Tuesday, April 3, 2018

TEACHING IN THE ‘FMK’ WAY


“FMK can serve as an example for schools in Nepal who follow the child centered learning approaches. It can be very useful for young children to develop these skills with practical engagement”

Moin Uddin
Kathmandu

Just imagine the scenario, which the real world working station demands as a job, which you can only learn at colleges for specialization. If you can learn at the early age of life when at school then how much your time, money and resources will be saved? 

Along with textbook subject matters, students need more of a moral and practical lesson that will build them to be stronger and independent in many ways. It is also a time to find passions, nurture it with love, and care to make it strong that later you can pursue independently. 

Furthermore, it is also a time to install some good habits on students and give them a space to learn the realities of life. Some basic practical skills like cooking, team work, how to do business, leadership skills and interpersonal skills are integral daily matters that need to be taught and make students apply, as these are the things that will matter the most for living. 

A mother of two and a PhD Candidate/Researcher at Monash University, Australia, Neeti Aryal Khanal, shared that her son Shubham Khanal who is studying in grade five at Clayton North Primary School (CNPS) is learning the real life lessons like cooking and many more along with his regular studies at his school. Aryal says, “As a feminist, I have always tried to teach my boys household work. I feel that everyone should know basic cooking, cleaning and other activities that are necessary for one's self care. In our home, at least facilitated by the reality of living in abroad, my husband does everything in the house as well. Usually when boys are just with their father, they cook meals together and Shubham already knew some basic cooking at home. But the value of this cooking heightened because of the course in school.”  


When asked about  her son’s motivation in learning this course she puts it in this way, “ My son’s motivation in learning this course comes from the fact that he understands that he is getting good working experience, which he thinks will be very useful when he will work part time in future.” In Australia, kids can start working part time right after they are 15. 

“He has a strong sense of learning to be independent financially and have a job. Besides that, he really loves to cook, eat and talk about food,” says Aryal.

Ferntastic Mini Kompany (FMK) cafe teaches kids several skill that includes food preparation and safety, interaction with people: serving the customers, learning to work in a team (usually around 7/8 students work together in a café), and practical mathematical skills (understanding real concept of investment, sales and profit).

Laura Cartledge, FMK Café teacher of CNPS says that FMK was set up as a financial literacy program to teach and give students a more ‘real life’ approach to learn about money.

“The program started out in a classroom with the students making simple biscuits and selling them at play time.  With time, FMK has now developed into a fully functional café,” says Cartledge. She is passionate about what she is teaching and how she is teaching it.  “The FMK café is a teaching tool. I love teaching this program as I get to teach the students about manners, health, communication, work ethic, responsibility, respect etcetera.” Talking about her favorite lesson to teach she says is to teach about customer service. After discussing this at school, she asks students to go home and practice ‘good customer service at home’.  “The students enjoy going home to help their families and love telling me about how good they feel to make their parents happy,” says Cartledge. When students complete each phase, they get a certificate.  They are encouraged to keep their certificates and take them to their first job interview. 

  
Regarding Khanal’s experience of learning this course at school he says, “I learned to be a waiter and a cafe worker. I also learned about occupational health safety and food safety. I found it helpful as the certificate I will get would help me get a job when I will be 15 and be independent so that I do not depend on my parents too much for money.” He says with pride that not only he will be able to get a job but will also cook for himself and family in days to come.


Aryal has experience of enrolling her kids in both Nepal and Australia. She says that Nepali schools can learn so much from the Australian schools. “I think schools in Nepal have evolved a bit and some schools are already taking these kinds of approach. However, FMK can serve as an example for schools in Nepal who follow the child centered learning approaches. It can be very useful for young children to develop these skills with practical engagement,” concludes Aryal.

In this pretty sunny morning (Poem)

Moin Uddin

In this pretty sunny morning
I keep going back to the days when we became friends
That was a time when we were kids
And we met there in class one not knowing each other’s deeds.

You were cute and I loved it
You were smart that I knew it
You were pretty, full of beauty
All I knew was you were fruity.

I wonder how talented you were
We would study tuition together and I would gear
You would just complete your assignment and submit it to the teacher
I would just hurry to memorize the assignment and to move from there.

I remember your beautiful face
There were mole on your chin and cheeks
It added essence and I would stare and freeze.
You were amazing oh oh
I know how much you loved French fries and cheese.

I go to the time when there was a parents day.
People were seated and kept waiting to start the play
Slowly the turn of your dance was coming near
I awaited patiently to watch your dance dear.
I was mesmerized to see you perform
Oh oh when you came to the stage
All eyes were magnetized to see your dance form.

You were cute and I loved it
You were smart that I knew it
You were pretty, full of beauty
All I knew was you were fruity.

In this pretty sunny morning
I keep going back to the days when we became friends
That was a time when we were kids
And we met there in class one not knowing each other’s deeds.


A version of this poem appears in print on April 2, 2018 10:01 AM of Republica.



To bring the best in you (Poem)


What is happening to these people
What concerns are they holding
Aren't they satisfied with their business 
Or are they just mocking?

I heard numerous things about you
Most people here make a stories that isn't real of you
This makes me to think what is wrong with them in getting to know you.
You're a free soul and you talk what's right for you.

Why don't they see joy in you
When you speak your enthusiasm
Why don't they see; with firm eyes
When you talk combining your passion.

You're who you are
That makes the real you
Sometimes you laugh
Sometimes you act
Sometimes you get crazy
Sometimes you get busy
But people here in the world doesn't take you easy.

They don't know what's going on within you
They don't know what's happening with you.
They don't know what's concerning you
They don't know what's troubling you

I have observed you
And you are just fine
People here just bring
The context out of mind

You are straightforward with your answers
You just go with the flow
Sometimes some concerns hit you badly and you just ignore
You give your best when you know the context
You just leave the place when it's just out of unrest.

Sometimes people interpret differently
In getting impersonal to know you.
But that's okay
To go through all these
As I know that people here assemble thoughts in bringing the hard side of you.

I know how you feel
I understand how you project the reel
The cinema is just the pictures
But the scenario is beautiful with all the scriptures.

People just can't judge you by knowing the outer shell
You are wonderful inside and out
With full of caramel
You seem hard to others
But you are soft
You seem different to others
But you are not.

You go through all those pain
When someone you care ignores.
Nobody here gives a check
Of something that matters you the most.
I wonder why you don't speak
Just like when you love to
But I've seen that you just hold your words
When someone tries to stop you.

I really felt bad when someone tried to stop you from speaking in between when you said something
And I really felt angry when that person talked in a rude way with you when there was nothing to fuel in.

I can feel what you go through
I have seen what bothers you
You are just okay my sweetheart
People just need sometime to figure out the art.

You have immense potential
You are powerful
You have absolute fire
You have wonderful desire.

Just keep on moving
Just keep on dreaming
Just keep on loving
Just keep on growing

I am with you
To support you
I am all into you
To bring the best in you.

A version of this poem appears in print on March 28, 2018 10:19 AM of Republica.

P.S: Only half of the poem was published on the newspaper, however, what you just read is the full version of the poem.

Thank you for reading. Would love to read your comments.

I want to write a poem for you (Poem)

Moin Uddin

I want to write a poem for you
But I don’t know about you
I heard that you’re a princess
But I never got an opportunity to know you my mistress.

I have seen you from far away
You looked beautiful
Stars and moon were dancing in your tunes
Comets and meteors were taking their turns
To take care of you
To bring the best in you.

The fairy world is full of beauty
And in your presence brings back the histories
The history that once we shared
But I don’t have clear memory when did we create.

I have seen you from close but not so deeply like a rose
The smell of the aroma we gathered
Is all because of your existence which mattered.

Oh the princess of my thoughts
I want to touch you and feel the words
Your beautiful face
Your wonderful surface
Makes me to fall for you
Oh oh I don’t know why I think of you.

While being with you for a while
I saw your coyly smile
The beautiful eyes
Shining all through the heartily ties
Your curly hair
Takes me back to the stories where once the princess stayed
Is all coming back
Making me go through the track
And sing a song
To bring a smile
Together to run through a mile.

I saw your orderly fingers
They were dressed with nail polish
Creating a nicely stories
Touching the words
That created some kind of stuffs
Which has some fairy tale elements
Oh oh tell me what was that
Making me to think all through the torrents.

I want to write a poem for you
But I don’t know about you
I heard that you’re a princess
But I never got an opportunity to know you my mistress.

Oh the princess of my thoughts
I want to touch you and feel the words
Your beautiful face
Your wonderful surface
Makes me to fall for you
Oh oh I don’t know why I think of you.

A version of this poem appears in print on March 19, 2018 09:16 AM of Republica.



Getting away from the chaos of life (Poem)

Moin Uddin

Getting away from the chaos of life
Thinking of the memories that we had
Life seems to be beautiful
But it’s dark with stars and moon.

You are beautiful and I love you
I just keep telling it to you
Though it might sound boring to you when I tell you every day
But it’s something that I wish to make your day.

I know that you love me
But you never say
I can see it on your eyes
Longing to be with me
I can feel the vibes that you share with me.

What’s the reason behind not accepting me?
I am trying so hard, but you never let it be.

You know the reason behind my smile
You make me crazy all through the while
Pretending that you are fine being a friend to me
Is something that makes me think that you are faking it to me.

Sitting in a couch and thinking of you in the night
Listening to the sounds of the music that you shared
Makes me to think of you
And to live in the moments.

Getting away from the chaos of life
Thinking of the memories that we had
Life seems to be beautiful
But it’s dark with stars and moon.

A version of this poem appears in print on March 15, 2018 08:52 AM of Republica.


Sitting at the bank of the river (Poem)

Moin Uddin

Sitting at the bank of the river
I am letting my mind to be free
Thoughts keep arranging words to see you be with me.
I don’t know why it longs, but it sets me free
To go wild silently, and be in your memories.

You might be having your own time
Living what makes you think
I just keep wondering
Do I cross through your dreams?

Life is beautiful the philosopher says so
But the reality is different nobody can ignore
I want to tell you that you are my life
You be around and everything is fine.

Whenever you are around beauty flows
When I write imagination glows
Someone from the angels land comes and asks me what I want
All I say is make her mine growing old in each other’s arms

The journey of my love is all on the way
My destination is you, and I am walking all my day
The road seems easy, but it’s bumpy
Sometimes you make hard making me go crazy.

Sitting at the bank of the river
I am letting my mind to be free
Thoughts keep arranging words to see you be with me.
I don’t know why it longs, but it sets me free
To go wild silently, and be in your memories.


A version of this poem appears in print on March 12, 2018 10:30 AM of Republica.

The moment (Poem)

Moin Uddin

The moment I am with you
I feel alive to be around you
The moment when I am not with you
I feel empty, lost and my heart longs for you.

No matter what I do
No matter where I go
I just wish that you be with me
I just wish that your love surrounds me.

You are the reason for my happiness
You are the reason for my sadness
You are the reason for my existence
You are the reason for my emptiness

My day just starts thinking of you
My day just ends remembering
The moments that I lived with you
My day and night is filled
With the aroma of your memories
My morning and evening are filled
With the freshness of your stories.

Oh the sweetness of my soul
Oh the bitterness of my growl
I just can’t let you go
And be with someone that I ignore.

You are my sky
You are my earth
In between anything that grows
It’s all because of the seeds that we sowed.

You know how much I love you
You know how much I desire you
You know how much I want you
You know how much I think of you.

I am just in love with you
Sometimes you ask me why I do
I simply don’t have any answers
And you have no idea how much your love matters

The moment I am with you
I feel alive to be around you
The moment when I am not with you
I feel empty, lost and my heart longs for you.

Oh the sweetness of my soul
Oh the bitterness of my growl
I just can’t let you go
And be with someone that I ignore.


A version of this poem appears in print on March 5, 2018 10:03 AM of Republica.



I'm in love with you (Poem)

Moin Uddin

I am in love with you
I am an admirer of you
Oh the pretty soul
Oh the pretty life
You are very special for me
You are very important to me

Life was just okay before meeting you
Now it’s special after meeting you
You are the reason to continue my creations
You are the inspiration for me
To write and go beyond my imagination

Oh the sun of my soul
Oh the rose of my heartbeat
Oh the river of my feeling
Oh the stars of my thinking

You are my heroine
I am your hero
We live a life full of love and respect
In between arises the villain
Creating problems and disrespect
But we fight and win the battles
Creating our own life full of blooming petals

Oh the sun of my soul
Oh the rose of my heartbeat
Oh the river of my feeling
Oh the stars of my thinking

I am in love with you
I am an admirer of you
Oh the pretty soul
Oh the pretty life
You are very special for me
You are very important to me.

A version of this poem appears in print on February 15, 2018 10:08 AM of Republica.



I wonder why!


I wonder how much a person can please others just to make sure that they do not ruin a relationship. I wonder how much a person can pretend that they are okay when in reality they are hurt deep inside by the ignorance of the efforts that they put to make others happy. 

I wonder how much a person can accept others for their adultery and be okay accepting that this is their fate. I wonder why we are suffering just to get love from others. I wonder why we are dying every single moment just to get a little attention, care, and love from the person we value in our life, but those people have little or no concern for you.

I wonder why we put lots of heavy weight in our minds by thinking about things that are not in our control and let the sharp edge of the negative imaginations, which makes sure to wreak havoc in our lives. I wonder why people take things for granted when in reality they are doing their best to make their loved ones happy by sacrificing their precious times. 

I wonder how we can take others’ sharp words that hurt our ego and letting them damage us further. It will make things worse – not only physically but also mentally, which you will alone suffer and rest will say that you have just gone crazy. 

I wonder why you act innocent when in real, you feel the urge to vomit the poisons that were slowly injected on your soul making you weaker and sick but you pretend as if life is like a rose. I wonder why you hold your tears in eyelids when it wants to pour down and relieve whenever people of various nature and backgrounds come and pinch your spirit.

I wonder why you just lock yourself in imaginative cage when in real, you are a free bird to fly anywhere your imagination takes and you enjoy the journey by sitting on ingenious seats. I wonder why your eyes do not smile like a newborn baby but you fake smile on your lips just to make sure that things are done without making it seem crazy. 

I wonder why you just don’t be real and speak out your mind, be who you are rather than behaving like someone else that people want you to be like. This is a complete nonsense to your existence. I wonder why you don’t follow your passions rather than keeping yourself cocooned in a limited space and losing your identity, however, in real you are someone who is worthy of all your passions and aspirations that might have something great to offer you. 

I wonder why you don’t stop listening to others’ voices and start listening to your inner voice, which knows you from the start and wants you to be the best of the best. You have all the powers, you have all the resources, you have an amazing mind, and a loving heart, I wonder why don’t you use it. I wonder why you do not use your gift of magic to create the real crafts and amaze the world with your unbounded possibilities. I wonder why. 

A version of this article appears in print on February 7, 2018 10:33 AM  of Republica.


Mountain and River (Poem)

Moin Uddin

Mountain and River
My love for you is purer

You are the world
You are the creator
Within you lies
Our happiness and smiles

Mountain and River
My love for you is purer

You are my tree
I am your fruit
You are my stem
I am your branch

Mountain and River
My love for you is purer

Life is beautiful
You are wonderful
You are my story
I am your writer

Mountain and River
My love for you is purer

Oh oh my princess
You are my dearest
Let’s move above the fairy lands
And live life happily holding each other hands

Mountain and River
My love for you is purer

A version of this poem appears in print on February 4, 2018 08:49 AM  of Republica.


There's something (Poem)

Moin Uddin

There’s something
That’s going on between
Making it interesting
Full of love life that’s everlasting

Oh the beautiful soul
Oh the beautiful life
I get lost in you
In your thoughts, in your memories
That gives me a feel
Which makes me anxious
And I live life in a thrill

Oh the calming rays
Oh the sunny days
Oh the flowing river
I see the reflection of you in water like in a mirror

There’s something
That’s going on between
Making it interesting
Full of love life that’s everlasting


A version of this poem appears in print on January 28, 2018 09:27 AM of Republica.


There's love (Poem)

Moin Uddin

There's a love in your smile
I can't resist seeing you
Oh my darling I am all into you

There's a feelings in me of you
I can't express in words
Oh my darling I am all short of words

There's a joy in watching you
I can't tell how much I feel about you
Oh my darling I am all moon and stars
Falling from above in love all for you

There's a love in your smile
I can't resist seeing you
Oh my darling I am all into you.


A version of this poem appears in print on January 24, 2018 11:30 AM  of Republica.


It’s okay to accept rejections


Do you think that it is easy to fall in love? Do you think that the person you love will accept your proposal so easily? Let us imagine the person you connect with and somehow they will accept your love without thinking further about their personal future aspects. No, the journey of acceptance has to pass many stages. It is a complex phenomenon.

Once while talking with a person regarding love acceptance and later getting married, he said to me that the process of acceptance followed by marriage has to go through lots of phases. The phases of personal expectations, mutual expectations, followed by family expectations, societal expectations, religious expectations and many more. Do you think that it is so easy? If it were, there wouldn’t be any sad stories.

Love is not always a bed of roses that gives aromatic smell, but the pain to be accepted that comes along with the thorns in it. We all might have fallen in love once or multiple times in lives, but only a few are lucky to go through the stages and come out as winner, but the luckiest are those who continue the journey with equal enthusiasm even after marriage. Never giving despite knowing that the roads are not easy is the real acceptance of love. However, taking the initial step of love journey takes a compatible reasoning.

It takes a lot of effort and courage to love someone. More courageous are those who accept rejection. Some rejections might not invite much pain, however some are mutual and more painful. Some of us have been through this stage. You know how much time it takes to relieve the load of a heavy heart once someone puts the load of rejection on you. If you have truly loved, the load will pull you so hard that it can affect your daily life. It doesn’t matter if you have loved for the first time or multiple times, love is love and the pain is the same.

Though you might gain some wisdom with each relationship, but wisdom alone cannot heal you. You need someone to help you to get out from it. You need love the most in this phase, but still most of us are not so comfortable sharing about our feelings. We worry if people become judgmental.

Sometimes you just cannot think or find any solutions, you heart and mind becomes hollow. You keep thinking of that person, you know the reasons for your rejection, but still you linger around the memories with your beloved. I wonder does the other person also feels the same or just moves on.  
Love is beautiful, it’s energetic, it inspires, it motivates, it gives a reason to live, but it’s complex – it de-motivates, it drains your energy, creativity, it takes away much of your mental efforts, makes you weak, sad, hopeless and in extreme occasions might take your life. But it will only happen if you let your mind wander.

It is okay to love, but it’s also okay to accept rejections. Yes, it takes time to overcome. But you will not lose anything in life, as the relationship has already taught you many things. When we recall your past days in the future, you’ll be amazed that you learned so many things. Rejections will help you become the better version of yourself. 

A version of this article appears in print on January 20, 2018 10:57 AM of Republica.