Before
arriving in Kathmandu I had made a few thoughts about how I would like to spend
my time at the school. Under my previous visits I came to the understanding
that because of language barriers it can be quite difficult as a foreigner to
teach certain subjects – in many cases the children are actually much better
off with the regular, local teachers. Imagine having to explain students in
grade 4 the difference between area, perimeter and volume in a language they
only have basic knowledge of. A native Nepali speaking teacher would be much
better qualified for this purpose.
With that
in mind I came to Koseli School with the hope of encouraging the students in
arts and crafts activities, physical education and sports along with improving
their spoken English skills. Earlier I had realized that because of a tight
budget the school only has limited funds to buy materials and equipment,
meanwhile employing teachers for these specific subjects are even more
difficult.
Being back
at the school and meeting all the students and teachers again was so wonderful.
Entering the school ground and watching all the happy and curious faces turning
towards me was a unique experience. Most of the older children even still
remembered my name (although sometimes slightly mispronounced). They would come
to me and with their particular Nepali accent say: “Hello Daniel Sir. How are
you? Where have you been?”
After
chatting with the students for a while I sat down with Deepika – a local volunteer
who helps the school with administrative tasks, and we came up with a schedule
for me to teach arts and crafts. After a few weeks the school would participate
in an exhibition, and they were hoping to produce different items such as paper
bags, decorated wrapping paper for gifts, friendship bracelets and other
jewellery to exhibit and hopefully sell. During the following week I started
teaching the students from grade 2-6 to make friendship bracelets made of thin
nylon strings and rubber bands, and later on we decorated paper bags with rags
from different clothes and fabrics. We would either sit on the floor in the
office/library or outside on a blanket in shade of the sun. For the bags we
also made our own glue to stick the pieces of rags onto the paper bags, and in
general there’s a big awareness on the school to recycle and upcycle, which I
think we could learn a lot from back in Denmark.
The students showed such an energy and passion
for making these crafts, and they were overwhelmingly happy to get to do
something different and entertaining that it was rather difficult to get them
to stop and start tidying up when the time was up. However, when I finally got
through to them, they would clean the entire floor with all the strings, rubber
bands, rags and other items within few minutes, being very disciplined about
it.
After a
couple of weeks I came up with the idea of holding a sports day with the theme
Olympic Games. In preparation of the Olympic games I held training sessions for
each class in the disciplines they would participate in, meanwhile we also
created medals for the winners and flags for the countries, into which the
students would be divided. After a couple of weeks of training the day finally
came for Olympic Games to be held. The board members of Koseli Foundation and
other associates were invited, and it was arranged as a big ceremony. The
students were very excited about the day and were all cheerful and smiling.
They would each sit in one corner of the school grounds with the other students
from their given country and cheer for the participating students. In the
preparations of the Olympic Games I had tried to teach the students about team
work and team spirit, and it seemed like it had affected them a great deal; by
the end of the day some of them had almost lost their voice caused by singing
and cheering.
In general
I had an incredible volunteer experience at Koseli, which completely exceeding
my expectations. This was the third time for me to visit the school, and every
time I go there I grow fonder of the place. There’s definitely changes that
still need to be done – the foundation is relatively new and with a recently
change in the administration of the school it’s clear they are still in the
initial phase of establishing a proper education institution. After having met
Neelam, the lady who now runs the school, I’m sure the foundation will have a
bright future though. She is so passionate and sincere about helping the
students, and she does everything within her power to better their lives. The
teachers are likewise incredibly hard working and it’s clear they want their
students to do well – the teachers come from similar backgrounds as the
students and they know from experience the importance of education.
One thing
that I’d advise the school to improve is the level of the spoken English. The
children know surprising many words in English, and most of them are not even
shy to use them. However, there’s a big difference between their level of
understanding and their level of speaking – this goes both for students and
teachers. If the school really wants to get the maximum effect of the help from
international volunteers, they would need to help students and teachers to
enhance their English speaking skills, so they will be able to participate in
educational discussions. This progress is already initiated; twice a week a
local volunteer hold English lessons for the teachers, and hopefully they will
gain more skill and confidence in speaking English, which will affect the
students as well.
This was
definitely not the last time I volunteered at the school, and I’m excited to
see the progress they have done on my next visit.
By Daniel from Denmark
Sameer was 10 years old when he first entered
the doors of Koseli in April 2014. The lady who brought him, told us that he has been homeless for the past
2 years. His mom had abandoned him at his old school and never returned to
pick him up. Prior to coming to Koseli, he was washing dishes at a
restaurant just to feed himself and was sleeping on the streets of Kathmandu as
he had nowhere to go.
