In Our Village: Life in a Nepalese Jungle village through the eyes of its children

A project of Junkiri school, Debniya Basti, Jhapa District, NepalEdited by Einat Metzl and Amir Rosenmann

The Village of Debniya Basti, sometimes also referred to as Butta Bari (a

bigger, close-by village on the main road), is located in the

south east Jhapa District of

Nepal.

Nepal is a country neighbouring India and China. We have beautiful mountains that are known all over the world, including Mount Everest – the highest mountain in the world. But our village is in a different part, a flat area called the Terai where the Jungle is.

In our village, about 4000 people live happily and peacefully. Our village is close to 6 villages, that are all part of our community. In Nepali we call village – Gouw.

Welcome to our village! We mostly greet people with “Namaste” or “Namaskar”, and put our hands together when we meet or pass by, like in the picture. It means Hello and Goodbye, and also means peace. It is a way we show respect to other people, especially elders. We also use Namaste for prayers.

In the morning you can also say Suba Bihani – good morning, or Suba Ratri –good night.When we greet new visitors to our village or say goodbye to them as they leave our village, we make flower lays and put the red Tikka on their forehead to wish them a good journey.

Our families are very important to us. We help our parents with farming the fields, getting water from the hand pumps next to the house for cleaning and cooking, we help with laundry and with taking care of our brothers and sisters.

Many times we live with our parents, brothers and sisters, as well as with grandparents and other relatives. If we feel close to someone we often call him or her auntie / uncle, or brother/sister even when they are not our relatives. Above are some words in Nepali and English for Family, and some pictures we took or drew about our families.

Family Vocabulary:

Family – Par-ee-warChild – batchaOlder sister – didiYounger sister – bahiniOlder brother – dhaiYounger brouther - bahiMother – AmaFather – BuaGrandma – Hajur-amaGrandpa – Hajur-bua

Taking pictures and drawing our

family

In Nepali we call house – Gar. We live in houses built by different materials: some build their houses with tin roofs and others with straw roofs. Some have walls from wood, some bamboo reed, and others build with cement or bricks. We build our homes high (on stairs or stilts) because of snakes (Serpa in Nepali).

Everyone has a water pump next to the house, and that is how we get our water for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and anything else. We have a toilet shed outside and a separate kitchen hut where we cook on clay stove. Some homes have electricity, televisions, or cell phones but most people don’t.