During this gap, it’s not uncommon for youngsters to work, travel and/or volunteer. Four such girls from Denmark connected with International Teachers Association (ITA) and recently went to Helambu for four weeks to teach at local schools. [break]
“After 13 years of school I’d always wanted to travel, volunteer and had been planning this for a year,” says Mathilde Nordenlund who worked and saved money for eight months in order to make the trip. Accompanied by her friend, Simone Henriksen, the 19 year-olds rave about volunteering. As Simone says, “It doesn’t matter where you go, it’s for the experience.”
Anne Texel, 20, says “I didn’t plan on traveling,” while Linn Krogh Skov, 20 adds, “But this is such a different way to travel, it’s not like just jumping on to a tourist bus, you actually get to see the ‘real’ Nepal.”
And see the real Nepal they did. Simone and Mathilde were at Nokote teaching children of all ages at schools and living with a family in the village. Linn and Anne were at Tartong teaching 1-5 graders and sharing accommodations with one of the teachers at their school.
Though none of them were formally trained as teachers for this trip, they were able to learn about the Nepali educational system and compare it to the one they graduated from. “Even if they don’t speak English well, we can teach them something, and they’re so excited! In Denmark you would never see students excited about school,” Linn adds.
Reflecting on the best part, regarding their four weeks, the girls are in agreement about connecting with students and the villagers which stands out the most in their memory. “You connect with students and end up being a part of the whole village, they really want to get to know you,” Mathilde opined.
Of course being in a new country and culture doesn’t come without its difficulties. Besides having to leave the people they’d grown to love in such a short span of time, “It was hard to get the children to be creative,” Linn says. Although the discipline exhibited by the students was impressive, “It seemed like they were afraid to give the wrong answer,” Anne adds while Mathilde says, “It was a challenge to get them to be independent and speak individually.”
“In Denmark, we are taught to be creative from first grade but for the most part, students here just repeat what the teachers say,” Simone says. “But all of the teachers were also so open to suggestions and they asked us what they were doing wrong and factors they could improvise on,” she further adds.
Regardless, all four agree that they felt at ‘home’ and became a part of daily life in the village. According to these young Danes, those that don’t volunteer don’t understand this aspect of travelling. “It’s like I can finally see where all my hard work and money has gone to,” says Simone.
In order to get here, all four girls worked multiple jobs and funded their own trip. While some worked as substitute teachers, cleaners, with the elderly or handicapped people, others were waitresses or worked at video stores and candy shops. “Jobs are hard to find now, you work wherever you can,” says Anne.
After working “more than full time” for about eight months, the girls paid approximately Rs 60,000 each, not including airfare, to cover the cost of living, accommodation, food, and even short treks and a few days of sightseeing.
“The air ticket was very expensive, but when you convert the money, everything here is cheap – we want to stay longer!” exclaims Simone. For these girls, was the hard work and money worth it? “Absolutely,” came the answer. “You learn so much about yourself,” Mathilde says while Simone adds, “But you also do everything on your own and you learn a lot.” Each girl is emphatic about recommending volunteering to others.
In Denmark, people are not new to the concept of volunteering. In fact, the girls informed that students take a year or more off after school to figure out what they want to do. Most end up traveling and many volunteer, an idea that still may be new to Nepal.
Jimmy Lama, country director of Mondo Challenge Foundation, UK, and a native from Helambu, has been volunteering as the contact person for ITA. “We’ve had two teachers come to Nepal before, but these girls are the first batch of student volunteers. This allows them to get a more real experience, providing them a different way to view life and to help children learn,” he says.
But this experience does not have to be limited to non-Nepalis, according to Jimmy there are three criterias to volunteer: 1) being open minded, 2) being willing to respect the other culture, and 3) having some skills whether that’s speaking English, sports, or music.
The issue of Nepali volunteers comes down to two major factors, “Not everyone can afford it, and other than the money, a lot of villagers open up their homes in order to improve their English.” That being said, Jimmy was reluctant to make volunteering exclusive only to those who can afford it. “It’s not effective if you ‘volunteer’ for a few days, people should go either for four to six weeks although three months would be ideal.”
Seeing the Danish girls who have had a memorable experience, Jimmy is hopeful that Nepalis will also give their time to help educate fellow Nepalis.
If you are Nepali and interested to volunteer, contact Jimmy Lama at helpnepal @wlink.com.np
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