Meg (Nepal)

I was lucky enough to spend 4 weeks of the summer volunteering in Shree Nurbuling Secondary School, located in the village of Kharkadanda in the Helambu region of Nepal. The school is supported by the organisation “HELP” (Helambu Education and Livelihood Partnership) who are funded by the UK-based charity, MondoChallenge Foundation. Although I will talk specifically about my experience at Shree Nurbuling, the work that HELP carries out benefits schools across the entire region, with about 35 schools and 6000 children now receiving direct support from the organisation. Particularly given the context of the recent earthquake that resulted in great destruction across the country, including the Helambu region, the work that local organisations like HELP undertake is so, so important, now more than ever before.

I first heard about HELP and the amazing work they do through the student society CU HELP based in Cambridge, which aims to gain support and recruit volunteers for the Nepali charity. After volunteering in Nepal this summer (2016) and experiencing myself what a difference local NGOs like HELP can make, I was inspired to continue to promote the work of the charity back in England by taking on the role of co-President (alongside Alicia). I really hope to show other students the vital impact that local grassroots charities can have on communities in poorer regions, and also what an amazing experience volunteering is, both in terms of what you gain as a volunteer but, more importantly, from what you can give.

My placement school (Shree Nurbuling) was a remote community boarding school, a 5-hour drive and 2-hour trek away from the bustling city of Kathmandu. Originally I was meant to be staying with a host family in a local village near to the school but after the devastating impact of the 2015 earthquake, all of the houses in this village were destroyed. Instead I stayed in the school, along with 70 of the students and most of the teachers. I taught 8 lessons a day, lived in a room with 12 other students, ate the same food, washed under the same tap and woke up to the same view that they did; I was treated the same as every other teacher working in the school. I felt as if I was being allowed a privileged glimpse into what rural life in Nepal was really like. There was nothing false, and nothing Westernised, it was a way of life so simple and yet so fulfilling.

Every part of my experience was so enjoyable, however for me the special part of my trip was the students that I taught and the people that I had the privilege to meet. The attitude of all the children and their complete dedication to their studies was inspiring. All the students were polite, inquisitive and eager to learn as much from me as they could. The older students were conscientious and worked relentlessly whether there was a teacher in the classroom or not. I was worried that the language barrier would make it difficult for me to effectively teach the younger children but they were so attentive and enthusiastic that it didn’t matter. The children started every single day with a big smile, and it made them an absolute pleasure to teach. Living and working in a place you’ve never been before, with a different culture, can sometimes be a challenge, but seeing the children’s big smiles every morning was a constant reminder of the importance of what I was doing.

The volunteering programme is just one aspect of the work that HELP does, and this focuses on developing more innovative and creative approaches to teaching. Instead of rote-learning from textbooks, the role of volunteers is to work with the teachers and encourage them to approach teaching from a more interactive and engaging perspective. In this way, the programme is not just about the short-term benefits to the children of having new ways of learning; it is also about the longer-term benefits of working with teachers to guide them in more effective ways of teaching, so that they can continue this when the volunteers leave. Education is a basic human right, a crucial factor in the development of young people and is directly linked to all development-related goals. Nelson Mandela believed that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, and I believe that too.

When I think back to my time in Nepal, I remember only the vibrancy of the city and bright colours of the prayer flags, the generosity and warmth of the people, and the way of life that is so very different from our own. I do not remember the collapsed buildings, landslide scars or piles of rubble from the destructive earthquake. Tourism suffered massively following the earthquake, with locals saying that numbers fell by at least a third. And so, if you are considering travelling or volunteering in Nepal at any point in the future, then I would urge you to do so. Not just for the high mountains and extraordinary landscapes, but for the people whom despite great suffering remain united in their generosity, warmth and honesty.