See how service makes an impact and creates new connections for three Putney students on our Service Nepal program.
Hello everyone, Elaijah, Nick, and Lev here reporting for duty! Yesterday, we had a delicious breakfast made by our mater chef, Dawa, who conjured up a delicious mixture of naan bread, scrambled eggs, honey, and fresh mangoes—which are the best we’ve had all trip! Then, we practiced some extremely high-level volleyball with the girls from The Small World (a non-profit organization), who challenged us and pushed us to our limits. We grew exponentially through this activity, and are now hopeful we will win the volleyball tournament in the upcoming future. After our time training, we returned to our domain.
Next, we took a peaceful walk to Karuna Academy (Karuna means compassion). This school is run by the Small World board and is registered with the government. It has 13 staff members in total. We were shocked to learn that the tuition is only $300 USD a year and includes food, two meals, uniforms, and school materials.
When we arrived, we were welcomed by a circle of local children, 130 to be exact, ranging from a little under two years old to 11 years old. They sang and made speeches! The youngest ones were so cute!
Once the welcome circle was over, the Putney students were split up into groups of two to teach the classes. Each class included a different age group. Our local leaders were in the same room teaching the children, their last words to us as we were leaving were “don’t have a good day, have a great day.” It was very interesting learning about this school and how it’s aiming to close the gap of education in Salleri.
After that, we visited the deputy mayor of Salleri Municipality, who is famously known for her accomplishments in the field of politics as a woman. We also had the privilege of sitting with her in her office and asking her questions and learning about the sexism she experienced on her road to power. We learned that after the monarchy fell in 2008, there was still a lot of sexism, as under the king, men were still seen as having more power. The system that was in place was very patriarchal. But over time, women have been able to obtain more positions of power. They now hold many more roles in government and almost all the deputy mayors are women.
When we got back we had a delicious lunch beautifully crafted by Dawa and the kitchen crew (Liam + Phoebe). We ate rice with lentil soup with some special bread and delicious milk tea. After that, we indulged in some more vigorous volleyball against the local team and also took some time to read, journal and, like the Buddhist monks, meditate. After our free time, we came downstairs to partake in our daily classes where all 16 of us learn the Nepali language for an hour.
When that was over, we went to the kitchen to consume some more of Dawa’s magnificent cooking. We found that Dawa had made a special surprise for us. He cooked up a chocolate cake using no oven! It was very delicious, and after that, we had a nightly meeting where we discussed what it means to be on a Putney trip, what our goals were, and reviewed the rules of the tech-fast. We then went to bed and just like that the day was over.
We can’t wait for more amazing days like this one in Nepal. Also this is Nick talking here, ending with a special “Hi mom and dad :)”
– Elaijah, Nick and Lev
To learn more about our Service Nepal program, click here!
