I am about to upload many entries about the school I volunteer at, but I thought I would start off with a plea for help.
I am not going to pretend that my school is the poorest school in the world (African schools can claim that title) of even in Nepal I’m sure. I’m not going to claim that the students at my school don’t have food to eat at night or clothes on their backs (though their school uniforms are BY FAR the nicest thing any of those kids owns). What I do know, however, is that this school and these students could use our help. As a Westerner who was fortunate enough to study at many schools throughout Canada and the U.S, I instantly know, as I teach the students and observe the daily activities at the school, that these students are far, far less fortunate than I was. They are luckier than some, in that they get to go to school at all, but in the grand scheme of things, they are lacking so much.
The smell from the squat toilets permeates all the classrooms. The students don’t have lockers or real desks to keep their books in. They don’t even have nice school books – trust me, I’m trying to teach from what I have deemed one of the worst English course books of all time. There are no art materials to make the drab classroom walls look nice. The blackboard is tiny and rough, and the classrooms, cold and damp (they are made out of mud and concrete). The students are shoved together on mini-tables, their elbows and knees shoved up against one another as they try to write. The school yard is a field and their playground, a mess of metal parts pretending to be a swing and a see-saw. They don’t mind of complain. And really, it’s not that bad. But there’s one thing that I find totally and completely unacceptable – they don’t have a library. Well, ok, the administration claims there is a library, but really, it’s just a collection of about 100 old course books that students didn’t want after their course had been completed. There are no novels, books about airplanes or animals or countries, no dictionaries or encyclopedias. The students don’t have any resource material with which to do research for class projects (which is why they don’t do class projects, and are thus forced to take their teachers’ words as truth). And they don’t have any nice English story books to read. This I find so sad, since I have such fond childhood memories about story books and public or school libraries.
I have come to this school to teach the students English. But I am only here for two months and can only do so much during that time. When I leave, it will be as though I never came at all, as the children will go back to learning English from their Nepali teachers (who speak almost incomprehensible English). That is why I want to provide the students with a library. Not a big library, for that, I think, is out of the realm of possibility. But I want to give the students a chance to read for fun. How are students to be expected to truly learn English if they don’t read anything but their [crappy as all hell] course books? There is no joy in that – no wonder so many of my students can’t speak English!
So what I am asking, for those of you that are reading this, is for your monetary help. Yes, it has come down to money. I don’t feel good or comfortable asking for your money, but I can’t do this alone. If you are able to, please get in touch with me (phishgirl@hotmail.com or searsba@lakeforest.edu) and I will give you the address of my home in Toronto, where you may send your donations. Thank you SO much to those who have already given – you have truly touched me, and I can already envision the reaction of the children when they finally get a chance to learn the joys of reading for pleasure.
I am not going to pretend that my school is the poorest school in the world (African schools can claim that title) of even in Nepal I’m sure. I’m not going to claim that the students at my school don’t have food to eat at night or clothes on their backs (though their school uniforms are BY FAR the nicest thing any of those kids owns). What I do know, however, is that this school and these students could use our help. As a Westerner who was fortunate enough to study at many schools throughout Canada and the U.S, I instantly know, as I teach the students and observe the daily activities at the school, that these students are far, far less fortunate than I was. They are luckier than some, in that they get to go to school at all, but in the grand scheme of things, they are lacking so much.
The smell from the squat toilets permeates all the classrooms. The students don’t have lockers or real desks to keep their books in. They don’t even have nice school books – trust me, I’m trying to teach from what I have deemed one of the worst English course books of all time. There are no art materials to make the drab classroom walls look nice. The blackboard is tiny and rough, and the classrooms, cold and damp (they are made out of mud and concrete). The students are shoved together on mini-tables, their elbows and knees shoved up against one another as they try to write. The school yard is a field and their playground, a mess of metal parts pretending to be a swing and a see-saw. They don’t mind of complain. And really, it’s not that bad. But there’s one thing that I find totally and completely unacceptable – they don’t have a library. Well, ok, the administration claims there is a library, but really, it’s just a collection of about 100 old course books that students didn’t want after their course had been completed. There are no novels, books about airplanes or animals or countries, no dictionaries or encyclopedias. The students don’t have any resource material with which to do research for class projects (which is why they don’t do class projects, and are thus forced to take their teachers’ words as truth). And they don’t have any nice English story books to read. This I find so sad, since I have such fond childhood memories about story books and public or school libraries.
I have come to this school to teach the students English. But I am only here for two months and can only do so much during that time. When I leave, it will be as though I never came at all, as the children will go back to learning English from their Nepali teachers (who speak almost incomprehensible English). That is why I want to provide the students with a library. Not a big library, for that, I think, is out of the realm of possibility. But I want to give the students a chance to read for fun. How are students to be expected to truly learn English if they don’t read anything but their [crappy as all hell] course books? There is no joy in that – no wonder so many of my students can’t speak English!
So what I am asking, for those of you that are reading this, is for your monetary help. Yes, it has come down to money. I don’t feel good or comfortable asking for your money, but I can’t do this alone. If you are able to, please get in touch with me (phishgirl@hotmail.com or searsba@lakeforest.edu) and I will give you the address of my home in Toronto, where you may send your donations. Thank you SO much to those who have already given – you have truly touched me, and I can already envision the reaction of the children when they finally get a chance to learn the joys of reading for pleasure.
