The Schools’ Values: Equality, Quality, Engagement, Aspiration, Achievement and Responsibility
Sometimes we get it right. We aim for similar numbers of boys and girls and we try not to let anyone miss out on coming to school because of finances, religion or caste – inspite of prejudice in the community. On February 16th, all the children engaged in a Hindu feast for Saraswati Puga, goddess of enlightenment through knowledge, language and arts – receiving quality food and lots of fun.
But it took one young lady to mention that the boys played football in the playground but she didn’t get a look-in, even though she would like to, for us to realise how unfair this was. So now we are flattening out another bit of mountain near the school to build a (small) basketball court so that girls and boys can both play football some days, and basketball on others. We also want to put up a slide, some parallel bars and monkey bars for other children. If you could help us do that, please donate any amount to the usual bank account or through Givey www.qlearningnepal.com/donate/ Money goes about 10 times further in Nepal and the land has been donated.
Hangdewa is in the Himalayan foothills and flat land must be hewn from the side of the mountain (see below right). First, we build the retaining wall out of the rocks, then we bring in a JCB to flatten land for the court. It is a race against the arrival of the monsoon!
Want to Know More about What Goes on in Our Schools?
‘Voluntourism.’ Now is the Right Time to Plan to Volunteer.
We have uploaded a Schools Handbook on our website so that you can look at what happens on a day to day basis (written by volunteer interns, Malaika and Bharosha). School-Handbook.pdf (qlearningnepal.com) The schools’ planning and strategic improvement, as well as funding and day to day communications (such as passing on emails from Mentors and Ambassadors to each other) are all done by the Trustees for free in the UK. In Nepal, the teaching staff also double up to do any admin, talk to parents, provide extra coaching, cook meals on special occasions, run after-school clubs, engage in learning English and computer skills themselves, and keep the school clean and safe ….so every penny donated by you goes directly to educating children, with zero admin on-costs.
Teachers and Unqualified Volunteers
We are always looking for volunteers to help. Teachers in any subjects are most welcome in their holidays – guaranteed an amazing time (imagine zero behaviour problems in the classroom!). The curriculum is often similar to the UK, with our 10 year olds achieving 80% in Key Stage 2 Maths papers and 14 year olds achieving 60% in GCSE Maths. Other volunteers are needed too for classroom assistance, admin tasks and general help around computers and spoken English…or anything else you could bring to the party! Downtime exploring culture and mountains is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Please take a look at what others have said about the experience: Testimonials | Q • Learning Nepal Trust CIO and at our Volunteer handbook Volunteer-in-Hangdewa.pdf (qlearningnepal.com) A really good video of the area is https://youtu.be/OIgqIlZK29w
As a Gap student or any unqualified volunteer, we ask you to fundraise for the school before leaving home. Come with friends, be DBS checked and you will have to pay for your travel but we provide accommodation and food – as well as any assistance needed in catching planes or buses. Look how Isaac Crawford recently raised money to volunteer with us later in the year. https://fb.watch/2VbxwVZeH_/?fbclid=IwAR3FARi2yHoPBsroM7DCrF430NrctvfIMFK7WB2aJYGpqkuHmsqqB8-ayn8
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New Desks
We asked for 10 new desks and got 20! We did discover that we not only needed new ones for an additional Class at the top of the school next year, but also to replace worn out ones lower down. A massive thanks for all of you who donated. As one of the teachers said: ‘Thank you so much for your contribution. Our children are very happy and feel comfortable sitting on these new desks.’ They really help to brighten and smarten up the classrooms.
Upskilling Teachers
Two years ago, when we opened the Montessori School for 4-6 year olds, Rosalia Tamang (Principal) and Dhan Maya Gurung (Deputy) braved flying to Kathmandu, engaging with traffic in the chaotic capital and graduated having learned how to enable children to learn by discovery. Now two other teachers have graduated, Ambika Karki and Pratima Patangwa – and we congratulate them. Together, we are improving education in Hangdewa!
Montessori methods engage children by building a learning environment using all 5 senses.
Coming Soon
A whole new website on Kangchenjunga View – our wonderful Villa for holiday rental. If you can’t wait, email us now for a brochure (albeit in draft!) and let us know your thoughts – contact@qlearningnepal.com. As we pull away from Covid, we are all thinking of heading away from home. And where better than the Eastern Himalayas that have suffered economically from the pandemic but not a single case of Covid in the village? Social distancing is a cinch with more space than almost anywhere in the world and every penny you pay goes to help the schools.
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