As I write this now I'm back in Bhotenamlang, the village I live and teach in after a wonderful month long break. It's been good to be back and get into the nitty gritty of village life and teaching English. The transition back was a bit difficult since the first time excitement was gone... at the same time though the joy of being able to really get to work now that I've established relationships with people is incredible! I have much to report to you all, including the story of getting a norse piercing against the adamant wishes of my Newar family, an incredible field-trip to the river with one of my classes, beautiful solo-hikes, my housing situation, updates about life in the village, and new thoughts swirling in my mind. I will write about all that soon... I promise! But first, I really want and need to talk about something that I've been thinking about a lot and lies very near and dear to me.
Every day I interact with men and women who didn't have the opportunity to go to school. Women here were not sent to school until about 20 years ago. Now girls and boys study together, and villagers have literate educated family members who work in Kathmandu or in other countries in relatively speaking well paying jobs. So much progress has been made! Education is all these kids have to really get a shot at life and break the vicious cycle of rural poverty. Especially with girls, learning is an empowering act. Educated girls are more likely to resist child marriage, pursue higher education and a career, marry later, and have fewer kids. Illiteracy and literacy makes all the difference... a literate woman is also more likely to be healthy and empowered to make her own health decisions. Education can truly shape these kids' lives, determining whether they will have to toil on the fields and work in subsistence farming (which pays less than $2 a day) or whether they will be able to attain better job opportunities at the local village, city, or even international level. Learning English helps these students pass higher level exams, get better paying jobs, navigate an increasingly globalized English speaking world, and also migrate to English speaking countries if they choose. If all else fails, some students who will inevitably become labor migrants in the Middle East or Malaysia will benefit from even basic English language skills to communicate with others.
And still its common that kids drop out after grade 4....Many former student of this school now idle around the village or work on fields/as labor for pay. One of my favorite students just dropped out last week. When I expressed how frustrated and depressed I was feeling about this all another teacher told me "its not a big deal. You can't have everyone being smart and leaving for the cities for jobs... We need dumb people to stay behind and toil on the fields." His comments were both funny and terrifying. His sentiment is one that is echoed by most all I meet. There's an indifference to situations like this by the people here that infuriates me.
And I think these drop outs stem from the fact that kids don't enjoy coming to school. Schools are underfunded and low on resources. The teachers get an average pay of 150 to 250 dollars a month, the textbooks are out of date and poorly written, there are no science/arts/sports materials, and a library is all together nonexistent. Textbook material is dry. Learning is rote memorization and teaching as I know it does not exist here.
A few weeks ago with a generous $100 donation by Dagmar Serota, a friend of mine, I bought storybooks, sports, and art supplies for all my students....for a total of $24! A little US money goes a long way in Nepal. The kids went ecstatic to say the least. What shocked me was how excited they were to read. It dawned upon me that these kids had never read storybooks, only dull government textbook materials. There was a glint in the kids' eyes when they'd read a colorful, friendly English storybook. The rest of that week I saw the kids read and draw pictures during breaks and after school. I would even find groups of students huddled over a storybook in rice fields after school. My goal is to attract the kids to come to school. They should want to be there because school should be a positive place for learning and expression. The books need to reflect that!
So with your help, I want to raise money to buy relevant and engaging English books for these students and create a designated library space in each class. I also want to buy dictionaries for each class and buy science supplies.
Please consider donating $10. You can Venmo me @manjuvonrospatt.
Thank you for reading..... I will write more soon!