Volunteer Stories | Kimone
I knew that I wanted a break from uni and after searching endless volunteering websites I was beginning to think that this "amazing experience" that everyone talks about would not happen for me. I somehow stumbled across Travel to Teach. They offered "affordable" placements (compared to every other org I've seen) in countries that were on the top of my volunteer list and so I decided to flick them an email.
The next day I received a phone call from the very friendly Charlotte telling me about a placement opportunity in Nepal. She asked me when I was ready to leave and I said in the following week or so. Having known nothing about Nepal, except for the Himalayas, I found myself booking my ticket and within 5days I was in Kathmandu. Everything happened so quickly and that was all thanks to Charlotte for making it all happen so smoothly!!! She had sent me everything I had needed to know before leaving and was in contact right up to my departure and throughout my experience.
It was beautiful flying into Kathmandu, all you could see was what looked like mini jungles. When I ariived I stayed with Assim and his family at the "happy home" for a week. Here I learnt more about their culture and had a few language lessons as well as sightseeing with Neelam.
The drive from the airport to their house was an experience! Auckland traffic is nothing compared to this. Theres no defined roads or traffic lights. Families drive around like crazy on motorbikes not to mention busses, cars and then the hundreds of people darting in between. Oh and then theres the cows, goats and chickens that also use the road.
Neelam is my first friend. She's one of the housekeepers and she's so sweet. She makes me tea and bread at 4ish everyday. So I take it outside at sit and watch the clouds roll over the mountains. It's so majestic, you can literally watch the clouds cover the sky and so I just wait for the rain. She stands by the door and laughs at me coz i just sit there through the rain getting soaked. The rain here is different. The raindrops are big and fall scarcely apart. I don't know why but I find the monsoon absolutely beautiful.
Today was an early start woke up at 5 and we then left Kathmandu to my new home in SANGA! I arrived at the POLICE school which is a boarding school for children of ex police. some of their parents may have died in war or during service but only 60% are children of police and 40% are civilians.
I was welcomed with the warmest of all welcomes by the vice principles and the commandant in chief, Raju. I then had a tour of the school which sits on 800 hectares of land but is only located on a small portion of it. The school has over 1800 stairs so i will be getting plenty of exercise! I had lunch with Raju today. He is the most inspiring person I have met. He has written 7 books, has his own c.d and just finished serving a two year term in Sudan with the UN. HE IS MY NEW ROLE MODEL. He told me stories about working as a sergeant during war and the experiences he faced in many aArican countries. It was quit funny because he was so excited and honoured to have me here but to me he simply appeared as a god.
Today I started my first teaching lessons. My day starts at 5.30am and finishes at 3pm. Then i have free time.
It was such a different experience, flash a kid a smile over here and they quickly run up to you with the biggest smiles and "goodmorning ma'aam". They fling their arms around me and all try to hug me at the same time. Their just too adorable.
My first lessons were just based around where I'm from and what it's like living in NZ. They eargly wrote everything down and are so keen to learn. A typical classroom will contain 40-45 children with boys on one side and girls on the other. I explained how I was born in South Africa and so, had to sing waka waka at least 5 times a day otherwise they won't leave me alone. And then after I do they all run up to with a pen and paper yelling "miss, miss autograpgh autograpgh" :) it was very funny.
The kids had a very good level of English and teaching them was just a small part of the experience. These kids shared their dreams with me and taught me so much about their culture and way of living. In my spare time I would play games with the kids teaching them 'netball' and 'how to bake a cake' things that were a complete foreign concept to them. All the teachers became like family and on weekdays and holidays they would take me sightseeing and would always go out of their way to ensure that I was okay. Nepali tea is so GOOD and we would have 5 cups throughout a normal school day and every meal was absolutely delicious.
Although this experience was a huge culture shock it opened my eyes to a different way of living. A way that was simple yet brought the people so much of happiness. And this was evident in every Nepali I met.
Can't wait to go back
