Two little speckled frogs, a rat and a flying saucer

Selina Thapa, is the Gurkha Welfare Officer at the Dering Lines army base in Brecon, and a very busy woman. As an English speaker she has been chosen from amongst the other wives to represent the families posted there. Her mobile phone rings constantly as she helps to organise dentist and doctors appointments, accompanies parents on school visits and meetings and runs the library. Selina also liaises with Coleg Powys to ensure the smooth running of ESOL classes for the women and helps to organise cultural events such as a sari evening for the wives of the British and Gurkha soldiers to get together or celebrations for Tihar, the Hindu festival of light.

Another of her new responsibilities is to look after the Language and Play programme - to encourage attendance and to run the sessions. In November 2004, Powys LEA set up a Language and Play scheme for the wives of Gurka soldiers and their young children. Funding from the Basic Skills Agency allowed the purchase of resources and the time of Anne Owen, Language and Play Coordinator at Powys LEA, who set up the project and ran the first sessions. Now the scheme is fully embedded and totally self-supporting.

Sheila Gurung, Gurka Welfare Officer, followed by Puspa Pun, did much, alongside Anne, to ensure its success. In total 42 women attended those sessions with their 59 children, attendance varying from week to week as families were posted away from Brecon.

This session welcomed back Anne to lead a taster session of Language and Play and Number and Play with Selina translating to encourage the initially reluctant of the Mums and shy children. After coffee and juice Anne introduced herself and the session and the 12 Mums who’d come along gave their names, ages of their children and explained how long they had been stationed in Brecon – many for only a few months.

The session began with a big book which Anne read from, drawing in the children with the illustrations, pointing out familiar animals and encouraging them to say their names out loud. Then a box of colourful children's books was passed around for the Mums and children to read together as well as the Basic Skills Agency’s Stories, Rhymes and Songs, a book for them to take away for free, filled with nursery rhymes and stories. 'The Mums love the storybooks and nursery rhymes,' says Puspa 'They're the same as the ones their children are learning at school and so they can make links between what they do with their children at home and what they need to learn in lessons.'

Next the session moved onto one of the basis of Number and Play - basic shapes. Anne began a song to encourage the children to learn the names of new shapes:

Draw a circle in the air, in the air, draw a circle in the air in the air, draw a circle in the air and leave it hanging there, draw a circle in the air in the air.

'What other shapes are there?' asks Anne 'Square' offers one little girl, 'Triangle' says her mum. The mums sings along too and as the more confident children join in or mouth the words.

Anne brings out lots of gold and silver boxes in different shapes as well as glue sticks, bags of coloured feathers and different papers shapes to decorate the boxes. Everyone gets involved, talking about what they're doing and describing the shapes they’re using. Playdough is next out of the craft box. 'Children learn the application of words through doing', explains Anne to me, 'we teach the children new words by making a circle or making a cup or a rabbit and talking about it.' 'Rah!' interrupts the little boy next to her, waggling a playdough rat at us to give us a fright. 'Rat' corrects his big sister quietly, adding the antenae to her butterfly.

The session also includes lots of singing and rhymes. Many of the classic English nursery rhymes have a Nepalese equivalent and both are sung. Lots of the songs are counting songs such as Three little ducks, Two little speckled frogs and Five little men in a playing saucer. The children really respond to the singing and to the musical instruments given out to play along. A very shy little girl, forgetting the earache she came in to the sessions with, is clearly very proud of the counting she’s already learnt at school and sings along with absolute relish – 'Two little speckled frogs sat on a speckled log, eating the most delicious grubs – yum yum! One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool, then there was just one little frog, glub glub!'

A parachute and dice game rounds off the session. By the end, after a few 'come on Mums!', from Puspa and Selina, all the mums are engaged and the children are thoroughly enjoying themselves. Selina helps the mums to fill out borrowing forms so that they can take some of Anne’s toys and games home. There are a few tears but finally the last child leaves and Anne and Selina can clear up.

'Most Gurkhas are only posted in England for 18 months and the wives often don’t travel with their husbands,' says Anne, 'It can be very isolating and although some of the women learnt English at school it can be a confusing and difficult time as children must go to school and the women live in an English speaking community.'

For these women, access to the library and to Coleg Powys delivered ESOL courses is also beneficial. The library started life as a small, dark room in the Welfare Centre. Full of books on artillery and army life, the library was rarely used and unwelcoming to the Mums and their children. With Anne’s help, Sheila successfully bid for a £600 grant from Powys County Council/ Basic Skills Agency LAP Funding followed by another £300 obtained by Puspa from The Annington Trust. These grants enabled Puspa to transform the library. The shelves filling the room were pushed back to the edges to allow in light and to make room for cushions and beanbags on the floor for the children and their parents to sit and read. A trip to Ikea, children’s toys and new children’s books and games have ensured that the library is now a well-used resource.

Anne explains that the Language and Play and Number and Play sessions, which promote the development of early language with 0-3 year olds, can be enormously beneficial, not just to the children who learn there, but to their Mums who have the opportunity to socialise and to integrate with the other wives, including those of the British soldiers who have also attended past sessions. 'With Selina's hard work and the support of the Army here, we hope the sessions will be able to continue being of benefit to the women and their children.'