For Others

I was nervous that teaching without a partner in Nepal would be lonely. I feared that there would be no one to get ideas from while planning and if a lesson wasn’t going well in there wouldn’t be anyone in the classroom to save it. I anticipated feeling vulnerable in front of students that would notice and take advantage of the situation.

Thankfully, these feelings were never experienced when I was working with class 8. I felt a sense of belonging and togetherness   doesn’t even exist for me in many situations at home. In a different country, surrounded by people who can only understand about half of the words I speak, doing something I don’t have extensive practice doing, I was home. It wasn’t because my lessons were perfect or because I was so confident in my teaching skills, rather it was because of an energy that exists in the classroom. It is truly impossible to describe this energy; it can only be fully understood by people who have felt it. It makes my hands tingle when a student answers a question correctly and it makes my heart beat a little faster every time the class shouts about wanting to play a game. It reminds me of watching the sun rise and the way it first warms your face and then your whole body. Believing I truly taught these kids something new is accompanied by so much love and endless smiles exchanged. Though, it couldn’t mean this much to me if I didn’t understand how much it meant to them.

The CGA team introduced environmental projects to each class at LISHA School. We asked the students to creatively come up with an idea to heal the environment of Bhaktapur using recycling, composting, or reusing. These students passionately attacked the project and worked intensively for all the class time they received. Not only did they dedicate themselves to the projects at school, they took them home to continue; perfecting the spelling, organization, and content. Each one cares deeply about what they are making and will not quit until it looks the way they had envisioned. These students devote themselves to their education because they lack the privilege to say they don’t care. Instead of being indifferent about their schoolwork, they are inspired by it. They talk about the way their education can help them pull their families out of poverty and help Nepal develop. That idea is why these students are incredibly motivated. They are not only working for themselves, but for everyone around them. Their love for each other and drive to improve their surroundings is what makes them so powerful.

I feel grateful to be even just a small part of this community that works for each other. I have been working to provide them with the information they can use to better themselves and they have been striving to retain all of it to better the lives of their younger siblings and their neighbors and their schools and even the future of their country. It is going to be very difficult to say goodbye to the home I have found in Nepal but I will never forget the feeling of pure joy and full excitement I feel when I am with this family. I know now that the secret to working as diligently and as powerfully as the students in class 8 is understanding the work’s impact on others. I hope to continue finding ways to influence the lives of those around me.