Early morning classes

Namaste.

Part of the project I am working on, to encourage more girls to attend school, involves each school running Learning Support classes to help girls, who are finding the work difficult or have been absent from school, to catch up with their peers. These classes are funded by the project. A few months ago I helped to train the young women (Facilitators) who are teaching in these classes, and recently have been visiting some to see how they are working and help if needed.

The daily bus to the village we were visiting was unable to run, due to the condition of the track after recent heavy rains. Instead we had to walk to the school at the top of the hill; nearly 800 metres climb, in the monsoon afternoon the heat was punishing, and it took us over 3 hours.  We drank a litre of water each during the climb, but reached our destination feeling parched.  At least it was cooler at that height!

As we walked into the village, there was a shout from one of the nearby traditional houses.  Sobita, the Facilitator for the class seemed delighted to see us, insisting that we should eat at the house and stay overnight with her husband’s family.  What kindness!  We rested and drank water and chiyaa (Nepali tea). Then we were shown to the guest room where I was relieved to change out of my wet sweaty clothes into dry clean ones from my rucksack.

Guest rooms in a separate building.

Supper was a huge plate of dhal baat (rice and lentils) with vegetable curry (tarkari) made from home-grown vegetables and to drink was buffalo milk from the family animals. Delicious!  We were in bed by 8pm, as is the custom in rural Nepal, with an early start planned for the morning.

By 6am everyone was up and about.  Mother-in-law was churning butter and tending the fire, preparing to make the morning meal. She was amused that I wanted to photograph her!

After chiyaa, we left the house at 6.40am, walking to the school where the class is held from 7am. What a delight to see two little girls in school uniform, carrying their books, obviously waiting for their teacher, running down the hill to greet Sobita.  How much they must enjoy this special time!

I was surprised to meet other teachers already at school; this was 7am and school does not start until 10am, but was informed that they were teaching coaching sessions for older students. 

It was a beautiful clear morning with hardly a cloud in the sky.  The view from the school of the mountains was breath taking.  The people living in the village, seeing it so often, they must take it for granted, but to me it was very special.

The views were so good that Besisahar was  visible, far below in the valley.

The spare classroom where the classes are held is carpeted, and has low tables.  Students sit on the floor as is customary in Nepal.  After a brief greeting the students started work immediately, whilst Sobita moved around the class, sitting with small groups or individuals, teaching and helping them with their work.  Some were revising for an end of term exam that day, whilst others were working on Nepali grammar and later on social studies. The students all worked hard; there was no time-wasting or bad behaviour, and all seemed to appreciate this opportunity for extra help to improve their academic performance.

The class contained one older boy who had asked specially to attend.  He had dropped out of school several years ago and now wanted to return, but needed to catch up in order to work with his peers.  How hard he worked, and was not embarrassed to allow younger students to help him.   He deserves to succeed!

The class ended at 9am with a song from this older boy, to which several girls danced. The students also proudly showed me some delightful models they had made of Nepali people, from scrap material, during one of the earlier sessions.  I was very pleased to see these models, as this type of activity does not often take place in Nepali classrooms, but I had demonstrated similar things during the training.

There was a jeep due to return down to the valley that morning and Sobita had arranged for us to be picked up from her house.  Whilst we waited I was shown the animals; buffaloes and their calves and a small flock of goats tethered in a shed nearby. 

Unripe oranges

I asked about the fruit and crops that the family grew; trees full of oranges – still green and not ripe for a couple of months, bananas, guava and pomegranates on nearby trees.  Large marrow-like vegetables hung from the creeper with yellow flowers that had spread itself across the low roof, beans and other vegetables grew near the house and there were terraces of rice on the hillside below. 

I clambered into the back of the jeep for the ride down to the valley.  The track was so bumpy that I had to brace myself and hold on tightly.  However my companion in the back was an interesting young man Nabil, back to visit his family from his work in Qatar.  He spoke excellent English and we spent the journey discussing and comparing Nepal with UK.  
As the journey progressed the back was filled up with sacks of vegetables or grain, being transported down to be sold. Later a couple with two very large sacks of green bananas clambered in, and were very curious about me and what I was doing. Nabil translated and we all laughed together!

What an interesting 24 hours I had spent.  Here in Nepal I have learnt to view each day as an adventure, as it is impossible to predict what will take place!

Pheri beTaulha.