Anything is possible!

For those that have followed my journey over the last 3 years and have been there to support me through the ups and downs, I wanted to thank you. On a positive note, I am still here and still believing in what can be possible. Some days are harder than others, some days are amazing. But that is the journey of life and we cannot give-up on the days we feel that it all is falling apart. Believe me I stood at that cross roads many many times these last 3 years, but there is this little voice that comes from the deepest part of my soul that keeps pushing me and does not allow me to quite.

I am now at the point of organizing 8 months of free art workshops,and when I look at the magnitude of work ahead of me I feel that maybe I am biting off more than I can chew for one person. But I know we can do it, it might not go perfectly as planned, there may be days that somebody might say this is not working out today, but if we allow ourselves to be flexible and see it as a learning experience then I cannot feel that I might fail. Honestly I have no idea how it will all work out and how it will all come together, but I believe that the universe has sent some amazing people to work on this project, people with heart and spirit, that is willing to take a trip to Nepal on the believe of what we will be doing is important. And for me that knowledge is so over whelming as WatersFromHeaven is not a big organization, is not something that runs on sponsors or big donations. My believe has been to build something that does not exploit volunteers, is not concerned about having our names put on buildings for recognition, but a dream that is built on faith.

I have not yet given up on the idea of an art center.Somewhere from where we can plan workshops, have a base to live and give free training workshops for teachers. Each time I do believe it is getting closer, and when the time is right it will happen. Knowing I have no funds to do this, might be a crazy idea, but I know we will receive this space somehow someday.

Some of you might know that I have been having the issue with getting a Nepali visa if I wanted to start the center, which has been my concern,as I do not have the thousands of dollars it would cost for me to go through this process of getting the visa. I had recently become an American citizen,and am very proud to say that. But the other day I was looking into applying for a tourist visa to India as we will be close to the border and I thought I might go over to Darjeeling for a trip. So then I read that American citizens can apply for 10 year visas to India. It was as if all the concern of how will I do this disappeared. So the good news is that I am thinking of doing the artcenter on the Indian side as I could live and do the projects in India and travel to Nepal for 5 months a year to work on the projects there. It might not seem so important a revelation to everybody, but for me it took away all the stress about how will I be doing this, as I cannot fly up and down from the USA and I need a space to live from where we can build something permanent.

Sometimes in life the answers to our concerns are not always what we were planning or thought it would be, but the universe will give you the answers when you open yourself to all the possibilities. I have learnt to be flexible during this process and allow myself to flow and not be set in myideas. And in this way we can work in 2 countries and reach so many more children and schools. I will set out again on this trip and look to find a space/place from where we can start this dream. And who knows what might happen. All I can say with all my heart is that I know art needs to be brought to the rural children in a way that it is accessible, affordable, and practical. Children need to be creative and they need that opportunity. CHILDREN NEED ART.

Picture credit to Hong CK. 

"Where there is color there is hope" Programs

WatersFromHeaven is a small Non-profit organization based in the USA. My dream has been to bring art into the rural schools of Nepal through free workshops using local materials and recyclable items. The majority of schools in the rural areas do not offer any art classes or creative activities for the children, because of the lack of funds, equipment and the absence of teacher training. Unfortunately, many children never get the opportunity to develop their creativity, which is very important in the development of a young child. The classrooms and preschool rooms are bare with nothing but mostly a bamboo mat. Many of the children we have worked with have never even held a crayon or colored in a picture.

I have called the project “Where there is color there is Hope,” because I believe that art can uplift your spirits and transform any moment into a colorful experience. I have just returned from a two-month trip where I worked with a group of volunteer artists and teachers in two rural districts of Nepal. The feedback and the response from the community was extremely positive and I was surprised at how excited schools and teachers were to get involved. I will be returning in a couple of months to continue this project and hope that I would be able to focus more on teacher training so that more schools can be reached. I am in the process of recruiting teachers and artists for the upcoming projects later in the year. Please do email me at watersfromheaven@gmail.com or visit me on Facebook  www.facebook.com/WatersFromHeaven and look at all the picture updates from the last trip. My dream has been to set up a small art center from where we could set up programs for the rural community and do the teacher training. It all is a process, but I believe that anything is possible and that we should never give up no matter how impossible it may look to others.

Teachers and artists volunteers needed.

Teacher and artist Needed. If there are any artist or teachers that will be travelling to Nepal from September please do email me as we will be starting the teacher training and free art workshops from that time. Am planning on getting a space for us from where we can work and visit schools in the local community. In this way we can focus on making a more lasting impact and be available to assist teachers in the schools with training.