As a mission to make 200 caps and neck warmers this winter season which will go to many children's homes here in Nepal, I need many women who are ready to volunteer. To meet the target on time, I started organizing many Volunteers Meet for Knitting programs in many cities in Nepal. First it started in Nippani, Chitwan. A church provided space for the event and helped gather women to volunteer. Not just that, this church in Nippani also helped raise fund for wool as well. With the help of my pastor brother and his friends in this church, they helped us to raise fund for 50 children which is a 25 percent of our total target this year.
This event will take place in Kathmandu in the mid of November was already fixed before we organised one such event in Chitwan in October. Here, we organised the event in association of an NGO, Yuwalaya Youth Resources center which is a part of a Youth Action Nepal. In both city volunteers came in with two basic reasons. One to make it for children who are less privileged than us. The other reason for volunteers to take part in it was a desire to learn.
During the last couple of weeks, I have encountered many good hearted women, in both age group young and middle aged. They came to knit for children as well as to learn new patterns as well as better techniques than they knew before. Luckily I could meet the both expectations from the volunteers in both city.
Sometimes we meet some people in life and when we meet we are just spell bound to that person for who they are and what they do in life. I met Sabitree Poudel as a volunteers during the event that took place in Yuwalaya - Youth Resource Center, Min Bhawan, Kathamndu. She is such a delight of knowing as an individual. She is a masters student of sociology who study in PK Campus. And when she is not just a student, she teaches computer in National Rehabilitation Center for Disabilities which is where she works. Perhaps that is not a complete introduction of her until I tell you she is a total blind girl. She surprised us knitting perfectly; yes one straight one backward too without a mistake. She knits perfectly despite her eyesight hindrance. Because of what she did for our project, I felt obliged to teach her couple of easy patterns which she can use in most of her knit works as well as she can remember it well. I taught her [ well I explained her allowing her to touch the work I was talking] one of my favourite pattern which I use mostly.She learned it fast and next day I saw her with another woman, teaching her a pattern which I I would have thought ‘she could not have learned it’. But who am I; to think what she can and what she can't. She already have proved me wrong by knitting with my thinking - you need eyesight to learn knitting.
And she did it perfectly.
When she was doing the new pattern she also surprised me saying I have made mistake at one place and when we checked there was a mistake. Do you really need eye to find mistake in your work ?
When I am thankful to all the volunteers in both places I am specially thankful to another volunteer, Jandhavi Dhakal who sat down with Sabitree and taught her so patiently when all others were too busy on the work they had in their hands. I am also thankful to Ashma Aryal who is another half blind young friend of mine and who coordinated with all the volunteers for this event.
More to be thankful in life.
