It started with a bumbling bus journey up through Helambu valley. I did not know then that some of the kids surrounding me on the bus that day would become my grinning little friends in my classrooms. When we arrived we were greeted with warm smiles and tea at the small village shop next to the school. This was my home for the month. We would have breakfast every morning with the kids coming to get chingam (chewing gum) from the shop and would hear  ' good morning miss! ' to start our day.

We taught 8 classes a day from from 9:30 till 3:30 and time went by so fast. All the kids are so eager to learn and will try to drag you to their classes! I loved every moment of teaching and ended up teaching anything from social studies to computer science to life skills. After school and on Saturday when there was holiday we played games with the kids staying at the hostel. My favourite was to run around playing football on Saturday mornings!

We were lucky enough to attend a wedding in the village as well. It was a night full of music and dancing, loads of nice food and sitting by the fire. It was great because many of our students also attended and got a chance to laugh at us as we attempted the traditional dances. It was great fun!
On top of this we got the chance to attend THE HIMALAYAN GAMES where kids from all the villages around Helambu Valley all join in one school to compete in all sorts of sports and games. We went with 15 of our students and went to a village called Gunsa on the other side of the valley. It was great for bonding with the kids and the atmosphere was just amazing.  Crowds of students, teachers and anyone from the village would gather around and cheer as students competed in football, high jump, javelin, shot put, volleyball, races, table tennis and so on.

My time in Nakote was one I will never forget. I learnt sipi sipi (little little) Hyolmo which is the main language in the village and since coming back have bought an English to Hyolmo dictionary so I'm working on my language. I loved the food which ranges from rice and dhal to pumpkin soup or chickpeas, beans and chowmein. Everything was shinbudu (so tasty!!), especially the traditional butter tea which I'm still dreaming of.
I really felt like even in my short time at Nakote I could make some difference  but I would love to be able to stay longer and make a bigger impact in terms of teaching. I absolutely fell I love with the students and cannot wait till I get back to see them again.

Rabia

Rabiasevil39@hotmail.com