Our Experiences Working  at Prajwal School in Nepal
Cassie Jendzejec and Avi David ( November 2010- May 2011) , presently working as NEST  volunteer in the USA.
Boston, MA, USA- May 2010
In the spring of 2010, we hesitantly informed our bosses at schools and social service agencies in the greater Boston area that we would not be returning in the fall. We were off for an adventure to travel, explore, learn, grow and teach overseas. Destination: unknown. We knew in our hearts that we wanted to work on a project in which we could find personal enrichment while working towards a goal of sustainable and systemic change. The options seemed overwhelming. A simple Google search for volunteer agencies overseas provides hundreds of thousands of nonprofits, schools, health clinics, community centers across Asia, Africa, South America and beyond.
 
When we met Mary McKenna, Ph D and learned about the mission and scope of her work with Tara Education in Nepal, we were intrigued and excited. This was not another organization aimed at transplanting Westerners into classrooms overseas with a predetermined curriculum for 10-12 months, an organization that would put a ‘band-aid’ on an educational crisis. Rather, the mission of Tara Education is to reform the Nepali system of education by training teachers and creating a coalition of model schools where Nepali teachers will be able to serve and mentor other Nepali teachers.  In our initial meetings, Mary focused on our personal experience and individual skills to help us develop roles in the project in which we could be most useful.
 
Kathmandu, Nepal- November, 2010
On November 8th we arrived in Kathmandu excited by the notion of working on any of the various Tara Education initiatives in Nepal. The overwhelming warmth, enthusiasm, determination and progressive vision of the Shrestha family—the founders and administrators of the Prajwal School in Hetauda— compelled us to jump on the next jeep to Hetuada and to join them in their efforts. And thus began our adventure.
 
Our journey from Kathmandu brought us up mountains, over rivers, through herds of goats and water buffalo, down snaking roads inches from steep cliffs as we passed through colorful traditional Nepali villages, farmlands and the Himalayas.  Despite the constant fear of flying off mountain edges and the pain from our sore bottoms, the unbridled beauty of the hills and our desire to learn more about the people behind the stone houses and dancing prayer flags made every minute of the trip worth it.  5 hours (and a mere 50 miles) later, we entered a new universe: the village of Putali Bajar, our new home. 
 
Hetauda- November, 2010-  May 2011

We were graciously received by Laxmi Shrestha and have been living in her home and working alongside her ever since.  As we have adjusted to the slower pace of village life, candle-lit dinners every night (due to electricity cuts!) and new understandings of shared personal space, we are constantly amazed by the hospitality and generosity of our Nepali family and community. With every bite of Dal Bhaat (the staple Nepali meal), with every namaste from our neighbors and with every bicycle ride through the village on our way to school, our conception of reality is constantly expanding and evolving, challenging our preconceived notions and helping us to better understand our world. 
 
The Prajwal School
Founded 21 years ago by Purna Shrestha, a 16-year old Nepali boy with a vision, the Prajwal School is open to students of all genders, religions, castes and socio-economic statuses. This may not seem too radical to our Western minds, but the Prajwal School has taken an extremely progressive approach to education in Nepal. Alongside the administration and teachers we are working together to replace age-old systems of rote­-memorization and authoritarian teaching with child-centered education: lessons that incorporate group work, creativity, fun and thinking outside the textbook. The ultimate goal of the Prajwal School is to become a teacher-training center and a model school for rural schools in the surrounding villages.
 
Our day-to-day work involves observing and filming teachers, assessing areas for improvement within the school, conducting one-on-one meetings with teachers to help them establish individual goals and work towards sustainable change. We have also led school-wide workshops to address areas for improvement amongst all teachers. We have focused on: reducing ‘choral responding,’ classroom management, setting a purpose for each lesson, using group work, preparing for lessons, identifying weak and strong students and encouraging students to raise hands in classrooms.  Another highlight of our experience has been teaching a music class during the activity period.
 
Our work has been possible solely due to the exceptional gratitude, enthusiasm and excitement with which we have been received by the teachers, students and administration.
 
Together we are working towards an optimistic and attainable goal—but change doesn’t always come easily, or quickly. Like all non-profits working to provide opportunities for the disadvantaged, there is not a lot of money in the budget and teachers and administrators work extremely hard. On a day-to-day basis, we’ve found that things don’t always go according to plan, and we often spend mornings shooing goats out of our classrooms, trying to overcome language barriers and making sure that there is a teacher in each classroom. The idea of having ‘substitute teachers’ doesn’t exist here, so if teachers don’t show up on any given day, we often hop into the classrooms— much to the students delight, and our enjoyment as well. Surrounded by swarms of bright eyed, beautiful children who yearn for knowledge and want nothing more than to be engaged in a meaningful way, we are constantly reminded of why we are here at the school—to offer quality education and a brighter future for the children of Nepal. 

Yvonne Rijnders, the Netherlands

Volunteered two weeks in March- April 2011

Janapriya Technical School, Hatiya, Makawanpur, Nepal

Ever since I was a teenager I had been thinking about travelling to Nepal some day. As, at the age of 25, finally the opportunity arrived, I could not wait to go. I had my mind set on going trekking but also on doing some volunteering. With a background in agriculture (International Agricultural Trade, Larenstein, part of Wageningen University), the link to Janapriya Technical School was easily made. I went there on a short visit for two weeks, trying to get a general idea on how things are going and to maybe give some lessons too.

I was amazed by what I saw. Students are enthusiastic and eager to learn, teachers are very devoted and all is supported by the local community. With only little help from NEST /ICFON it can function really well and the graduates are highly in demand.

This obviously is a success story.

On the other hand, teachers earn very little (they could earn more in other similar jobs, as they all have minimum  Bachelors Degree and some of the materials should be updated. In general the school could generally do with some maintainance. The crew is much more ambitious than that though. Even though there is very little budget, they dream of building a third floor (to host more students from remote areas), developing a horticultural yard (for which a well is needed), building a veterinairy clinic to help local farmers at a minimal price…… Their ambition is addictive and I hope all their wishes will come true.

First thing that I would like to focus on is to see if its possible to send some students from my university to the school to help out. Even better would be an exchange project, where not only students from Europe go to Nepal, but also vice versa. I am sure that would be a great asset to all that are involved.

It is clear; my work only begins now…

Yvonne can be contacted at yvonne_rijnders@hotmail.com

Ai-Ling Lin,  USA  (2007)

Volunteering in  NEST Summer Camp  2007

Before visiting Nepal this summer, I did not know it was a popular tourist attraction.  I chose to volunteer in Nepal because it was my last summer in Asia after JET and I wanted a challenge to visit a culture that I did not know.  When I first contacted various NGOs in Nepal, only a few replied.  Purna’s responses to my questions were quick and informative. The website that I was referred to was also helpful.  Although I was still not too sure how the set-up for the volunteer work would be, I felt more confident about the visit.

I was glad that I had some time to adjust to the new environment and some briefing about the events in the beginning.  When I first arrived in Hetauda after a jeep ride from Kathmandu, I was not too sure what was happening other than a brief idea of a 3-days teachers’ training and 5-days summer camp.  I had the first few days to observe the teachers and share some teaching techniques.  Being the only foreigner in town reminded me of my experience on JET in Japan with a lot of attention.  In the beginning, there were about 30 campers who signed up for the summer camp.  Just two days before the beginning of summer camp, the number increased to 90.  During my past camp experience in America and Japan, I used to be in charge of a group of 10 or less campers and helped facilitate discussions after a big group activity or seminar.  The language barrier prevented me to do so.  The day before camp, I still was not too sure how the activities would work with all the students or how I could help outside of my sessions.

When summer camp started, I was very impressed by the peace walk with all the campers on the Chaugadave streets chanting “Peace and Tolerance.  Here and Now” (in Nepali).  The campers and helpers all wore the camp t-shirts in red, blue, or white.  The campers were very energetic and excited.  As the opening ceremony came to an end, it started to rain and we had to move the students inside the classrooms.  The students were split into two groups by age.  Group A was the younger group with campers who are under 12 years old.  Group B was the older group.  From that point on, the camp seemed to have split into two tracks as well.

We tried to target the activities and seminars towards the different age groups.  With Group A, we did more physical response activities such as songs, dances, games, and drawings.  I was able to share some of the Hawaiian dance culture with Group A and learned a Nepali children song from the campers.  I did not work with Group B as much, but there were many guest speakers and theater related seminars.  Group B students produced some interesting skits.  Although I could not understand the language used in the skit, the students performed with lots of emotions and body language in their stories.  For the everyday language activity period, I tried to keep it flexible with my lessons because I did not know which group and how many students I would have until the morning of that day.  Also, I shared some Japanese gestures and language with the Group B students.  At the end, we made paper cranes as a symbol for peace and exchange dance moves.  It was a little difficult but we finished it with lots of help from the NEST members.  Most of the seminars went well and I think the students enjoyed the activities.  However, I felt that some of the creative activities were not shared with both groups due to lack of space to run the same activity for all the campers at the same time.  Some campers seemed disappointed when their group did not get to do what the other did.

Overall, I was very happy to have shared my knowledge and cultures from Hawaii and Japan with the campers.  The students were very responsive and energetic compare to my students in Japan.  It was a different experience working with primary school students for me.  Their high energy and short attention span taught me to be more observant in handling classroom atmosphere and flexible with my lesson plans.  The rain forced us to work inside the classrooms, split up the group, and run different activities.  More preparation and structure in planning before and during camp were needed.  However, I think we did well with the timing, volunteers, and limited resources we had.

The NEST members were all very genuine and caring people.  I learned about the Nepali culture through dances, songs, motorbike rides, food, and their warm hospitality.  The people reminded me of Hawaii because they also had a lay-back life style and appreciated everything they had.  In addition, some of the students needed to walk over an hour through the woods to reach the school for camp.  I really admired their determination and hard work.  I hope that they have found the summer camp rewarding.  Volunteering with NEST in this past week and a half, I have broadened my own horizons to another part of the world and met another group of amazing people who are trying to improve their community through education.

Play for Peace project

Loes Meulenbroeks, the Netherlands ( 2006 and 2011)

” I came to Hetauda in 2006 to start this project. It was my final traineeship for my study at Fontys Sporthogeschool Tilburg, The Netherlands. I was here with Sandra Rutten and together we did some work for the” I came to Hetauda in 2006 to start this project. It was my final traineeship for my study at Fontys Sporthogeschool Tilburg, The Netherlands. I was here with Sandra Rutten and together we did some work for thePlay for Peace Project. ICFON and NEST helped us a lot. Now, in 2011, I am really happy to be back after five years. I am very proud of NEST, they did a great job by continuing this project. I want to thank everybody who madethis project so successful. Let’s continue the good work and make this project even more successful!

Karen from France volunteered in Prajwal School in 2008