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GIUSEPPE - Italy
On the first day, Tracy showed me how library activities are organized: unfortunately, that day there were very few children (it was holiday and many kids were out or otherwise engaged), so I found myself a little unready as around 20-25 children "invaded" the library the day after. The library was open since 8,30 to 9,45 am and since 4 to 6,30 pm. In the meantime, it was school time, where I had to teach, as agreed with the headmaster and the other teachers. At the library, I used to let kids draw and play by themselves for the first 30 – 45 minutes, while they were arriving little by little. Then, I made them play all together some games useful to learn some English words: for example, Bingo, Hangman, Pictionary, Shiva Says … Actually, I could involve only older kids, that is ones of class 2 at least: they like game competition and are able to attend rules. Sometimes, I bought some biscuits and gave them as award, so their interest came to be greater. I had no way to involve younger kids, the ones of class 1 and of no class: this is because they have different interests and because there was no communication with them. I just looked after in order they not to get "damaged" too much and not to do anything wrong. Indeed, my great problem was that I could speak only very little of Nepali, but their school does not teach them enough English. It is not my duty to say who is really responsible for it or who is to blame, but I just can say that very few children understand some basic English sentences. I used to ask these kids for a sort of help to organize activities and control their mates. Fortunately, all they seemed to be more insightful when there was something interesting for them… As for behavior, I have to admit that the most of Thulo Bharkhu children are quite polite and respectful of some common rules: whenever I asked them for a help to clean the room after class or told them to put all the things in their right place, they were very collaborative: it is something I did not have to teach them, they already knew it had to be done. Usually, kids were quite friendly with me, even if did not seem to grow fond of me: anyway, there has not been time enough and I had to be somewhat severe with some of them. At school, I tried to have a more formal style: as possible, I made some little lessons about group of English words, but it was very hard to me to do it using so little of Nepali. Sometimes, I taught some songs and made them play Hangman or other games easy to play. In the end, I wish to leave some little suggestions on how to try to improve library activities. I think that children that are not yet in school age should not to go to the library: actually, they have nothing to learn and they can do approximately the same things on the road (that is not so dangerous in Thulo Bharkhu …) or in their homes: furthermore, it can be dangerous for them if moving close to older and bigger children in a small space. As for the school age children, it is hard not to overlook some of them. So, either two volunteers should always be present, or a sort of turning over system should be established: for example, three days a week the library is for kids of class 1 and 2 the other three days it is for class 3, 4 and 5. Maybe, this decision should be taken after rallying families and teachers (school can be a good mean to carry messages out) and explaining the reason. In fact, I stayed for too a short time to make it and take this responsibility. As for me, it has been nice to find out that these kids love a shared space and are ready to do something for it, not only to receive. The library in Thulo Bharkhu is a place that children and families are sure they can have and they are not to get fed up, if the service it can supply keeps friendly and careful.
Diana's letter to INFO Nepal after returning home –Italy Thank you so much for making my short stay in Nepal a fantastic one and a journey that I will never be able to forget. The work you do is to be admired and I hope Info Nepal goes from strength to strength. I know that sometimes it must be very difficult and certainly not easy dealing with so many volunteers all with different personalities and expectations but never forget that what you are doing for all the people in Nepal is absolutely brilliant and I am sure very much appreciated by everyone even though sometimes it must not feel like that!! Well I am now back in Italy and I have to say I miss you all very much. My life seems very quiet and dull now after my hectic month in Nepal. I had a great time and have so many fantastic memories and photos. I just wish perhaps that everyone could at least once in their lifetime volunteer and share their lives with other people from totally different cultures to learn and experience first hand and totally appreciate what we have here in the west. Here is a list of some of the things that I experienced, I am sure there are many more too that I cannot think of at the moment: · Not to take anything for granted - hot water, food, work etc · Beauty and friendship are deeper than what money can give or provide · Money gives only a temporary happiness, a feel good factor for a short period of time · Community spirit · Support and friendship · Sharing of everything, money, food, feelings · To understand and experience new cultures and religions · Time is so very important · Time to listen and share · Please keep in touch, I know you are very busy but I will always enjoy hearing about you and your family and how things are going at Info Nepal.
Volunteer in Nepal Soon after meeting in Happy Home at the end of July, Silvia (from Italy) and I (Esther from Australia) met and became good friends. After a few days rest and exploration in Kathmandu, Silvia, Liam-(a Canadian volunteer) and I began our Nepali language training. Thanks to Bicky's teaching skills, we learnt how to say namaste, dhanayabat, swagatam and all the other essential words and phrases we were likely to require once immersed in village life. While completing our language training in Sanga village, Silvia and I organised to do our placement in the same village. Asim recommended that we travel to the village Amarapuri in the Nawalparasi district to teach English in a library. Although we were placed in separate host families, we were both located very near to the library and only ten minutes walk from each other which allowed us to bond with our families individually whilst also having the support of each other. Silvia stayed with the family of a Nepali girl (Binita) who had previously worked as a teacher at the library but was on holiday during our visit. I stayed with a really nice family who had been housing volunteers since 2002, therefore were comfortable with my requests to use a spoon to eat my dal bhat rather than my hands.
The
library in Amarapuri has been operating for some time,
therefore there were already a number of students familiar
with the place and with volunteers. On our first day,
after settling in with our families, Silvia and I
familiarised ourselves with the library, were introduced to
some of the local children and to Sadikshya, Samikshya,
Pratikshya and Subash, a family who lived next door and
whose help in translating Nepali was indispensable to us
during our placement. We held our first class for junior
students (aged between 4 and 8) the following morning from
7am to 8am. After having taught kids of the same age in
Japan I initially took more responsibility teaching the
younger students. We soon realised that one junior class
would not be enough for the amount of students that were
turning up to the library in the morning so we created a
second class from 8a, to 9am. In the morning class we
relied predominantly on the use of ABC, colour and number
flashcards, songs and games. In the afternoon we also held
two classes. Between 4:30pm and 5:30pm we taught about 10
kids aged between 8 and 12. This was the medium class and
probably our most challenging but also the most fun. While
they would have been happy to play bingo and go for walks
during the lessons, we tried to combine some fun and games
with some English grammar worksheets, which after some
encouragement they completed enthusiastically. Our senior
class held between 5:30pm and 6:30pm, was made up of about 8
guys and girls. After having learnt English as a second
language, Silvia felt confident in reviewing English grammar
with the senior class while I assisted with games as well as
with some creative and article writing. |
First of
all, I have to say that my two weeks in Thulo Barkhu were
something unique in my life: this means that I learned very
much from this experience, but also that I had never
practiced with children, school and anything similar
previously.