Leading by example...

One other challenge at school is that the teachers don't lead by example; e.g when the bell rings (or when the woman (who makes lunch and tea for the teachers and who unlocks the doors to the classrooms in the morning) sounds the gong, the kids are expected to go to the classrooms - and of course, so are the teachers. They, however, will often sit for another 10 min.talking and laughing, and then lazily wander to their respective classrooms. It sends the message that the teachers do not really value punctuality - but they still expect it from the students.
The other day, a little boy entered the classroom crying and said something in Nepali. I didn't understand what he was saying, but his earlobe was swollen and bleeding and I immediately took him to the health post - which, unfortunately was closed. Then I went back to the school to fetch one of the other teachers and within minutes there were 3 teachers and the lunch woman around me and the boy. The lunch woman bent down, took a scrap of dirty dusty newspaper - blew the dust away and started to remove the blood from the boy's ear. "No, no, no", I shouted, " - we need iodine or some other disinfectant". Luckily, they had iodine at the school, but no plaster, so I ran home as quickly as I could and got my little first aid kit.
When I went to dress the ear, 2 teachers were hunched over me and the boy as well as 20 curious kids. The teachers waved the kids away to give me more space - however, THEY kept standing there IN MY WAY, so I had to ask them to move as well. I guess it also has to do with the authority they seem to claim over the kids - I don't even want to go into them hitting the children and pinching the kids' ears really hard.

And the other day, it was apparently time to burn some trash - at least they sort of collect garbage in a big metal bin at the school and to get rid of the trash, they burn it. I looked out of the window to see if I could see where the smell came from and saw ALL of the teachers looking at the burning trash...amazing...For about 15-20 min, I think, there were NO teachers in the classrooms...

Bingo Curriculum

A dear friend of mine suggested to play bingo with the kids - this enhances their listening skills which together with speaking skills is something that is not practiced much in Nepal. The kids LOOOOOVE bingo! (Thanks for the tip, Loa!) Every morning, the kids will shout "miss, miss, 1-2-BINGO!!" So I promise that we will play bingo, but first we have to do simple additions. Most of the children are starting to understand how to add 2 to 3, 5 to 1, etc. I'm so proud of them. As a reward for doing math, we play bingo (and practice matching the numbers to whatever numbers I'm calling out. I would love to do this with images - like ball, monkey, etc. or maybe I'll even try writing down the words to see if there's any recognition on the children's part.
Yes, next week I'll try to do word bingo I think and see how that works out...


We also practiced body parts and did a little yes-or-no game to check if they would remember which were which. I'd line up the pupils next to each other behind an invisible line and point to my nose and ask: "Is this a nose?" Since the correct answer to this was yes, they would all jump one step forward. If I pointed to my nose and asked: "Is this a leg?" They would have to stay on the spot and not move. We continued this little game until everyone knew where the nose was located...

Another absolute HIT is the song/dance BOOGIE-WOOGIE which is the Danish name for Hokey-Pokey...but I think Boogie Woogie sounds more fun and the kids are ecstatic when we do this one! They also love "the Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round..." and hopefully they will be able to sing it by themselves by the time I leave. At the moment, it's mostly Sarita and I singing, but I'm sure they will learn soon.

From Break to Breakthrough!

So yesterday as we we were getting ready for our daily warm-up which consists of a couple of songs with clapping, stomping, etc - you get the idea, 3 of the boys started drawing triangle, circle, square on the whiteboard! I was sooooo happy!!! They had finally understood it! (It did take some perseverance from both pupils and teacher though, but it paid off in the end! :) That was a very rewarding moment.
Having accomplished the shapes, we went on to colors, but they already knew all the colors, so we will continue with body parts next week as well as small sentences. The children and the teaching are definitely growing on me... :)


We had our monthly volunteer meeting this morning, which was a nice opportunity to discuss how things are going with everyone - what is good and what can be improved.
Also, we shortly touched upon sponsorship program of children which has been slightly neglected lately as there is nobody appointed to look after this full-time. So on Sunday I will have a meeting with the director and another volunteer to discuss sponsorship and fund raising strategies. Should be interesting. It is a tricky thing - how do you reach people - how do you make sure that people know they can trust this organization, etc.
Also, what do you do if a sponsor withdraws his or her sponsorship? VIN feels an obligation to continue the sponsoring otherwise the impact will not be as intended. Where do you get the money from to continue? How do you approach companies? Or schools? Youth clubs?

Would love to hear your input if you have any ideas?

A nice break

Yup, unbelievable that you can need a break after only 2 days and 4 weeks to go (and we work 6 days a week), but Chitwan was a welcomed break. It took us 7 hrs to drive the 147km from Kathmandu to Chitwan. The road is narrow and you often have to stop to let other buses or trucks pass and the quality of the road is poor. But we get there in the end. We stayed at a very nice lodge - it was clean and the wall and the roof actually connected as opposed to my room back in the village! We skipped the village walk in the afternoon - the "see-how-the-locals-live" didn't appeal to us much since we all live in one, but the dance in the evening was impressive. Yes, it was touristy, but there were surprisingly many Nepalese - whether tourists or locals - and the dance was very different from what we have seen so far in Kathmandu valley.

Saturday morning we were on the river in long wooden canoes bird-watching and walked back on the edge of the jungle. After having waited for 15-20 min at a watch tower we decided to leave but saw a big rhino not far away. That was quite impressive - the one-horned rhino right in front of our eyes! By the way, if you are ever attacked by one, do run in zig-zag and climb a tree or something else that will take you up about 5 feet or 1.5 m then you should be relatively safe...They don't see very well, but their sense of smell and sense of hearing are exceptional.

In the afternoon we went on an elephant safari in the jungle and that was a great trip. For 1.5 hrs we were crammed into the little wooden seat/platform and were rocking back and forth with every movement of the elephant. We saw more rhinos, different deer species, two types of monkeys, crocodiles, peacocks and other birds. An amazing safari - quite different from the African savannah ones.

Before leaving Chitwan this morning we visited the elephant breeding center where we saw the elephant twins. This is a very unique thing - only once before has an elephant given birth to twins (in Thailand) and I guess it makes sense since an elephant is pregnant for 22-24 months! It would be hard to nurture 2 of these amazing creatures for that many months...

I think I know what I will do with my flea/bedbug problem: I will remove the mattresses from my bed, boil the sleeping bag (somehow) - take it into town and find somewhere that has a tunble dryer so that it might dry somewhat. I have bought a mat and a yak shawl and intend to sleep in my down jacket, woollen underwear, socks on the mat and use the shawl as a blanket until I get to town on Thursday... I will keep you posted.

Off to Chitwan for the weekend

So I have now had close to 20 daal bhat's (morning and evening) and I'm still enjoying it. You will always have rice and lentil soup (used as a sauce over the rice) and there's usually a little variation when it comes to the tarkaari (curry-like side dish) -sometimes it is potato and spinach, and I have had fried dried milk cubes?!, and this morning I don't know what it was - but there were little round balls which were sort of fluffy and tasteless. Occasionally, you will get atjaar with your meal - pickle. This can also vary and I have so far tried radish with spices and lemon and a paste consisting of tomato,onion and chili - it's a bit like a mexican salsa. Anyway,  I still have not grown tired of it (which is a good thing seeing that I have about 50 to go!)


Yesterday was my first day at school. I arrived just before 10 and almost felt like a kid again going to school for the first time. I couldn't see the kindergarten teacher so I stood in the school yard (a dusty playing field with a water pipeline running across it which the children bend open and drink from) waiting for her. Shortly after 10, the bell rang and they all lined up in rows. Then they did 2 min of morning gymnastics and finished by singing a song - I think it might have been the Nepalese national anthem, but I'm not sure.

After that all the kids ran into the various class rooms and started their day of school. Due to the recent Dasain and Diwali festivals and the holiday on Friday, not all kids have returned to school, so only half of the pupils showed up which is about 15. The ages range from 3 to 10 and makes is quite difficult to teach as they are on so many different levels, both "academically" and maturity wise.
As it was my first day, I had agreed to just follow Sarita to get an idea of how she deals with the kids and what she teaches them. The day wasn't really structured and we did some drawing and playing and the older kids wrote English words in their notebooks (of course the 'analogue' - 'not-electronic' ones :)
Then there was a little break and we continued after that with some more writing  (English and Nepali numbers). After the lunch break, Sarita said that she had to go teach math to the 2nd graders and that I would have the children on my own. Horror! I had not prepared anything. The kids were impossible - most of them do not understand English and they went crazy. Jumping on the tables, pushing each other, fighting, throwing stuff around the room! I looked at the clock and hoped that I would soon be saved by the bell...but only 15 min had passed. Luckily, Sarita came to check on me and made them settle somewhat.

Today was slightly better; I was better prepared (and Sarita was in the class room entertaining the small children). We learned and practiced shapes; triangle, square, circle. I drew the shapes on the whiteboard and wrote the words underneath and we practiced over and over. I would say the shape and they would repeat. When I thought that we had done it enough times and wanted to let them say they shape I was pointing to, but that didn't work at all! All the children had a blank stare on their faces - they had no clue! So we practiced again - saying the names of the shapes over and over and I tried again: " Rupak, what is this shape?" pointing to the circle. No answer. Again and again I tried. No success.
They are simply not taught to think independently - they are taught to repeat what the teacher says but the majority have no clue what they are saying. The other exercise is to copy what the teacher has written on the board, but they don't necessarily know what they are writing.
I made them take turns writing numbers on the whiteboard: Pradip, write 9; Samjhana, write 4, etc. Luckily, they got it.
But then I asked a girl called Sumitha (10yrs) to write 3 on the board and she wrote 1, 2, 3 - she only knew 3 if she wrote 1 and 2 before it. Wow...I'm speechless. It's such a different way of teaching and learning here.

But I'm off to Chitwan tomorrow. VIN has organized a trip to the Chitwan National Park where you can see one-horned rhinos, tigers, elephants and lots of birds. Apparently, there are 850 different species recorded there...hmmm...I'm not really into ornitology, though... However, after only 2 days at the school, I welcome a break! So I'm looking forward to that.

Namaste!

Namaste! The word for 'hallo' in Nepalese which literally means 'I bow to the God in you'. I think this must be one of the most beautiful ways to greet someone.

Mark left last Sunday and it was a bit strange to part at the airport - it seemed a bit unreal to be honest and it sort of still does. The following day, I was picked up at a guesthouse in Kathmandu together with 6 other volunteers. We went to the VIN office and had an introduction to the organization and the projects they are working on. Then we had two hours of intensive Nepali language class and we had the first of many daal bhat's.
 
After a 3-day induction (language and culture class, a little sightseeing, briefing on our volunteer jobs), we headed to the village - Tinpiple which is basically 4 shops and a bus stop. The houses and the various schools are scattered in the area within 30-min walking distance. The school I will be working at is a 5-min walk from where I live so that's a luxury. The school has been closed for Diwali - the second-biggest festival after Dasain (harvest festival) so tomorrow will be the first day. Quite exciting.

My host family consists of a mother and 4 children (2 boys (20 and 17) and 2 girls (19 and 14). The father lives with his 2nd wife and children (2 girls 12 and 10) with his cousin and his children. For some reason, the cousin's wife doesn't live with them but has her own place somewhere close by...It's all a bit complicated - also because the terms sister, father, brother, etc are used in a different way than we normally do. For instance, the youngest boy in my family, Peekash, said yesterday that his father would perform a ritual with his oldest father and youngest father - which worked out to be his father's older and younger brother...oh well...it doesn't really matter that much, I guess, they seem to be just one big family which is what matters.

Just as you enter our house, you will see 3 goats chewing on hay, there's a room just to the left where the sisters sleep if they are at home! It seems to be quite common for the kids to sleep over at their friends' or 'families' ' places. Then to the right of the goats you take the stairs to go to the kitchen/living room/bedroom of the family and next to this is my room. It's about 5-6 m2 and has a bed which even for me is quite short - I cannot lie totally stretched so I'm sleeping diagonally :) There's a little bedside table and a small couch. It's quite cosy - except I seem to have acquired fleas or bedbugs :( which is a big pain and I don't know what to do about it. The resources you would normally have accessible seem like a distant fairy tale of the past... I might ask the local health post tomorrow what the locals do about this as I assume this is not a first occurence.

The toilet (squatting kind) and the shower is in a shed outside and is quite clean. I have so far braved it and had one cold shower - I don't think it's something I will get addicted to. It helps that the days are still relatively warm and sunny (21-23 degrees) although you can feel the winter coming; the morning and evening temperatures drop to around 12 degrees.

Today (Monday 8 Nov) is the last day of Diwali and so they last 3 days have not been average (I think), but until now the day starts at around 7-7.30. We have a cup of tea and around 9.30, breakfast --> daal bhat is served. Basically it takes about 2 hrs to prepare - cook the rice, make the lentil soup, make the tarkaari (seasoned vegetables - the sort vary from potatoes to courgette to radish) and achaar - the pickle which at ours is tomatoes cooked with onion and chili to a salsa type sauce. And it's all done over a fire...I'm truly impressed. It's really really delicious and I didn't think that I would enjoy eating a full-blown hot meal for breakfast, but I guess you can used to most things. Like doing laundry by hand...It's time-consuming and hard work. You come to appreciate modern appliances - things most of us take for granted.

Talking about that - electricity is quite precious. We do have it, but the power cuts are more and more frequent these days as we are approaching winter. Most of Nepal rely on hydro-power and this is at its lowest in winter time. I have just bought some more candles to see me through the next couples of weeks.

Well, it's time for me to log off for now - I need to catch the bus back to the village before it get's dark. The roads are not a safe place to be after dark - just because there are no lights and the roads are narrow and winding and the bus drivers and motorcycle drivers are not exactly the most cautious of drivers.

So until next time!

Last week before take-off

So, we are going into the last week before leaving for Nepal on Saturday. It's coming so close now! 


I managed to do all the last minute shopping (pacthes for blisters, creme for burns, scratches, paracetemol, etc.) I have retrieved the binoculars from the drawer, the cameras, the chargers, the woollen underwear, sprayed the hiking boots... 
Still need to pick up Diamox at the pharmacy, but then I think we're all sorted. I'm looking forward to going - it will be such a great experience. The mountains and the people who live there are so beautiful - I can't wait for Mark to experience it all...and at the same time, I'm a little nervous; the trek will be quite tough and we're not exactly in good shape at the moment, so we have to trust our stubbornness and will power to get us where we're going. I hope we won't suffer from altitude sickness, but you can never be sure whether the altitude will affect you or not - even if you have previously been at similar heights.


All the donation money = € 2910 in total! has been transferred to VIN: http://www.volunteeringnepal.org/ (Thank you to everyone for your kind donations!)
They are going to build toilets for the kids at an ECDC (Early Childhood Development Center) 
It feels good to know that they money which was donated is going to something useful and that I will be able to see it first-hand. 


6 more days...