Nepal: Exploring and Teaching!
An insight into 2 exhilarating weeks exploring beautiful Nepal! Week 1 was full of adventure, sightseeing and local culture whilst week 2 was based in a school delivering invaluable education to children living in poverty.
My 2 week Nepalese Adventure!
The most exhilarating 2 weeks of my life! Throughout my time in Napal I was able to experience the best of both worlds……I travelled the beautiful region exploring its captivating culture along the way as well as volunteered as a teacher, aiding community development through education.
Nepal is a country based on deeply-rooted faith, tradition and a welcoming attitude towards guests. Week one of my trip included travelling to many Hindu and Buddhist places of worship. This gave me an opportunity to explore the magnificent architecture of the buildings as well as explore how these faiths are practised in Nepal and hear about the religious history of the country. The first week provided me with opportunities to grow, learn and immerse myself to be able to understand their way of life.
“These past 2 weeks have been nothing but eye-opening for me!”
The week started off with a pooja (Morning Prayer ritual) and our coordinators gifted us with a Nepali name. I was given the name Menuka, which means “Princess”.
For the most part of the week, we based ourselves in the city of Kirtipur, the ancient city is famous for its captivating history and deeply religious roots. My time is this majestical city was an opportunity to learn about faith and history as we explored many museums, places of worships and galleries. Despite it being so close to Thamel, it is very different from the city. I was able to interact with the locals, both young and old, allowing me to experience a different side of Kathmandu. The locals were warm and friendly and were a pleasure to chat to and learn more about the ancient city!
To further immerse the fellow participants and myself into the Nepalese way of life, the coordinator arranged cooking classes, Nepalese language class and Yoga. The addition of a culture week to my time in Nepal was undoubtably the highlight of my experience. It allowed me to familiarise myself with the area and culture so quickly and soon feel at home in Nepal!
For the second week, I have been teaching at a kindergarten for underprivileged children. I feel grateful to have been part of an organisation that is able to provide free education for these children, developing their future prospects once they have left the school. It has been an interesting journey to be able to communicate and deliver lessons to these children as they have very basic English skills.
I was involved with teaching children of different ages and would create lesson plans, deliver lessons and conduct one-to-ones with children who were having difficulties. Initially, connecting with the children was a challenge due to their limited English however in no time at all, they grew familiar with me and we formed a great bond.
The children were a pleasure to teach, I became very fond of them throughout my short time at the school. They were eager to learn and after a week of teaching, small improvements in their English were evident. Saying goodbye to the children was difficult because they left an everlasting impression on me in such a short period of time.
I am immensely proud of the period of time I spent volunteering at the school. Seeing first hand the development of the children’s English skills as a result of my lessons was immeasurably rewarding. I too gained transferable teaching skills I look forward to implementing in classrooms around the world!