Learning about love

Hugging the children goodbye leaves me with the most contradicting emotions I have ever experienced. Since October, I have been looking forward to meeting these students and have known the past two weeks would change my life. Before this trip my life felt whole and I felt complete. After coming to Bhaktapur and meeting these kids, I’ve realized that I could not have possibly been whole before all of this. I was missing so many bonds and not giving or receiving near enough love. Every waking second of this trip has been spent thinking about or executing different, new ways to make the lives of these children a little bit better. My life has been entirely devoted to this class of 19 students whom I have grown to love. I have taught them about the importance of Women’s Rights, the negative impacts of pollution, and the ways we can work to prevent diseases. I have learned about their beautiful religion, their unique manners, and their rice planting season. I care so deeply about every individual and want their futures to be better than right now. I’m here to show them that they are important and loved and that education will give them a chance to make that brighter future a possibility. We have developed this bond that will never disappear and it makes me feel so full, but at the same time I feel like there is something missing. Now that I have left the school completely and parted ways with all of the students, it’s harder to breathe, and think, and walk, knowing that I will probably never see their wonderful faces again. The pain of leaving is only made bearable by the reality that I am so lucky to have created connections with these people that are so difficult to leave. I feel very grateful to have people in Nepal to miss.

I can only hope I taught my class a percentage of what they helped me learn. Not only did they teach me so much about this world, they taught me about myself as well. They pushed me to leave my comfort zone and try entirely new methods of teaching. They helped me understand the power and effectiveness of student-led learning. These children made me feel worthy of all the love they were giving me and reminded me that curiosity is essential to those that truly want to learn.

The country of Nepal and the students of Lisha School will forever have my heart.