Blind Singing Programme

During Deepwali, our training programme was slightly delayed whilst the students visited local houses and businesses with a singing and dancing programme called ‘Bhailo’. Throughout the Deepwali festival, or Tihar (festival of lights), as it is more commonly known in Nepal; children visit houses and sing and dance traditional songs for money(about 10pence per visit depending on the size of the group and the quality of the singing & dancing). Their 27-strong blind ‘bhailo group’ arrived in a bus and included 8 singers (male and female) one harmonium player and two drummers. There was also a driver and a dancer (both sighted) a large throng of clappers, and about 5 partially sighted men who were proudly in charge of a huge speaker system with a microphone (and terrible quality). Fortunately we only had to endure about 15 minutes of ear-splitting whistling and whining from the mike before the electricity went off! Many of them also tripped over trying to navigate the crowd and foreign objects in a foreign backyard. The music was excellent though, with Laxmi, a blind girl we have come across before taking the lead role with her beautiful singing voice. With a minimum donation of about £10, they collectively raised enough to provide numerous scholarships for young blind people so they could attend school. In a country where many people believe blindness to be contagious, it was a brave initiative and shows just how determined they are to raise awareness and improve the situation of other blind people in Nepal. Well done students!