Volunteer news

Not all our volunteers make it to their schools. Here is Sarah Dagnall’s report on what she encountered on her way to her assignment:

“A few days before my teaching placement at St Anthony’s School in was to begin (February 2011), we had planned to spend a few days in the hill station of Darjeeling, then head on east to Mungpu. The plan was thwarted by the echoing repercussions of history and race as the local people planned their next steps towards winning an independent state called Gorkaland.…

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“…how fortunate we volunteers are to be welcomed into the lives of children who have so much to teach us, when we set out initially to try to make a small difference in their lives. When teaching grammar structures, we see the students’ efforts to learn and master a new language (challenge) without complaint. During a school field trip we have the opportunity to share and experience the students’ culture outside the classroom. During lunch break we have an opportunity to see the older students taking responsibility to look after the younger students’ needs before their own, and their selfless cooperation to ensure no one is overlooked.…

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Our first volunteer to go to the Shree lali Gurans primary school in Chitre, a village on the Annapurna Circuit trekking trail, will be arriving there within the next few days. It’s one of just a few schools that our volunteers have to trek to.…

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Volunteer recruitment is going well this year with six already signed up and several more in the pipeline. This is encouraging after a rather poor year in 2010 which saw only six volunteers placed at schools in the whole year.

The first volunteer of 2011 has now started at his school in Nepal, and the others will be going out to the Himalayas over the next 5 months.…

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I’m pleased to report that our volunteers in Ladakh are safe and sound. One is ensconced in a monastery in the village if Phyang, and the other, based in the capital, Leh, has sent the following news:

“Everything is okay here. Today was the first day I managed to check my emails.
Part of the town has been destroyed by the mud slides and I have been helping there and at the one hospital which is still open as the school has been closed for the last few days.…

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There have been serious floods in Leh and outlying villages. We are currently trying to make contact with two volunteers we have out in Ladakh, but communications networks are currently down.…

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