Mural Painting by children is one of the regular programs of Bikalpa Children Peace Program. We have been organising it from the last three years. Nearly one thousand children have already taken part in the Mural Painting. The Mural Painting is done with the theme "Hope for Peace". We have conducted Mural Painting in Biratnagar, Pokhara, Kathmandu and Lalitpur.

• Discussions are initiated on the present situation and how children feel, what do they fear about and how do they think about peace,

• Children draw or paint individually at schools, at home or institutions,

• Mural Painting is collective drawing,

• It begins with meditation and relaxation with soft green music for about ten minutes.

• Mural painting lasts for about 45 minutes to 1.00 hrs according to the concentration span of the children.

• Process is more important then the products,

•  Mural painting is then displayed in schools or public area.

1st Mural Painting

Bikalpa organised mural painting on the occasion of 2nd National Conference on Early Childhood Development organised by CERID from April 28th and 29th 2005 in Hotel Bluestar. It had 136 participants from 21 different schools and organisations from Kathmandu.
The 2nd national Conference on Early Childhood Development had lots of exhibitions, seminars, workshops and different games for children among which the Mural Painting was a major attraction. Children from 3 years of age to 8 had participated in the painting. it began with a meditation for 10 minutes and then the little children began painting on the 75 metre long canvas their hope for peace. The children were then given a thank you card,a candy and a beautiful cartoon sticker as a token of thanks from Bikalpa.

Number of Participants: 136

Venue: Hotel Bluestar, Tripureshwor
Date: 28th and 29th April 2005

Name of the school/ organisations:

• Unites School, Satdobato

• Amrit Secondary School

• Mahankal School

• Prabhat  Ma Vi

• Deepsikha High School

• CWIN

• Siddhi Ganesh High School

• KEPS

• Janajyoti High School

• Bhrikuti Secondary School

• Bhanubhakta Memorial School

• Precious National Academy

• Amar Sishu Bidhyalaya

• Oasis Boarding School

• Maple School

• J.H.School

• Ideal English School

                  Bikalpa Gyan Tatha Bikas Kendra organised the second mural painting for the year 2005 in the premise of Tri-shakti School at Bhadrawas. The Mural painting began after Lamin Lama of Bikalpa GyanTatha Bikas Kendra, explained about the procedure of the painting. 120 metres of canvas were placed for the children to express their feelings on "Hope for Peace". The Mural Painting is done with a hope to unveil the unexpressed voices of children that are suppressed under the cruel claws of war.  With a view to express these hidden fears of children through colours the mural painting has helped a lot.
The mural painting in the premise of Tri Shakti School had seven schools as the participant schools. The mural painting was honoured by the presence of Kathmandu's District Education Officer, Mr Laxman Khanal as the chief guest. Stella Tamang of Bikalpa Gyan Tatha Bikas Kendra was there as the chairperson. Along were the principal of Tri Shakti School, Mrs Sanu Amatya, the director of Tri Shakti School Mr.Yaduwan Chettri, the principal of Bal Bikas School and the principal of Aadarsa Higher Secondary School. Little students of Tri Shakti School made the programme delightful by a welcome song.  On the occasion of the programme the chief guest Mr. Laxman Khanal said," I am very glad to be a part of such an encouraging event. I would like to thank Bikalpa for its step. It is true that now a days our children have not been able to stay peacefully. They are compelled to carry heavy books and march to school when children have to be involved in many other extra activities too. I am glad to say that  the Mural Painting also has respected child rights.This kind of programme can not only enhance children's interest towards art but also can be one way to express hidden feelings that the children have within them."

         Stella Tamang on this occasion said,"The main objective to organise the mural painting is to express collective views of children within short time limits. It cannot be said that the children here  are out of the dangers of war. So this mural painting is with the theme Hope For Peace so that we can give grounds to children to hope for a better future. This is no competition and we are concerned about the process rather than the product. Keeping in mind the impact of war on children we also conducted a 13 question survey. "
The mural painting began with a short meditation and lasted for one and a half-hour. The canvas was completely hidden under colourful drawings of beautiful pictures of Buddha images and pigeons with a plead of a peaceful nation. Suman Khadka, a participant from Kageswari Secondary School said," It is sad that Nepal once known as a peace zone is now one of the most dreaded countries under armed conflict. The Mural Painting has indeed become a nice way for children to express their hope and frustrations and that there can be no argument that children must be protected from the inhumane acts. I would like to thank Bikalpa for organising such an event that can be helpful to show the inner feelings of children and also increase their creativity."
Ajit Kumar Shrestha, a representative from Bayoka Community School congratulated that such a joint effort is the only way to success. He further added," it is the rights of the children to express what they feel within. But now because of the armed conflict growing everywhere children have lost that right and are under tremendous pressure. This kind of programme can be helpful to the children to explore difficult feelings without using words. I would like to encourage children to further participate in this kind of programme."
While giving the welcoming speech, Mrs Sanu Amatya, the principal of Tri Shakti School said,"It is indeed a pleasure to have this kind of programme in the premise of Tri Shakti School which has brought together so many schools making this event a collective effort. We now have to throw down the cloak of narrow-mindedness and open up to new ideas to make this place a wonderful place to live in. We can take this event as an initiative.  This mural painting is not done to sort out the best drawings, there is no ratings for the painting rather we believe that every painting is beautiful because it has behind it a beautiful feeling. This very notion for equality is the seed of peace. In further days we hope to nurture it."
The mural painting is an outlet of fear and frustration of the children.it could be seen that the children enjoyed pouring out their feelings on the canvas. Bikalpa has been successfully organising Mural Painting from the last three years and has also conducted a 13-question survey on the impact of war on children psychology. Questions such as what do you feel when you hear the sound of an explosion, what will you do if you found a strange bundle of cloths lying on the street. We found out that fear was the prime answer to all these questions. Keeping this in mind we organised the Mural Painting to unveil the children's fear in the form of pictures and unspoken words.

Number of Participant School: 7
Total number of participants: 109
Chief Guest: District Education Officer Mr.Laxman Khanal 
Venue: Tri Shakti School, Bhadrawas

3rd Mural Painting

International Peace Day Celebretion-2005/Sept 21st

Jointly Organised by B.G.T.B.Kendra &District  Education Office, Ktm.
At Basantapur, Ktm.

Why Mural Painting For 2005 Children?
Bikalpa Gyan Tatha Bikas Kendra has been organising mural painting from the last three years. This time we are jointly organising mural painting with District Education Office, Kathmandu with 2005 children as the participants to mark the International Peace Day.
With the conflict prevailing all over the children being one of the most affected groups we believe the Mural Painting will help them to express their fears and frustrations. We included two thousand and five children to mark this year's (i.e. the year 2005) International Peace Day.

4th Mural Painting in 2005
IN BHRIKUTI SECONDARY SCHOOL
To mark the festive season and welcome our national festival, Dashain, Bikalpa Gyan Tatha Bikas Kendra organised a Mural Painting in the premise of Bhrikuti Secondary School on 2nd October 2005, Sunday with the theme "Children's Wishes for Dashain". 171 children from 4 different schools participated in the programme. The painting lasted for 1 and half-hours. The programme was honoured by the presence of Deepak Gurung, president of PABSON, Kathmandu. Della Lopchan, the vice-principal of Bhrikuti Secondary School chaired the programme. On this event Deepak Gurung said," I am glad this kind of painting was also organised to mark the International Peace Day. This painting is encouraging for children because this kind of extra curricular activities is a must for students. In the present situation when children are so much under the influence of the conflict, it is indeed a great way to express their feelings which is a very deep message."
The children drew pictures of pigeons with slogans like "we want peace" and free us from war". The representatives from the schools thanked the organisers collectively.

Number of Participants: 171

Venue:  Srijana Hall, Bhrikuti Secondary School
Chief Guest : Deepak Gurung, President PABSON
Name of Schools:

1. Children Heaven School, Boudha

2. Bibhuti Pragya Niketan, Kapan

3. Saraswoti Academy, Mahankal

4. Bhrikuti secondary School, Mahankalphant

5th Mural Painting in Banepa

Bikalpa conducted a Mural painting on the theme " Hope for Peace" to mark the international Children's Day in the Araniko Hall in Banepa, Kavre. It was honoured by the presence of Parshuram Tamang as the chief guest. Shankhabuddha Lama, the chairperson of he Adibasi Janajati Sangh, Kavre, chaired the programme. 8 schools from Kavre participated in the painting and 184 students participated here. The children expressed their hope for peace on 120 metres of canvas. The painting took place for an hour The pictures showed drawings of  Gautam Budhha and lots of white piegons symbolising  peace.  Various slogans like "We want peace" and "you cannot take away peace from us" were also written demanding peace. Most of the drawings included scenes of war and bloodshed.
A formal programme was conducted on the occasison in the Araniko Conference Hall.
On this occasion Sankhbudhha Lama, the chairperson said," There is indeed a great need to re-establish peace in the country today. The ongoing conflict has made a very bad impact on young minds. Because these minds are very sensitive it has become our responsibility today to protect the children. The Mural Painting is a good initiative for the children to reveal their unheard voices for peace through colours."  School representatives, Student's representative also expressed their feelings towards the ongoing conflict and the need for a peaceful environment especially for the children.

 Venue: Araniko Hall, Banepa, Kavre
Date: 20th November 2005
Number of Participants: 184
Name of schools they represent:

1. Kavre Secondary School, Banepa -11

2. Bidhya Secondary School Banepa-6

3. Shree Khadapur Secondary School, Dhulikhel

4. Chaitanya Secondary School, Banepa –6

5. Sanjivani Higher Secondary School, Dhulikel

6. Bal Niketan HIgher Secondary School, Banepa

7. Shree Indreswor Higher Secondary School, Panauti-5

8. Azad Secondary School, Banepa

9. Mahendra Ma. Vi – Sanga

6th Mural Painting 2005

               Bikalpa Gyan tatha Bikas Kendra organised a mural painting on the occasion of 3rd Asia Girl Child Peace Camp amidst the beautiful environment of Pokhara, Nepal. The third Aisa Girl Child Peace Camp was organised in Pokhara from Dec 28th to Jan 2nd 2006. Ten countries participated with 39 participants and 11 escorts. We had participants from Myanmar, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Germany, Thailand and Vietnam. The Mural Painting was done with the theme " Children's Hope for peace". 50 metres of canvas was made so colourful that one could see the whole canvas slowly being covered by the feelings of the participants and looked like the whole canvas was speaking through colours. The pictures showed diverse images of trees, of peoples, birds, bells ringing and so on. Everyone had put forward their best effort to make the canvas colourful. Colours were splattered everywhere but every speck had a meaning. The one hour time span was less for all. Everyone was so absorbed in their own drawings that they did not even realise that the time allocated was flying away. But still within the short time allotment, they managed to grasp even the theme and express their hidden feelings on peace.

Number of Participants: 50
Venue: Hotel Phewa Prince, Pokhara
Date: 30th December 2005.
Participant Coutries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Germany, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand,  Tibet,Vietnam.