Bhaktapur sits in the Kathmandu Valley, about 12 km from the capital.  It is an ancient city, the former capital of Nepal until the 2^nd half of the 15^th century. Parts of the city date to the eighth century but most of its impressive architecture and artworks are from thr 12-15 centuries during great Malla Kingdom.

Narrow roads intertwine between public squares – enchanting pathways which traverse the centuries human activity. The Unatti Children Art Centre is located in the middle of this old city.   As we approached it we could hear the excited voices of children waiting for us.  We knew we would be welcome again here.

We were greeted by the children – many of whom were familiar faces from our November 2012 visit.   They were very proud to show us the exercises they learned then, and we were touched and thrilled to see the continued impact of our classes.   It reminded us of how desperate and eager these children are to learn.

Mostly this first day was a meet and greet; a day of showing skills and enjoying seeing eachother again.   In the year that has passed, many of the children have attended the Arts Centre on a weekly basis for art and music classes.  They had lots of dances and songs to share with us.

For us, this session was a great opportunity to see  how much the children had retained from last year – it gave us the foundation to plan the next stage of Art and Drama classes.