Inaugurating the library.
The students performing traditional Nepali dances for me.
The female teachers sitting together at “Party Palace”, part 2 of my farewell party.I must begin by apologizing profusely for not having written for so long. It’s been an incredibly busy last 2 weeks. Allow me to explain.
On April 21st I left to go back to Pokhara with the goal of making the library. Thus, the week leading up to that I was extremely busy buying books and tying up any loose ends.
My trip to Pokhara was also quite hectic. I arrived there Saturday afternoon in the midst of a torrential rainstorm, unloaded the books, and went to my family’s home. It felt quite surreal to be back because it felt both that I had never left and that I hadn’t been there in forever. Nothing and everything had changed. But of course my family welcomed me with open arms and it was so nice to be back with them.
Sunday morning, I took my little sister, Muna, to school for her first day! She was sooooo excited to go! I enrolled her in LKG (Lower Kindergarten), bought her notebooks, and organized her to get her uniform. Then I started to organize the library, which I quickly realized was going to be a long process. I needed to organize the books by category, then number them all and create a categorizing system. The next two days were thus spent doing that. I also had to pick up the furniture I had bought for the library – 3 book shelves, 2 nice big tables, and 4 benches.
Tuesday was my farewell party at school. At 11am, the ceremony began. Speeches were made, the students danced for me, and we inducted the library by performing a puja and cutting a ribbon. I was prompted to give a speech, given flowers by the students, and a plaque by the school. It was a really nice ceremony and I had to fight really hard to hold back my emotions.
After the ceremony, the teachers were all supposed to go to a place called “Party Palace” to continue the celebrations. Unfortunately, a freak storm, with wind and hail, blew into Pokhara. The next thing I know, the roof of the library and science lab have been knocked off! Everyone scrambled to bring the books into dry safety so thankfully the books were not really damaged at all. But what bad luck! I felt really depressed about it because now much of the work I had done to organize the library would have to be finished by the school administration (I was scheduled to leave on Thursday). And I had wanted to put some finishing touches on the library with posters and pictures for the walls, which now I would not be able to do. Worst of all, I didn’t manage to get a photo of the finished product of the library – because it wasn’t quite finished yet! The school has promised to take a photo when it’s finished and send it to me, so for all those of you who contributed to the project, you will still get to see the finished product – just not quite yet.
By the way, the students and the teachers are so incredibly excited about the library. When I first arrived with the books, the students all ran up and started devouring them. This continued every day during my stay, and I am confident that it will continue for a long time to come. The students have never seen such books! I have managed to find them over 100 information books and encyclopedias ranging from subjects of history and science to culture, technology and nature. And I have bought 400 story books, many of them books I read as a child! I am positive that the students’ English will quickly improve tenfold. More important, the access to information that the students now have will allow them to question information they receive and find out about things that they’re interested in. I couldn’t be happier, so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
Anyway, I leave for Thailand now on May 7th, after having pushed back my flight another few days. I am really busy visiting people for the last time, buying souvenirs, and enjoying the company of all the friends I have made. I am incredibly sad to be leaving this place for I have found a country which is not only beautiful and interesting, but which is filled with wonderfully warm and kind people. I found this in Senegal also, but the difference between the two is that here I feel that my person and my things are safe, whereas in Africa I always had to watch my things. This may seem like a small difference, but every day when I walk in the streets here and take public transportation it affords me that much more peace of mind.
Nepal is a country that is changing rapidly right now and I wish I could stay here for more time to offer my services to other kinds of organizations – be they HIV/AIDS, child trafficking, women’s rights, or environmental issues. If anyone who reads this is looking to do some volunteer work abroad, Nepal would be a great place to do so.
On April 21st I left to go back to Pokhara with the goal of making the library. Thus, the week leading up to that I was extremely busy buying books and tying up any loose ends.
My trip to Pokhara was also quite hectic. I arrived there Saturday afternoon in the midst of a torrential rainstorm, unloaded the books, and went to my family’s home. It felt quite surreal to be back because it felt both that I had never left and that I hadn’t been there in forever. Nothing and everything had changed. But of course my family welcomed me with open arms and it was so nice to be back with them.
Sunday morning, I took my little sister, Muna, to school for her first day! She was sooooo excited to go! I enrolled her in LKG (Lower Kindergarten), bought her notebooks, and organized her to get her uniform. Then I started to organize the library, which I quickly realized was going to be a long process. I needed to organize the books by category, then number them all and create a categorizing system. The next two days were thus spent doing that. I also had to pick up the furniture I had bought for the library – 3 book shelves, 2 nice big tables, and 4 benches.
Tuesday was my farewell party at school. At 11am, the ceremony began. Speeches were made, the students danced for me, and we inducted the library by performing a puja and cutting a ribbon. I was prompted to give a speech, given flowers by the students, and a plaque by the school. It was a really nice ceremony and I had to fight really hard to hold back my emotions.
After the ceremony, the teachers were all supposed to go to a place called “Party Palace” to continue the celebrations. Unfortunately, a freak storm, with wind and hail, blew into Pokhara. The next thing I know, the roof of the library and science lab have been knocked off! Everyone scrambled to bring the books into dry safety so thankfully the books were not really damaged at all. But what bad luck! I felt really depressed about it because now much of the work I had done to organize the library would have to be finished by the school administration (I was scheduled to leave on Thursday). And I had wanted to put some finishing touches on the library with posters and pictures for the walls, which now I would not be able to do. Worst of all, I didn’t manage to get a photo of the finished product of the library – because it wasn’t quite finished yet! The school has promised to take a photo when it’s finished and send it to me, so for all those of you who contributed to the project, you will still get to see the finished product – just not quite yet.
By the way, the students and the teachers are so incredibly excited about the library. When I first arrived with the books, the students all ran up and started devouring them. This continued every day during my stay, and I am confident that it will continue for a long time to come. The students have never seen such books! I have managed to find them over 100 information books and encyclopedias ranging from subjects of history and science to culture, technology and nature. And I have bought 400 story books, many of them books I read as a child! I am positive that the students’ English will quickly improve tenfold. More important, the access to information that the students now have will allow them to question information they receive and find out about things that they’re interested in. I couldn’t be happier, so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!
Anyway, I leave for Thailand now on May 7th, after having pushed back my flight another few days. I am really busy visiting people for the last time, buying souvenirs, and enjoying the company of all the friends I have made. I am incredibly sad to be leaving this place for I have found a country which is not only beautiful and interesting, but which is filled with wonderfully warm and kind people. I found this in Senegal also, but the difference between the two is that here I feel that my person and my things are safe, whereas in Africa I always had to watch my things. This may seem like a small difference, but every day when I walk in the streets here and take public transportation it affords me that much more peace of mind.
Nepal is a country that is changing rapidly right now and I wish I could stay here for more time to offer my services to other kinds of organizations – be they HIV/AIDS, child trafficking, women’s rights, or environmental issues. If anyone who reads this is looking to do some volunteer work abroad, Nepal would be a great place to do so.
