Our mission in Nepal -- besides having a wonderful trip -- is to visit ELI’s various volunteer placements, and Anish schedules a series of meetings for us at the various sites.
We begin by visiting the Child Development Center -- CDC -- and the Aruni Secondary School, an education complex 20 minutes on foot from the volunteer house. CDC serves children 3-6 years old; the Aruni School offers grades 1-10. Both placements prefer volunteers with some teaching experience, and those who can offer at least two consecutive weeks. At the CDC, volunteers serve as teaching assistants, and are encouraged to arrange with the head teachers to play, sing and interact with the youngsters. Volunteers who want to teach here are encouraged to bring with them coloring books, crayons/color pencils, puzzles, picture books, etc. These are luxury items and hard for CDC to supply on a regular basis.
The non-profit Aruni Secondary School is a private but low-cost alternative to Kathmandu’s overcrowded and underfunded government schools. 95% of its students come from low-income families who migrated to Kathmandu from the mountains after the devastating April 2015 earthquake. Many of the children live in temporary shelters or shanty towns that have sprung up around the city; the school offers its pupils a respite and a place to just be a child. It succeeds, both socially and academically, with its students performing well on national exams.
Volunteers who want to teach here should have at least some background in education, and, to avoid classroom disruptions, need to commit to at least one month. ELI can work with Aruni to try to enable qualified volunteers to teach in their field of interest. The school says particularly successful past volunteers presented special classes about their home country, it’s history and culture - sort of a mix of geography and social science.
There are also a couple of specialized volunteer opportunities for those who only have two weeks.
First, art and crafts lessons. Aruni does not have a dedicated art teacher and volunteers can offer valuable (and much appreciated) classes for an hour or two per day, based on their abilities and interests. Volunteers usually provide the materials (they can be very simple and inexpensive, ask ELI for some ideas,) instruction and the encouragement. Arts and crafts projects are a great way to get to know the children and to offer them something that’s both fun and educational.
Another interesting option: coaching table tennis and volleyball twice per week. There is an indoor and an outdoor table for table tennis. Volunteers interested in coaching and playing table tennis are encouraged to bring balls and extra paddles with them, since these are hard-to-come by luxury items for this very modest school.
Do you play volleyball? A shelf full of trophies attests that this is something of a specialty at Aruni. In fact, Last year, the school organized a successful city-wide volleyball competition among 24 Kathmandu schools. It was such a hit, Aruni wants to make it an annual event, and welcomes those who can coach and practice the sport with the team and other youngsters, children who otherwise experience very little organized physical education.
Some volunteers like to combine this placement with teaching English part-time to young monks at Buddhist monasteries. ELI Abroad partners with a couple monasteries and will arrange placement based on availability and volunteers’ experience and skills. Most of the young students -- boys who won’t go on to become monks -- are there because the monastery offers a superior educational experience valued by their families. A few will embrace Buddhism as a career and become monks; volunteers will also meet and interact with these gentle, devout men.
Nepal’s Buddhist monasteries are very special places, reflecting a peaceful, scholarly atmosphere, although be warned: some young monks can be at times as rowdy as their counterparts in secular schools! Still, the monastery settings are at times extraordinarily beautiful, and this is a teaching opportunity like no other.
The monastery Janella and I visited is a good hour by car or bus outside of Kathmandu, in a hilly, well-to-do neighborhood and surrounded by flowering trees and peaceful gardens. The main temple, built about 15 years ago, is a colorful feast for the eyes and featuring stunning paintings of the life of Buddha and ornate decorations on the inside and outside. Monks live and study in two adjacent wings. Between the storybook setting, and the beauty of the temple, this is a wonderful placement for volunteers with a particular interest in Buddhism.
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