Hello West I'm Back!!

This is a short blog to say hello to everyone and to let you know that I have returned safely on British soil. I have actually been here for 1 week and just about adjusted to the differences in culture, though one thing for sure, I will never be the same again, Nepal has left a mark on my heart that is permanent and will not be removed and I'm sure will only grow larger in the years to come.

I hope that those who I have yet to speak with are all doing well and that at somepoint I look forward to catching up with you. As you could guess, it's quite a manic time at the moment, having to look for work, arrange many things for the Nepali village project, which I apologise for not putting up anything sooner, but information will come in the coming months and you will all hopefully get to see more of what our plans are for this beautiful, underdeveloped community in Central Nepal, the village of Andhimul.

I will also be doing some more indepth blog updates on my final 2 months. The Village, my final week in Kathmandu, and my trip to Darjeeling & Kolkata, so I will be letting you all know as soon as I have bits uploaded, of course many wonderful pictures too!

Last Sunday, I was shocked to hear the Captain of our plan tell us over the Tannoy "Our landing is going to be delayed due to snow fall..." In April!? I and many other passengers were shocked, especially after leaving 35 degrees in Kolkata. Well why should we be suprised with the UK weather, we should be used to it by now :)...Anyway enjoy the few pics above and I'll be blogging again soon!

The Andhimul Project

First, hello again, I've left it another month and then deposited a large number of blogs on you, sorry but that seems to be the way I keep doing it!

We are now already past the middle of Feb, and valentines day's gone :( and I have been over 4 months away from my Mum, Pa, Sis, family & friends, though I know it won't be long before I return to the UK shores.

Where am I now? I've been in Kathmandu the past few weeks learning Nepali, or at least trying, and writing a report and contacting people about a new project I'm working on with others (I'll write about it shortly), and meeting up with some lovely people I met whilst in Bandipur and who live in Kathmandu. One, being a lovely couple from Scotland, James & Libby who have 3 children and have been out here since 2004 and have had a passion for this country for many years, they actually both met here before getting married and returning. The other, being Lily and Anita from Canada & the US, Libby living here for 12 years and Anita for a bit less, and through them I've met their lovely flatmates Steven and Dan. I've already had some tasty meals at theirs! And hopefully another before I return to the UK. And finally, I'm living with a lovely Nepali family here in Kathamndu and eating delicious Dal bhaat with them :o)

What am I going to be doing? Well, this Friday I'm returning to Bandipur to meet up with this lovely, genuine Nepali man who has become my good friend, or I'll say my brother, Mon Bahadur Bhujel. It was through the passion he has for his caste and community that has drawn me to help him and potentially be the start of a long term relationship with Nepal, and to begin this with his community.

I will be doing a longer blog on this project at a later date, but this is just to let you know briefly what my plans are. I'm spending the next 3 weeks researching and getting to know a small village community 12km outside of Bandipur. I will be looking to see how we can help this village to sustain itself, it's very poor, with people struggling to have food on the table, educate their children or even clothe them. Our (Mon's, Angela's, Joli's and whoever else gets involved) aim is to through fundraising, NGO's, universities and more is to give this village a chance to better itself, through teaching new skills, support, and education (especially for the children) and an overall compassionate desire to make a difference!

So therefore, I will be providing all you guys with more details in the coming months of how you maybe able to, in any which way you can, help this community; And just for something to pull on your heart strings, I have attached a few pictures of the local children from the school who desperately need our compassion.

Goodbye Angela!

It was that time for goodbyes again, and now it was to be my right hand man, or shall I say woman, Angela :o) After spending almost every day for the last 10 weeks living in the same place, working together, eating together, even sharing the most intimate details about our bodily functions together, sorry I had to get that one in. It was now time to say goodbye!

I first want to say that since having Angela join me in Bandipur I have learnt so much about almost every matter, including my own personal ups and downs. The 2 things that will always stick in my mind, will be her passion for the people of Bandipur and her stubborn determination, that if she had a plan in her head or had been given one, she would do all she could to get it done. Which with the way in which the Nepali culture is, they needed someone like that and Bandipur shore benefited, Dill Primary, with the renovation of the classroom, the renovation of the computer class and the introducing of fun and games to the early learning centre and more.

The learning centre, to put it in Angela’s word "is a place where you can be a right dick, but it's great fun!". And she was right, the few occasions I ventured their were great fun, singing, dancing and being like a kid again and the teachers really did love that enthusiasm and passion she had. You can see from a few of the pictures above at the early learning centre, the parachute was especially great fun.

And of course, like any relationship there were times when we both needed space, because when you are on top of each other (not literally), day after day it get a little much. And when Joli arrived at the beginning of the year, it meant we were not spending as much time together, and it was good for Joli and Angela to build up a relationship as I was no longer a volunteer with GVI.

I want thank you Angela, also for putting your time and efforts into the Andhimul project and hope you will continue to be part of it to help make a difference to this community.

Our final few days was spent in Kathmandu with another volunteer, a lovely, happy young lass from the South West of England, Carol, who had volunteered in Pokhara for 3 months and who is now in a small beautiful place called Nuwarkot, doing great things, helping teaching in the schools and much more. We spent those days buying both, using the lovely donation from Helen and her Morris Dance group, mentioned in the previous blog, books and art materials, and buying clothes for the pre-school children in Andhimul.

You can see the lovely, funky hat Carol and Angela bought me, the day before Angela's departure. It was to add to my collection, of gloves and socks I already had. Thank you!!! People in London next winter will shore see me coming!

Then on the Wednesday morning, the 6th February, I accompanied Angela to the airport, though I wasn’t allowed into the terminal because I wasn’t a passenger, so we had a quick tea, and parted some gifts. She brought me this lovely little book of Gandhi quotes, knowing how much he inspires me and a packet of chocolate biscuits, which is Angela through and through. Another thing I will remember is the constant offering and generosity of chocolate throughout our time here in Nepal, so if I need an extra filling or two I know who to blame it on :o)

We then parted; she went into the terminal and I made my way out of the airports ground. It was hard, because up until that point I was fine, I didn't feel emotional (being both typically me and being a man), but as soon as I was walking away, I knew our time was finished and it hurt, and I was upset, just because of the intensity of the past few months and the great experiences too, never to be forgotten!

So Angela, one day I will take you up on that offer of free lodging and board and visit you, on what sounds like another beautiful part of the world, South Oz, and remember if you come to London, you have a personal tour guide waiting at the steps of your plane :0)

Thank You 'Ragged and Old"!

This blog is dedicated to Helen Wallis and her 'Ragged and Old' Morris Dance group who so kindly donated 10,000 NRP to the children of Bandipur computer class.

We have spent this money on both educational and reading books and lots and lots of art materials for the kids to have creative fun with and for future volunteers to have resources that will continue to make a difference to the children in Bandipur.

Also, I will hopefully be updating in the next few weeks photographs of the children indulging themselves in these gifts, and actually 2 other volunteers, Angela, Carol and me have to admit we had great fun sourcing this material in Kathmandu. There is a wonderful bookshop, recommended to us by someone from KISC International School, called EKTA books, here in Kathmandu, that has 3 large floors of English and Nepali/English books, it was heaven; And to add to further delight we were also recommended an indulgent art shop called ‘Vickeys’ in the heart of Old Town (China Town), Kathmandu.

So if wasn't for this generous Christmas collection donation, these children and future volunteers would not be benefiting from these wonderful teaching resources and materials. A massive BIG THANK YOU to 'Ragged and Old' Morris Dance Group! :) And if anybody would like to find out what they get up to, please check their website www.raggedandold.com

Rafting Goodbye

You will see that many of my recent blogs are all filled with goodbyes, which are always hard times, one of the hardest being when I left my Mum and sister at Heathrow, crazily over 4 months ago. But this weekend was a fun packed one with a sad goodbye.

After the family and Old Inn farewell, we joined Joli, Tim and 11 of the computer class children we were taking rafting. It had been our wish that some of the kids could go rafting for many months prior to this weekend, pretty much since Angela started her volunteering, and thanks to some perseverance, especially from Angela a much valuable quality she has (Thank You!), things happened and we got our wish for our final weekend.

The jeep ride there was an interesting start to our voyage, not filling us with the most optimism in the world. Just prior to our departure the kids had been supplied some simple breakfast by the amazing Old Inn staff, whom as always were very helpful. The only issue was that we had to descend about 700m around winding roads, so you know what's coming now, food and washing machine like stomachs, not a great combination!

So our journey entailed dealing with many children on the verge of saying hello to their breakfast again. But thankfully we had a stop on the way and some of the kids did the necessary actions and after a gargle of water, the journey continued.

2 hours passed and we finally arrived at our destination, the ‘Trisuli Centre”, the home of Himalayan Encounters rafting, and another place where GVI volunteers are placed, and the lovely chaps who were stationed their, were British gentleman, going by the aliases of Liam and Peter. Both of them are doing a great job their helping the community and especially the children, the Young Leaders Club in particular.

The first thing to do was to get our gear of the trucks and have some well earnt lunch, especially for those whose bellies were a little on the empty side. It was a tasty one too, very western, fried potatoes, baked beans, tuna, salad, salami, crisps and bread. And all the kids scoffed it down pretty quickly, volunteers too!

So now things were going a lot smoother, the kids were happy, until we had to find adequate clothing for them. Because all of these kids families aren't well off, they don't have that many clothes and we were hoping the HE team were supplying wet suits. The dilemma was that they only had tops/jackets, but no trousers. Luckily, one of the Trisuli volunteers was there for the rescue, Thank You Liam! He lent all the girls football shorts, but at first you can imagine these girls, who as part of their culture do not show bare legs, were a bit mortified. But Angela and Joli doing the great big sister/mother thing, sorted them out and they were ready to rock and roll. And you can see in the picture above, the moment we were all ready to hit the water, ores and all! So down to the river we ventured, and on the rafts we went.

The HE team was very professional and had supplied 3 rafts, 2 rafts had big ores so that the children weren't in control of the boat (that was the guides job), otherwise this could have been a more dangerous affair. Then in the third boat was Angela, Joli, a couple of the Old Inn staff who accompanied us, 2 of the boys and me. Oh yes, our wonderful guide Dill as well and of course there was Tim (sorry) who was accompanying the rafts in a kayak. He's well experienced from his home country.

At this time of the year the water wasn't very fast and is at its lowest, but when we did reach the areas where there were rapids, it was great fun, our guide would make sure we would go through the places he called“Washing machines", you know what that meant. Luckily though, nobody was flung out of the raft, well at least in the rapids.

It was during the still water when people went into the river, most often, not through there own choice, Dill’s a great rafting guide :-) We also participated in water fights with the other rafts, using our ores as buckets, and to some of the girls it wasn't a delightful experience, that water was damn COLD! Though again, I have to praise the professionalism of the guides, they really looked after the children and during restful periods allowed them to row and they sung songs too, all in all it was a very successful outing!

After 3 hours we were met by a jeep and our clothes and towels were there for us to change, ready to return to the Trisuli centre back up stream, where we were met with warm cups of tea and biscuits. After that, we made our way down riverside to the beach area and the tents our sleeping abode. We spent a good hour or so around the camp fire talking and singing songs before returning to the centre for dinner and straight after back to the river for more songs and dancing.

The kids were having a lot of fun, especially Dinesh who one day is going to really woo the ladies, you can see the picture of him above with the guitar, a right little rock star. He's only thirteen but already has that humour and charm that will win and break hearts in years to come.

After much needed sleep, we woke to a fresh cold morning and headed straight around the campfire that had been re-ignited by one of our guides. Then when all members had arisen, we made our way to the centre for breakfast, which again was very western, but devoured by all.

So that time had arrived, after a quick visit to the big Fig tree and the local kids sports ground, which is sponsored by HE, we were ready for the Bandipur kids and Joli and Tim to return, two passengers less.

One picture above shows all the GVI volunteers together and the other taken not long after, shows the guys pulling away in the jeep. I think it was more emotional for Angela than me, mainly because I shall be returning to Bandipur next week, and I will be seeing them all over again, which will be strange, but nice. Though for Angela it was a definite goodbye at least until the next time, hey Angela!?

Finally, not long after we said our goodbyes to the kids we hopped on a bus and made our way too Kathmandu!

Goodbye Family

Apart from the Old Inn crew, I had built a very strong relationship with the host family where I was living, especially with the mother of the house. She is a very beautiful woman inside and out, and rather than a mother she was more like a big, big sister, and she's just over 10 years my senior. She also has wonderful children too, Celia, Julia, Aman and Sunam. They all, apart from Celia who is studying at a university in Kathmandu, are at the local Private school, Notre Dame, run by 4 nuns, where English is spoken in all lessons apart from Nepali.

As for the father, Angela and I sadly never got to build much of a relationship with, for two reasons, one he spent most of his day working in the shop and second because he couldn’t speak English I think he was too shy to try and converse, and of course we couldn’t speak Nepali, so a relationship never really hit off, which was a shame.

But the mother, Rajani, Angela and mines sister, even though she can speak very little English, has such a warming, friendly and welcoming personality. She loves having volunteers around her, I think it really brings out her true personality when she's around the volunteers. I have noticed on many occasions, either when her husband is around or male Nepali’s are around including her father-in-law, who was a regular food visitor, she was a different person. She was very passive and subservient. Then as soon as they weren't around, she was her jovial playful character which was always the best part of her to see.

What was also amazing about her, as with many of the women in Nepal, is that they do so much of the physical work, both in and outside the home. These women are tough, no messing with them. While many of the men just sit outside in the bazaar doing bugger all, maybe serving a customer or two! Sorry, it just frustrated me a lot to see the men be so lazy and the women do all the hard work. I suppose some of you may say that it is like that in the West, just in a more subtle way, and I would agree with you.

I think my relationship grew stronger with the family once I ate their as well as lodged, that is after my volunteering had finished. Eating with the family was always a great experience, however, it was ever rarely with the dad, and many times not all the children at the same time. Also, one thing here in Nepal is that the women/mothers (have to) wait till everyone else has eaten, before they eat. But I would always love to be late and eat with Rajani, because then she became a lot less of a subservient character and I felt more relaxed.

In our last week we had some family photos taken, including ones with us in, which you can see above. That was great fun, thank you Angela for making them laugh, because Nepali photos are normally very serious occasions, so Angela rustled them up with some humour, which meant the resulting pictures were so much more alive.

The last day when Angela and I were leaving, Saturday 02nd Feb was a hard morning. One thing here in Nepal is that they never show their deepest emotions, similar to the UK (but different). It is still quite a reserved experience, unless you become real close. I never saw, even women crying, it just wasn't done. But the morning Angela and I left, I saw for the first time real emotion. You can see from the picture above, our last morning with Rajani, where she had given us the flower necklaces ‘Mala’, a prayer scarf and some other little things. And at that point everything was still ok. It was at the very last minute at the bottom of her stairs, not in a public place when Angela and I said our final goodbyes, Rajani had sincere tears and I could really sense she was trying so hard to hold them in, but the emotion was too strong and I could not help but also well up along with Angela, who would agree it was an emotional moment.

Though it meant so much that even within the strong cultural barriers, loving hearts can pierce through, and she showed both Angela and I a deep sense of meaning for her and the time we had spent with her and how special that moment will be with us forever!

The Old Inn Crew

This short blog is to let everyone know that if it wasn’t for all the guys at the Old Inn in Bandipur, my stay wouldn’t have been the experience it was. So a big Thank You to all you guys (if you get to see this blog:)

The pictures above dont show everyone who was their, but most, especially the main man himself, Ramsaran! Without him Angela and I wouldn’t have been able to do so many of the projects with the school and community. He’s a very special Nepali man who we will always remember dearly. You can see the lovely picture of the 3 of us together, a memory not to be forgotten!!

And another person who I got really close too, and sadly he wasn’t in Bandipur all the time, was Nasrabin (he is the one with Ramsaran leaning out of the window), a lovely warm hearted man, when he was around he was like the brother I’ve never had he always showed me his warmth every single time we were together, and we are both the same age.

I will definitely miss these guys!!!!

Rumble in the Jungle

The day after our school trip to OZ was the day we went to find the Lion. However, there were no lions to see, just crocs, elephants and Rhinos. Chitwan was our destination, a tourist hub in the south of Nepal, where the jungle comes to life, a complete contrast to the peaks of the North.

But before we hopped onto a bumpy, tourist bus, we had a beautiful goodbye gift from a wonderful Nepali couple we had become good friends with and I have made a special connection with this warming, young man I think will last for many years to come, you will probably already know from reading the blog about Andhimul.

His name is Mon Bahadur Bhujel, and his wife’s is Ruppa and they have a lovely 3 year old boy called Arpan. The night before we left for Chitwan Ruppa had made some beautiful Mala’s the ceremonial flower necklaces, you will have seen Angela and I wearing in the ‘Goodbye Family’ blog. And they said some very kind and warming words to us, for Angela’s work in Setograss, the early learning centre where Ruppa works, and for both of us helping in the Andhimul project.

The journey to Chitwan only took 2 ½ hours, it’s amazing to go from high peaks all around, to flat land in all directions. You really notice the difference in living styles too! It is so much like in India, more crowed streets, more animals on the streets, and bicycles and cycle rickshaws everywhere, probably because there aren’t any hills around I guess!

Once we arrived at our hotel in Sauhara, you could really feel the peace, you can see from the picture above, how chilled the rooms look, quite safari-ish. And once we were settled and had sorted out our bags, we could relax and put our feet up. As you maybe aware from the previous blogs, it has been quite full on the past few months, so this trip was very much appreciated.

The rest of that day was a lazy one, though Angela and I did decide to go down to the river and watch the sunset. And we were so glad we took that short walk, it turned out to be a incredibly peaceful and tranquil experience. It is difficult to describe in words, we have been surrounded by beauty in Bandipur, as many as you have seen in the pictures, but I think it was because our daily life often oversaw nature’s supreme display their, that we took it for granted. So now we were in a completely different landscape, but just as beautiful and particularly peaceful, and it was that peace that threw us both back. We were almost to tears, and for over an hour or so, I can’t even remember how long, we didn’t speak a word and just soaked it all up, a memory never to forget, right Angela?

Though, as usual in these sorts of circumstances you get pulled back into your local surroundings (just like when Angela and I were on our trek), by a heart felt and real cultural experience. And yes, it involved children. We were found by three young, local children who decided to try it out with these naïve tourists, or so they thought. “Chocolate?”, one said, we knew it was coming, so “Chaina” was our reply, meaning no! Then the next line, which we knew pretty well by now, “Pen?”… “Chaina” again we said, and then the final attempt “20 rupees?”, and all Angela and I did was laugh, and once they realized they were losing the battle, we began some conversation.

One of the girls was very confident, and not afraid of us tourists! A horrible word :o) With the Nepali we knew and the little English they spoke, we had fun for some time, and it's experiences, real ones just like that that will always be closest to my heart.

The next day was the activity day, and after a 7.30am breakfast we were off to find our elephant. And she was promptly there waiting for us, along with her driver or ‘Mahout’ as they are known. Our elephant buddies were this lovely mother and daughter couple from the UK, Ann and Mandy. Coincidentally, Ann was working at the same international school in Kathmandu that Angela’s friend’s sister works at, who we were hoping to go and visit on our return trip their. It’s a small world!

They are helping to teach Nepali teachers how to teach, on a volunteer basis. Mandy, Ann’s daughter was only over for a month to help, but both seemed so enthusiastic about their work it really rubbed off on Angela and me. And especially as we were both looking into, and talking about teaching teachers, especially with regards to the Andhimul project.

Anyway, back tu’t elephant, the four of us climbed into what can only be described as an upside down table, with each of us straddling a corner, and it was actually a lot more comfortable than it looked. So off we went looking like proper tourists, with the locals not battering an eyelid, as they see these alien creatures aboard these large mammals, day in day out, and for Angela and I, the journey to and from the jungle was the most toe cringing experience. Although it has to be said, once we had entered the abundance of trees it became a very tranquil and relaxing experience, apart from the constant ass banging on the back of an elephant.

The first animals we saw were some rather large dear, and they like the locals hardly gave a wink. Though our next encounter was a great one, as you can see in the picture above a baby rhino who was with its mum, who again didn’t seem very phased, but it was lovely to see, and how cute is that baby! Apart from that and some more deer, that was all our eyes had to feast on , but the overall trip was very worthwhile, though after 2 hours on the back of an elephant it was a reward to our rear sides to be off.

After lunch our next experience was a canoe trip down the river, again another tranquil experience and amazing nature all around, with various birds being pointed out to us by our guide and of course, from the picture above, some pretty nasty looking crocs!

When the end of the day rolled around we were pretty exhausted and the bed looked too inviting, so no late night for us!

On our last full day, the Thursday, we didn’t do too much, but Angela went to visit the local school, and orphanage where the volunteers in Chitwan help out. Actually, the two volunteers who were there had been on their trek and just arrived back this day, there names Patrick and Sarah, both from Australia (So I was out numbered on the country front, luckily we didn’t get into any pom bashing:) They were both lovely people and we had some nice chats, and actually Patrick showed a lot of interest in the Andhimul project. And if I remember correctly he’s just finished his degree in environmental engineering, sorry Patrick if I have it wrong :o)

Finally, when Friday morning rolled around, quickly of course, back into the hills or should I say mountains, we went!

School's Out

On Monday the 28th January, Angela had her last day at Dill Primary school, and as Joli, the other volunteer was away on her trek, I came up to the school to help Angela and to take photos and videos of her last day.

However, a few days previous, the school’s headmaster had asked us both to come up to the main courtyard in school after the last lesson on that Monday. So in class Angela and I did some final singing and dancing with the children, and then made our way to the main courtyard.

So not long after our arrival, all the other school children came out of their classes and gathered, then the teachers brought out a bench and lots of traditional Nepali regalia. Angela and I were unsure what to do and where to go, feeling a little apprehensive, but then after 5 minutes of busy goings on, things settled down and we were both asked over to the bench. Then one by one, each of the teachers began to give us something.

First, was the beautiful Mala, the necklace of flowers, then came various leaves and flowers which were placed into our hands, and that was followed by the traditional Hindu, red Tika, placed on our foreheads. Finally, we were each given a hat, Angela a knitted, yellow and black cap, and I was given a traditional Nepali hat, but as usual my head being larger than the average Nepali, it didn’t fit. But that didn’t matter to me, just receiving a gift from the teachers was special. And I have to admit I have not felt happy and have many criticisms of the teaching methods used in the school (or lack of), and the way they do not have any respect for the children. But I do realize that they are only a bi-product of a failed Government School system and culture, that is in need of a drastic revolution to make a difference, not only for the teachers, but fundamentally the children the future of Nepal!

To finish off this bizarre but lovely experience, one of the teachers got or made (by the look on some of the girls faces) some students to dance for us, while the other students sung and played a Nepali drum. The poor little girls looked cold and not wanting to be their, and there and then, the head female teacher reminded me of the wicked witch of the east, (I’m sure I've seen her with a pet monkey or two! :) It felt like the students were actually munchkins captured by the witch longing to return home, but had been cast under a horrible spell.

Where’s the Lion when you need him!

All Dressed Up

In our last week in Bandipur, Rajani, the mother of our home stay asked for us to dress up. The sad thing was that the men’s outfit is pretty dull, and to make things worse (or not :), they didn’t have any trousers that were big enough for me, so I just wore my jeans.

However, I’m glad I wasn’t the focus because when I saw Angela and Rajani in their saris, I was happy to be a focus of attention, they both looked stunning. I was so used to seeing either Rajani, dressed in her (without sounding offensive, not very attractive) everyday household clothes, and Angela’s (please don’t take offence :) standard trekking style gear, to having incredibly feminine women around me. A shock, but a pleasure!

And the pictures above are the fruits of my words!!!!

Our Goodbye Picnic

This was a wonderful day, the last full Friday in Bandipur, on 25th January. The great staff at the Old Inn prepared momos (meat & veg filled dumplings, very tasty), dhakas (fried balls of veg, also tasty) and lots of mini pizzas. These were for all the computer class kids and us to eat at lunch in the Ke Garne café in the main bazzar opposite the Old Inn.

We choose the Friday instead of the Saturday because on Saturdays the big playing field Thundikel, the only large flat space in Bandipur, is full with Nepali tourists having picnics. So we chose Friday, also, it’s half day on Fridays at local government schools, so the kids were off in the afternoon.

Once all the kids arrived we brought out the food, and like vultures, it was quickly devoured. Although, that was by the boys and most of the girls were incredibly civilized, as the members of the opposite sex always are! :o)

Once the food had quickly disappeared, we decided to make our way to the large open playing field, Thundikel, armed with balls, Frisbees, a large skipping rope and refreshments for later.

Once there the fun began, everyone split into groups and with their choice of instrument let loose. The only reservation was that I had an Aerobie (a kind of Frisbee, for those of you who don’t know, that can be thrown up to 500m) and the slight issue is that on one side of the Thundikel is a pretty sharp drop of about 600m. So I guess you can understand what was going through my mind.

So of course I warned those who were using it, “Be Careful!”. And low and behold 20 minutes into our fun, wheeee!!!!!!! Off it went never to be seen again. The kid, Sujan, whose throw was the nail in the coffin, tried for ten minutes to see if he could find it, but to no avail. So I had no other thing to say than “Que Sera”, though Sujan was very sincerely apologetic, which I appreciated a lot.

Luckily, the other Frisbees (standard old school ones) that were being used, which Tim bought, a volunteer from another organization, a lovely Canadian guy, did not disappear over the edge. Tim is here with another volunteer, a friend of his, Remy another lovely guy from Canada, both are 18. They are so mature for their age; we’ve had many deep and cool conversations. They have both taken a year out before they go to University, and have already been doing volunteer work in the Caribbean and Central America and after Nepal they are going to volunteer their time in Uganda, before then moving on to South Africa to be with friends and finally returning to Canada. What an amazing experience, something I’m sure they’ll both benefit from in the coming years, and I now have a reason to go to Canada :o) Thanks guys!

Back to the playing field, and skipping, what fun I had their! You may be able to tell from the picture above. It was so good to see the kids having fun, running around and enjoying themselves, the last time we'll see it, apart from those going rafting, which ye shall see later!

Just before our return to the bazaar I was mauled by the children when trying to hand out refreshments, and this time some of the young ladies were not so civilized! See you can’t always follow stereotypes, oh I’m cruising for a bruising :o)

Long time no blog!

Hi All!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Sorry for the extra long delay in updating my blog. A mixture of difficult access to the internet and being so busy, but good busy that is.

One of the biggest changes to occur here in Bandipur was reinforcement into the ranks of volunteers, one became two. And that two is this wonderful woman going by the name of Angela, who's residence outside of Nepal is Adelaide, Australia. She is a mother of 3 grown up children and has challenged herself to leave her family and delve into 10 weeks of volunteering in Bandipur.

For me, I was daunted at first, because I didn't know what it would be like. Maybe she'll be this dragon who will eat me alive and leave the rest for the vultures. Anyway, I was nervous, but luckily we compliment each other and she has been a massive help to me and all the community in Bandipur and made a big difference.

She has been the instigator of getting some renovations done to the local school classroom where we teach and also in getting our computer class renovated. She has a great way of getting things done and with the help of our amazing chaperone, Ramsaran. Many things have been achieved and are planned. You can read more, and see pictures, about the school and computer class in the blogs below.

Technically, I have finished my volunteering with GVI and are now going it alone. And my plans have changed, I have decided to stay in Bandipur another month, for many reasons. One because I have made so many friends who feel like my extended family, second, because I wanted to help Angela with the computer classes and school but not take as much responsibility as before and third spend some time trying to learn the language.

But one thing has changed my plans already in the last week, that is another recruitment into the team. Her name is Yolee, a Czech girl whose been living in England for the past 12 years. We were told at the last minute that a new volunteer would be starting on Monday. Angela and I laughed as we are so used to the Nepali way, everything happens at the last minute, you never know what's round the corner.

This means that I can take a step back and let Angela and the new volunteer get on with most of the work and I'll just assist occasionally. Actually, I have many admin things relative to the volunteering to do over the next few weeks, such as creating blogs, info sheets for new volunteers and generally creating a structure that will hopefully improve the experience for future volunteers and especially create as much consistency for the children, which is the main objective.

Anyway, I've gone on for too long. Therefore, for your visual and reading delight I have posted many scandalous and headline catching blogs below of what's been going on in the past 6 weeks. So if you are sat inside a warm house with the freezing English weather outside and have some free time, then spend it reading the various blurbs below, better than watching another dull episode of Eastenders :)

Speak soon and all my love, Lee :0)

The Happenings in the Computer Class

The computer classes have been going really well and have had their changes over the past 6 weeks. The biggest thing of course is my relationship with the children which has grown considerably and the great thing is how I have such different relationships with them all. Of course, naturally you bond more with some rather than others. And the funny thing is how you relate to the different aged children too, and how I've had to adapt to get the most out of the relationships. But the most important thing of all is trying to make a positive impact in any way I can on their life, whether that be improving their level of English or just giving them the love and attention they deserve, as any child should have. And most of all, what they have given to me is something I shall never forget for life!

I also have some sad news, I am no longer teaching in the computer class because there is no need for me. I was going to continue to help Angela for the next few weeks, as she would be on her own. However, at the last minute, 2 days before her arrival we were told that a new volunteer, Yolee, was coming to take my place, which means that there is no need for me to assist Angela anymore.

The positive thing for me is that I get more time to concentrate on learning the language and doing that admin stuff. The downside is that I'll not be seeing the kids as much anymore, though I'm still keeping up with the rubbish every Wednesday and doing the exercise with the boys!

As for what we've been up to. Apart from the standard trying to teach English with the computers. The methods of teaching have been constantly evolving, especially when Angela came along and now I'm sure they will change with the new volunteer's influence too.

I think what we have learnt so far is that the children lack the confidence in reading and speaking English. Probably due to the teaching methods in the school or maybe for some, just general shyness. But we feel it has been good to introduce as many different ways of getting them to speak, listen, read and write English to improve their comprehension as much as possible. Are we making a difference? I hope so, but I think as long as we and future volunteers show the children and the community that we care and give 100% sincerity to them and do the best we can, then it's all worth the effort whatever the outcome :o)

As for what's else has been happening, if you see the pictures above we've been having some fun too, not all serious English teaching.

The kids loved the balloons, especially the long twisting, making shapes ones. Also, we had fun making various things with the craft materials such as pipe cleaners and fluffy balls. Having creative fun with the kids is so much fun and I think an important way to express themselves, which they don't get at school.

You can even see us working with candle light, when the power cuts occur, which is happening on a regular basis, now up to 6 hours a day. It is ridiculous Ahh! I'll talk about that another time.

Outside with the Computer Class

Another important bonding time we have with the children is outside the computer class and Saturdays is a great time as it's our only day off, which we do take as rest time too, but also arrange things with the kids.

A few weeks before Christmas we went to visit a beautiful traditional village called Ramkot, famous for its round houses, actually there are only 2. Above, you can see a picture of all us guys outside one of the houses. But it's a lovely walk about 1 and a half hours both ways.

It was great to stretch our legs, especially the kids, as Bandipur is pretty much where they are all the time, so to go out for a mini trek outside their town is great for them. We take drinks and snacks for the journey. What is great though, is the local knowledge these kids have. About their plants and trees in particular, they know which fruits and berries are good to eat. You can see in another picture above, them picking for a small, stoned fruit that is very bitter, I forgot the name. It was a great day and as usual the weather excellent.

Then for the first Saturday of the western New Year, we went to Siddha Cave for the second time. You may remember, on my first weekend here I went with the previous volunteer, but Angela the new volunteer wanted to go and see it.

We could only take a few of the older boys for safety purposes, but it was still great fun. The journey their and back is similar to Ramkot. You can see in one of the pictures above all us guys sitting on the rock eating or rather sucking on a sugar cane, which one of the boys thoughtfully brought for us. All in all a great day out.

And just before Angela and I leave, we are taking 12 of the guys rafting. Which they are all very excited and can't wait, us too!

At the Local Primary School

Things at the local primary school have changed a lot since my last blog. Especially, once Angela arrived, she brought a new dynamic to the teaching. First, instead of being just me, there's now 2 of us, actually there was 2 of us. But now, like with the computer class I have left the school to concentrate on other things. You can see a picture of my last day above, the one with the kids all surrounding me. It was a great last day, we all sang together and I did some dancing too while the kids sang in Nepali.

Back in Australia, Angela is a music teacher and also is director of an amateur all female choir. So straight away, she added the musical element to the classroom which the kids lapped up. So it became normal that for the last 5-10 minutes of class we would sing songs. Most were simple and catchy ones, the most popular was an African one called 'Oh Malle', they loved it and sometimes we hear them singing it outside of school too.

Working together as team made the challenge of working with the children so much easier and has meant we have created a stronger bond with them. To help learn all their names we created name badges, which the children loved and felt very proud with their name on their chest. We also introduced doing a test at the end of each week, to see if they really were learning anything. It was a great way of testing their ability and to see how much copying they do, and many do, mainly because it is so prevalent in the local government schools, something I hope will change in the future. But we try our best to discourage it and let them know it's ok to make mistakes, it is how you learn.

Another great idea Angela came up with was to do some simple renovation to the classroom, as they were in a horrible state, holes in the floor and window sills and the walls were unpainted and full of graffiti, shows how much respect the children have for their classroom and the lack of it the teachers have too. So we enlisted the help of our amazing big brother Ramsaran, from the hotel, and he got a team together to patch up all the holes and Angela and I acquired some paint and got to work on the walls.

The most amazing part was that, some of the children from our computer classes who don't go to this school helped us paint without us even asking. That really made us feel lucky to be here in Bandipur with children and people like this, it makes us wonder who is benefiting more from our time here, the community or us, I think it's pretty "same same", as they say here.

You can see the difference in the pictures above, the one with the balloons was before and the one with the kids and me was after, but I think you could have guessed that!?

Anyway, I hope the children will continue to benefit from the good will of all the volunteers to come in the future, I will miss them and hopefully I will see them again one day.