of their family, and schools shut down in anticipation of the travel and celebration that ensue. This both gave me more time to spend with some of the kids as they had less time in the classroom and fewer study obligations, but also less time with others, as those with known family members departed more and more frequently as family members took certain kids to the villages of their relatives. By the time I left Ama Ghar on October 21st, only about twenty kids remained in the home, and my heart sank a bit each time I realized I had not had the chance to say good bye to one kid or another who left for the holiday.
Matt was fun to play with, and he also came in handy when the kids wanted a soft place to sit…
There would be more chaos to embrace going forward, but from what I had learned about myself and Nepal through these first few hectic but immensely rewarding weeks gave me all the more fortitude to simply follow what felt right. If I had capitulated to my worry and over-thinking and decided to cut my time short, I would not have been blessed to have connected and shared the moments I did with the adorable, engaging and absolutely wonderful kids of Ama Ghar. As Bonnie said to me during that last late night conversation, the guests of Ama Ghar tend to gain more from the experience than the kids. I cannot make any value judgment in this regard, but I know that the experience at Ama Ghar was one of incredible growth, self-realization and connection that will stay with my for the rest of my life.
And those kids…my god I miss them so much…chaos and all.” — Matthew Mason
Best wishes to Matt from the Ama Ghar kids – we all miss you!