The Week’s Nitya Pandey caught up with Aryal to talk about his past endeavors, current projects and future plans for the village and community.[break]
Bijay Gajmer
What inspired you to work in the education sector?
I have always been interested in teaching. My father was a teacher, too. He taught Nepali and Sanskrit. I taught mathematics for a long time. Actually, I had started teaching informally ever since I was in the seventh grade. After SLC, I started teaching as a volunteer at Arunodaya School. Later, I worked as a permanent teacher at Tribhuvan Adarsha Secondary School at Pharping for thirteen years. It was the same school that I had studied at. Interestingly, my father, who had taught me before, became my colleague when I started teaching there.
But what brought you into the development sector?
I have always had a mathematical mind that reasons logically and desires concrete solutions. Even when I was a teacher, my focus was not just limited to classroom teaching and learning. I always thought of a larger picture. My emphasis was on building better educational infrastructure. During this course, a couple of friends and I started Shikharapur Pre-Primary School. And I was also elected as chairperson of our Village Development Committee (VDC). Fortunately, it was during my term in office that ours was chosen the topmost VDC out of 57 others.
What factors should be taken into account for overall development?
Our society consists of so many different types of people. It’s important to address all their needs for overall development. There are women and farmers who form a major percentage of Nepali society that are often undervalued. There are the young people who have been flying out of the country in search of greener pastures. We should work on those programs that can help them come up with more options within their country and community so that brain drain can be reduced and the human resource that we already have can be utilized up to its optimum.
How did A School for Community (ASC) come into existence?
A School for Community is the product of the combined efforts of a group of education enthusiasts of Pharping. It’s based on the notion that the whole community in itself is an open school. There are people in our society who have practical knowledge although they have never been to school. We established a Community Learning Center (CLC) which opened the doors for non-formal education. Shikharapur is now a model education village where older women, housewives and farmers get equal opportunities to learn, teach, share and grow. We have a school, a college and a farm operating under the ASC management committee.
What are the functioning educational institutions under ASC at present?
Shikharapur School which started out as a preprimary school has now been converted into a high school. We also have Shikharapur College affiliated to Tribhuvan University where undergraduate classes in management, humanities and education streams are conducted. Both these institutions are operated under a community trust that has 145 trustees from different sectors. Classes are conducted on regular basis. We have resource personnel and teachers from the local as well as government levels.
What are the curricula taught at these educational institutions?
At the women’s school, we bring those mothers, sisters, wives and housewives into the classrooms who have never had the opportunity to go to school. The government has a condensed course for adults. They can appear for their SLC exams after only six years of school education. Similarly, we also have a farm and a farmer’s school. We conduct technical trainings regarding enduring agriculture, organic farming and the economic benefits that can be acquired through farming, poultry and animal husbandry within one’s own community with available resources.
The major attraction of your farm is the bottle house. What is that all about?
The bottle house is a small project of ASC. It’s a unique example of recycling, reuse and creativity for the sake of environmental conservation. We’ve utilized throwaway bottles and used them instead of bricks to build Nepali-style houses. These glass bottles would have otherwise polluted the soil for centuries. These houses are used as training halls, library and office. We also use old plastic bottles to fill them with water and attach them to the holes on the roofs so that the sunlight gets reflected on them and they work as natural light bulbs, illuminating the house. They are some of the first of their kind in our country.
Other than these, what are the other works that you’ve done in order to bring about positive changes in the society?
I’m a simple man who lives a simple life and believes in simple things. I tried to set an example by spending as less as possible in my children’s weddings and utilizing that money for social work instead. I donated the money that was saved to Man Mohan Community Hospital and Shikharapur School. That act of mine had even gained some media coverage back then and it had been received positively by many people.
What were the major challenges that you had to face all during these years?
Everything was a challenge since we had to create everything out of nothing. Fundraising was difficult initially since we had to gain people’s trust and tell them exactly where their money would be going. It was entirely another challenge to convince adult women to come to school, attend the classes regularly, appear for exams and pass. We had to deal with negative criticisms at times. But with time and patience, we’ve reached a point where people have started to believe in us, our efforts and commitment.
What’s the source of your motivation and inspiration?
I have always been a teacher at heart. I have always derived inspiration from my father. My family has been my rock all these years. And of course, the people from my community and village for whom I’ve been working are my greatest support system. My friends and colleagues have always stood by me. Other than that, our work has also gained some recognition at the international level, at the Asia Pacific Conference held in Thailand last year. Slowly, people have started to notice us. This is generating positive energy in us to work more and do better.
What are your future plans?
We still have a long, long way to go. The field that we are currently in requires a lot of patience, hard work and dedication. We don’t get desired results on a prompt and regular basis. I still feel that our students require a good job market to earn their livelihood and utilize what they have learnt in the best possible manner. We plan to have hostels for the poor and needy students from the furthest and most underdeveloped regions of Nepal. We have many plans, many dreams. We hope to achieve them in time and with dedication.
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