Trek to Teach - Teach in the Himalayas!

A new chapter in my life started the same minute I found the organisation Trek to Teach. I felt an unknown spark in myself that eventually turned to a deep love for the village Tolka and the mighty Himalayas. I was working as an English teacher for 2 months and living amongst 400 villagers made me feel like one of them. The children, teachers and the villagers struck me in my core. Since words doesn’t feel fair to use in order to describe the experience I had as a volunteer, I take photographs and videos. After some time in the village, the children would knock on my door in the morning, yelling that we had to walk to school together. The days were full of joyful moments at the school. When the evening came, we played football with the moon as our light. The night arrived and the stars of the Himalayas shined brightly. To have this memory and this connection to these children, the villagers and the teachers is simply invaluable.

As I’m writing this, thinking about the love and care I received from my students, I get chills. There is an incredible authenticity to Nepali’s, once you are welcomed into their hearts, they keep you there. Any time I write about my experience going to Nepal, I find new meaning and depth to my experience. Make the time to visit this country.

Going to Nepal was my first time out of the country, and I couldn’t be happier with my choice. Nepali’s are contagiously happy and positive which rubbed off, allowing me to understand and appreciate contentment. I made a new place to call home that I truly didn’t want to leave. My trip started in bustling Kathmandu exploring the city, trying delicious food and visiting ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples. I felt extremely supported by the Trek to Teach team. They gave me an orientation to familiarize myself with Nepali life, and their education system before heading off to teach in my village. Not to mention they have become lifelong friends.

The trek to my school was phenomenal with beauty at every turn, but it wasn’t a walk through the park. You will be trekking for hours on end so be prepared to work hard and push yourself, then be rewarded with views that will take your breath away. In the Himalayas life is tranquil and quite simple, with views and people that will change your life. If you crave adventure, perspective and think you have something to offer the Nepali youth TTT would make a great fit.

From the first second I arrived in Nepal, I was amazed. The city of Kathmandu was vibrant, and alive in so many ways. The sights, the sounds, the smells were all foreign to me. It was an exciting, but simultaneously terrifying experience. I had of course some background knowledge of the country, and a handle on how I would be teaching based on skype meetings prior to leaving home, but it is impossible to know a culture until you are plunged right into the center of it.

Fortunately the staff of Trek to Teach was incredibly knowledgeable, and friendly. They made sure I was comfortable, and gave me tours of the city along with a crash course in Nepali culture, language, and history. The week before I actually started teaching was filled with knowledge. I left Kathmandu on a bus with Madan Prasain, one of the co-founders of Trek to Teach and a lovely person with a contagious laugh. Madan was my guide on our trek to the village of Tolka.

After I was oriented with Tolka, and the school I would be teaching at, Madan left to head back to the Trek to Teach offices in Kathmandu. We maintained communication over the spotty internet available in the village, but for the most part I was alone. The guest house I was staying in was very accommodating, and run by some of the most fun people I've ever met. I was welcomed at the school with open arms. All of my students were bright, and energetic.

The school was about a ten to fifteen minute walk from the guest house. Classes started at ten, and went into the late afternoon, with a break for tea and snacks about halfway through the day. The first day of teaching was the hardest, as I had only just received the curriculum, and was thrust into classes without a clear schedule. Over time, I formed a routine, and established a relationship with the students. I had to learn what it meant to be a teacher very fast.

I quickly fell into a teaching routine. Communication was a large issue in the beginning. The students had a very basic understanding of english, and I didn't know any Nepali besides basic greetings. Repetition and body language were key in explaining lessons. We would play games that would cover material in the curriculum, and I would occasionally incorporate arts and crafts when the materials allowed.

This program requires you to be independent. There is support available from Trek to Teach, and the school I worked with was filled with friendly teachers, but there are no real guides, or stringent rules. There were no other volunteers with me, or program guides that were there to tell me what to do. The teaching was self directed, and though the curriculum books provided a guidelines, I wrote most of the lesson plans. This sort of independence, and responsibility proved to be a boon. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me grow as a person. I will always remember my experiences with Trek to Teach fondly, and would definitely recommend it to anyone considering spending time abroad.

I absolutely loved my time in Nepal. I went into volunteering with Trek to Teach with very little classroom teaching experience and zero Nepali, so to be honest I was learning just as much as my students were. It was exciting to be pushed so far out of my comfort zone, and in the end my time spent in Nepal was incredibly rewarding.

The classroom experience in Chhomrong was nothing like what I was used to in the States, but I noticed that being a kid is a universal experience. All the students loved to play games and had a competitive spirit. The national curriculum for learning English seemed to be based a lot around repeating phrases over and over, and the students were sometimes bored with learning this way. My approach to teaching involved lots of games and a lot of art projects as well. At such a young age (6-10 years old), I believe the best strategy for language acquisition is through an immersive environment, which is something that Trek to Teach can provide through sending teachers fluent in English to rural villages.

My experience in Nepal was like no other experience I've ever had. Teaching English in Kathmandu and Ghandruk with overall 800-1,000 students was demanding and exhausting at times. I had difficulties teaching in Kathmandu because the school was not expecting to have a volunteer teacher. I had a different class schedules daily. Moving from an overpopulated metropolitan city to a small village gave me culture shock even though I was in the same country. The food, language, beliefs, and level of English was significantly different from both locations. Even though changing locations didn't give me enough time to focus on one school, I loved experiencing two locations briefly. I have a full understanding of the differences between the best and worse schools in Nepal. I met so many interesting and good friends in both locations. I can't wait to go back to Nepal.