Gallery 1-a
Ward 1: Maikot
500-b Map of Takukot
Looking down from the hill above the school to Shree Maikot Secondary School in the foreground and to Maikot village further down, On the left is one of the two school buildings with its firmed roof. The playground is in the centre foreground.
Water supply (kuwa)
146 Water supply for Maikot village and Maikot School
143
146 and 143 - This is the well (or tank, called 'kuwa' in Nepali) which supplies water to Ward 1 and to Maikot School. The students and one peon (school helper) carry this water in pots / pitchers and plastic containers ('jerrycans') on their backs to the school. The water containers sit in wickerwork baskets (= dhoko ???), which you can see in the picture, and these are tied with ropes to the back of the person carrying it.
It takes 30 minutes to walk from the school to the kuwa, and 30 minutes to carry the water back to the school.
When you walk uphill from the well to the school, you pass through the houses of the village (through the hamlet). The school is slightly higher than the hamlet. The inhabitants of the hamlet also have to carry their drinking and cleaning water in the same way. They wash their clothes at the well.
Life would be much easier if there were a pipe and an electrical pump to pump the water from the well to the hamlet and to Maikot School. The absence of running water also causes great problems of hygiene with the toilets of the school, where over 300 students are studying. The time used for carrying water is lost for studying.
Language
Religion
Everybody in Takukot has Nepali as his native language (not Newari, or one of the other languages of Nepal).
In school the children are encouraged to speak always English, not only during English classes but even outside English classes.
In some Wards of Takukot the Baram language is spoken, e.g. in Ward 8, Dandagaon, and in Mailung. Baram is an ancient language which is prevalent in the Gorkha District (besides Nepali, of course). Takukot is one of three VDCs (villages) in the Gorkha District in which there are more Baram speakers than elsewhere.
In Takukot most students are Hindus. A few students are Christians. In other parts of Nepal, a substantial number of Buddhists are also found.
413 Bend it like Beckham
Children in Ward 1
