Asia-Pacific 2017

This morning was an early morning! The group, Yogendra and I left at 5:30 ish to hike to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise! Or tried to anyway, we didn't make it in time because as a group we were slow but it was beautiful nonetheless. I may try to go on my own one time before I leave, but at the same time maybe not haha. Yogendra trusted me to lead the way and let me tell you in the dark everything looks so different! We missed one turn but it only turned into a short detour, actually I think it was faster at the end of the day really. When we finally reached the top the views were breathtaking. It was clear and you could see everything! Bhotewodar was down in the distance, the school was closer down, the Himalayas were poking through the clouds and turning pink from the rising sun. What a peaceful place! Because the top of the mountain also hosts a cell tower I had an excellent signal. I called both mom and dad and spoke to them briefly while the rest of the group took pictures and posed with a baseball bat that one of them brought. I should really ask about that... On our way down we stopped for tea at a shop by the senior school (where one of the festivals was at) before making our way back to the house. Yogendra and I went back more quickly as time was running short and I had things I needed to prepare before school started.

We ate breakfast as a group again and afterwards Bed and I snuck off to make it to school on time. The group arrived later, about 45 minutes after classes started. All the students were called to stand in a line, similar to how they do first thing in the morning when they do a few discipline exercises, sing the national anthem, and answer a few questions. I guess I haven't actually written about that yet! First thing in the morning the students are called to the play field and stand in lines based on what class they're in. Then one of the teachers, usually Ganesh, runs them through some poses. When I first arrived the commands were all in Nepali but, for my benefit I think, they switched to English at some point. The poses range from standing at attention and at ease, moving their arms to the sides and clapping above their heads. To teach discipline and respect I believe. Some mornings too the students uniforms and fingernails are inspected to make sure that they're clean and respectable. They then sing their national anthem, which I believe that I almost have memorized, and one student from each row comes to the front to ask a question of their fellow students and await a response. The questions are different each day, I should find out more about them. The role of the teachers here is so important to these students. I was talking to my teacher friend about it and it makes my heart melt about the compassion and caring that these people have for their students. I'm sure teachers at home do too! But there is a need here to educate the children of parents that may not be educated themselves. Apparently a lot of children don't receive much attention from their parents at home because of the busy lifestyle here. So it's the school's job to teach the children about things like basic hygiene - changing socks everyday, brushing teeth, washing, etc - among other things. They're fighting very hard to break a cycle here in Nepal and I have a lot of respect for it. They want to see the children educated so that the country can be brought to a better place as a whole...

Anyway, back to the arrival of the group at school. The students were called to stand in a line at the side of the school and each Japanese volunteer introduced themselves. Afterwards the group split up and took the older kids up the the cistern to teach them about hygiene. I stayed down at the school with the younger kids and participated with the activities the group had planned for them. There was lots of singing and dancing! At first the children weren't really into it but by the end of it they sure were. My favourite part was when they tried to get everyone signing "if you're happy and you know it" haha reminded me so much of my childhood! I loaned them my speaker to play the music and of course sang along. Some teachers watched and others participated. I did a bit of both taking some pictures as well.

At some point I was called down to the office because the computer keyboard wasn't working. So we searched and found the keys for the computer lab finally! And were able to get a new keyboard plugged in. I made my way back to the computer lab to try and finish setting everything up. During that time a class came in and I got them playing on the 5 computers that turn on at once, we need another powerbar for the 6th one. Boy is it crazy when they all come in at once screaming asking questions, constantly saying ma'am ma'am here here help me! But eventually they settled down and managed to play nicely. No typing lessons today! But, even playing games I see their improvement in using the computers. I've been showing them a bit of what I do when I'm trying to get them working, how the keyboards plug in, proper ways to make short cuts, copy files, etc and they're starting to be more self sufficient which is great. There was this game that they all used to fight over too, a dirt biking game, that was only on one computer and now it's on all of them. Less fighting thankfully... Anyway, at some point the Japanese group came in to observe and talk with the children. That helped with the chaos! Becuase 5 computes and 15 children is difficult to manage. The Japanese and the students played and at some point they all started dancing together.

When lunch time rolled around I forced the children to abandon the room and we went to eat. We had a very special lunch of chicken instead of lentils! An honour for the group, I wonder if they know that it was a special lunch? In any case it was delicious. It was also really funny watching each person in the group try a Chile, they all had the same reaction, utter horror and needed water immediately. They're funny! A good group of people for sure, they have good hearts :)

After lunch the group went up to the upper room and engaged some of the children in a writing exercise. Before they left Japan, they had local Japanese children write messages to the children here. So the students were responding! It looked like they were having a ton of fun :) I stood outside with some of the other teachers and we were talking. I feel very included these days and I love it here. We were talking mostly about visiting Canada and how things work there. I didn't know that the nearest Canadian visa office is actually in Delhi, India. So it's a big deal to get out there and get a visa.. Which sucks because I was really hoping that I could help my friend a bit more in terms of coming to Canada, with the paperwork etc online but we'll see.

At some point I was called away to help the next class with the computers. This class was actually less interested in the computers and really wanted me to get the DVD player working. I don't think we have the proper cables though.

After school we had tea at home and the group went back to the cistern to wash up again. Sudarsan and I went to watch the sun go down again and caught the tail end of it. On our way back he picked up some dried Bamboo pieces and brought them back home. At home we turned them into a these little pinwheel fans called Firfire in Nepali and Taketonbo in Japanese. There's a picture included, but it's two strips of Bamboo crossed over one another put onto a small stick. The small stick then goes into a small tube and children run with the toy making the blades spin. Simple yet effective entertainment!

We then had dinner and I helped Satya with the dishes. And so many dishes! It's incredible haha. But as a team we managed quite quickly. I've become pretty good at it as I've made it my job to help with that at the very least ;) After dinner the "boys" and I played cards again in our room. I really like this rummy game, I'll be sure to teach you guys at home how to play! I really feel like part of the family here. I was worried at first that I'd feel a bit left out because there would be a Japanese group and a Nepali group but I've been adopted by the Nepali's and I love it. Warm and fuzzy feelings ;)Læs mere