Risky Business
Another reproduction of a short story I wrote as a student in Nepal-- this one as a 9th grader. I happen to have a copy of it because I still own a copy of the issue of the school magazine in which it was published!
My Work for the Giant
Reproduction of a story I wrote as maybe a 7th grader in an on-the-spot short-story writing contest. I reproduce it here because the story won first prize!
Bro. Joe, The Incomparable Storyteller
A blog post about my 7th grade English teacher Bro. Joe Sheehan. The amazing storyteller that he was, he fired my imagination and contributed to my "escape" from Kathmandu to see -- and learn about -- the amazing people and world beyond the borders of Nepal. He had a role to play in who I am today.
Story of How My Old School St. Xavier’s Godavari Was Founded
A fascinating short account of the circumstances and context around -- and the story behind -- the founding of St. Xavier's Godavari School, my old school in Kathmandu, Nepal by the Jesuit Priest Fr. Marshall Moran. The extract comes from a book about the founder.
UWC Scholarships: Stories of Hopes and Dreams Realized
From the late nineties, I have always wished that Nepal UWC committee would be able to send children from poor and/or marginalized backgrounds. All the time I have been involved in the committee, I have done what little I could to make that happen. This is the story of the things I did and the little gains we have made so far to that end.
“Let’s Raise Children Who Won’t Have to Recover From Their Childhoods.”
Violence against children in Nepal, in homes and schools, was routine in the seventies and eighties when I was growing up. Results of surveys show it to be so even now, more than two decades later.
Instead of raising children, who have to recover from their childhoods, we should and we can raise them to be kind and compassionate human beings!
Lost Memories of Old
Something -- ten-year (1997) high school reunion -- that I should remember! I should have memories of it! After all, I had been heavily involved in its organization! But, strangely enough, I don't, while I do our one-year (1988) reunion, for all the right and two wrong reasons!
Sometimes You Just Can’t Win…and That’s OK
How people are in some respects -- and also how power dynamics -- work don't change with time. Should you suffer in some way because of that, hardly any of it is about you AND as such you can't do anything about it really. And that's ok!
Raise the Child, NOT the Rod
Corporal punishments rarely impart any meaningful lesson, and yet, in Nepal, it's defended as part of our "culture." My classmates and I suffered from it too and as far as I can tell, they didn't do much good for us!
What's more, it is possible to educate and raise children without punishing them physically.
Burr & Burton Academy: Success…What you Make of Life
Live life in others' terms, you'll fail...no matter what.
Live life in ones own terms, you'll succeed...no matter what.
In other words, ones success is measured by oneself, so therefore, success is what you make of life.