Settling into Kathmandu

I'm having no trouble settling in here.  No time was wasted getting me working at MotherCare (the private school - I'll be coming to the other shortly).  I will be mostly working with the eldest children.  Today was the first time I taught 'numbers'.  The children were sat in a circle and I was pretty much told 'go'.  I did some addition with them and made up some games on the fly, but it all seemed rather chaotic because I had very little idea what they already knew and what style of maths teaching they were used to.  Some things I did worked, others didn't but at least I'll know for next time.  The children seem to respond well to me though and I think we're building up a rapport, though they laugh at me when I try to pronounce their names (the hardest is actually the girl from Iceland - Snjolaug).  In Nepal, it is common to call people by their designation.  Thus I am Ella-teacher, which I quite like.  Other than maths, I also read to them - since their books are in English it makes sense to have a native speaker do so.  They don't have that many books at the school, though, and the children seem to know most things I've read almost by heart.

I've yet to start work in the other school - The Orchard something.  That starts on Monday but I visited today.  That's an entirely different kettle of fish.  It's a charity school and all the kids are from very poor homes.  The thing that struck me was how dirty they were compared to those at MotherCare, only to be told that I should have seen them when they started.  The school was founded and is still run by a woman called Bina.  When she set up the school she had to find the children to attend it.  She found several of them, many as young as 18 months, at home alone, tied to beds, with a little rice and water nearby whilst both the parents were out at work, trying to make ends meet.

There is an incredibly loving vibe in the school.  Bina is one of those people who just exudes warmth and affection and the children bask in it.  When I visited, the kids proudly and joyfully showed off that they knew their numbers up to ten, days of the week, months and some body parts.  The educational standards may not be high, and resources severely lacking, but they are well cared for there and fed twice a day (Sapna, through MotherCare, donates the rice).  I will be there on Mondays and Tuesdays, helping out in whatever way I can.  I can't wait.

I've had a little more time to walk around some parts of Kathmandu and am still struck both by how foreign and familiar it is.  There's something about the city that I find very beautiful, although I can't quite put my finger on what it is.  I hope to be able to post some photos.

This afternoon I met with an old family friend who has been working at a school in a village which is a six hour bus ride then three hour jeep ride from the city.  She described her living conditions - no electricity, no running water, only daal bhaat (rice and lentils) to eat - as well as the traditional lifestyle and values held in the village.  Compared to that, I'm living a life of luxury.  Actually, it seems that my lifestyle in Kathmandu will not be too far off the one I was leading in Toronto and London.