Hello!
I'm off to Nepal with VSO in three weeks time, and now getting very excited at the prospect!
My placement will be part of a project to encourage more girls to go to school and stay at school. At present around 50% of adult females in Nepal have had very little formal schooling and cannot read or write well. The Government of Nepal is very keen to change this, and the project will be working with this aim. I'm hopeful that the skills I have gained during my time as a headteacher in Devon will be put to good use.
The district where I will be working is called Lamjung. It looks very hilly, so I'm expecting to get fitter walking the hills. It's not far from the Annapurna Sanctuary and local photos make the area look stunning. With my lifelong love of mountains, I'm so lucky to be placed in such a beautiful area.
We are due to arrive in Kathmandu on 5th September - just as the schools in the UK will be returning after the summer holidays. We will start off with 6 weeks of 'In country training', before actually going to our placement districts.
After four months of getting ready to leave, I'm now almost there! My furniture and belongings are stored, the tenants have moved into my house, injections completed and now the last minute buying and sorting of what to take. I'm also working hard to learn a few essential Nepali words and phrases, but for some reason cannot remember "I love you more than anything"!! (Not sure I will need this.)
I'm extremely grateful to everyone who has helped me to raise funds for VSO this summer. I was asked to raise £1500, but once the Tavistock area schools got involved, have more than doubled this amount. Many thanks to you all - my family, friends, TVH3, Dartmoor Border Morris and especially the Tavistock area schools. The money will be used by VSO to help alleviate poverty throughout the world.
