Experience:
Organisation:
Name: Kate
Hometown: Fareham
Destination: Nepal
Project type: Teaching English
Organisation: Gap Activity Projects (now called Lattitude)
What were your impressions of your destination?
Nepal is more totally different to Britain than it's possible to imagine. When we first touched down, it was blisteringly hot and really, really humid, we had to cope with getting through immigration and getting visas, and then we travelled from the airport in the dark, and all you could see was people everywhere, rubbish piles all along the street sides, buildings that looked like they should have fallen down several centuries ago, and I can remember thinking that I'd made a REALLY bad mistake in coming. It would have been really, really helpful at that point if I'd known then that that was the worst I would feel in the whole 6 months I was out there!
I was in a project on the outskirts of Kathmandu, and yes there were people everywhere, but once you see them when its not dark, rainy and seemingly horrible, you realise how friendly they all are, how much they smile, how they'll try and talk to you even if they speak only 3 words of English, or just smile shyly at you and then whisper to their neighbour that there's an English woman in a saree...! Even in the towns things begin to not look ugly or dirty or anything, you see the little things instead, and you start looking at things with completely different preconceptions and standards. And the countryside is absolutely incredible, stunning just doesn't come close, between the Jungle in the south and the Himalayas in the north you just can't find the words to describe how amazing it all is.
Was the work interesting and challenging?
Yes. I taught 4 classes, each of approximately 40 kids, from anywhere between the ages of about 8 and 16. Each class was different, and wanted different things, and you just had to adapt to each one. Not to mention that I was teaching different things to start with - with one class it was comprehension, another grammar (don't get scared off, I am useless at English grammar, but I don't think a day went by I didn't thank profusely whoever the previous gapper was that had left the Collins Little Gem book of Grammar on my shelf in the staff room!), another conversation (which is very interesting with 40 kids...). And I had to get my head around a whole new set of names as well...
There was always something new to liven things up too, and when my Gap partner left half way through her placement because she was ill, I took on half her classes too - I didnt have to at all, but I wanted too, and most importantly the teachers and the kids wanted me to, which is the best confidence boost you can get! I taught at first about 4 or 5 leassons a day, and later 6 or 7, of about 40 minutes each, so it still left me time to relax, and to see things in the city. We also got 1 1/2 days off each week, so we could go off on day trips and see things in the local area too.
What was your accommodation like? Did you feel comfortable and welcome at all times?
Whats the rating about 3 levels above 5*? The accomodation itself was fairly basic, we lived with a family of 4, mother and 3 children (the father was working in California), and we had the middle floor of the building for the 6 of us, so 6 rooms if you include the entrance passageway and the little cell of a bathroom. It was all fairly basic, the bathroom just had a tap, a bucket and a squat toilet, but we (me and my GAP partner) had a room to ourselves, and I cannot fault the family for their welcome. They were totally wonderful, and I still refer to them as my brother and sisters and Ama (mother).
The children all spoke fluent English, and Ama had some, and they had been hosting Gappers for the past 9 years. But they made us feel so welcome, they were always plying us with cups of chiya (Nepali tea) and Aalok would always want me to come and throw a ball around with him, or Shilu would sit and explain what was happening in Hello Dollie (an Indian soap opera that we got quite into). I am going to visit them this Christmas, and I can't wait, they really did become family to me. They were always going that extra little bit to make us feel at home, I can remember waking up Christmas morning and feeling really down because it was Christmas and I should be in Britain, not Nepal where they don't even celebrate Christmas, and I walked out my room and nearly tripped over the present and stocking that they'd left outside my door, because they knew I celebrated Christmas even if they didn't! And they included us in their festival celebrations too, and really were our family.
Were you happy with the organisation and the staff that were responsible for you during your stay?
110% happy. They gave us full support and preparation before we went, provided a week long orientation course at the start of our placement to help us settle into a different culture and a different language, and were always on call whenever we needed them while we were out there. After my GAP partner left, I don't think there was a single evening that the project manager didn't ring up or call round to make sure I was ok, and wasn't overdoing things having taken on some of her classes too, and he kept us all updated on what the other Gappers were doing in the country too.
The political situation was, well, slightly less than stable shall we say while we were out there, but even though you could feel the storm coming (the King declared an autocratic dictatorship and threw Parliament in jail 10 days after I left Nepal), I never once doubted that GAP Activity Projects would get us out if it came to it. They were completely in touch with the embassy and the foreign office out there, and covered all the cost of changing our flights at the start (we flew out a week late because of political disruption), and I saw how they were with the group that were out there after us, they took out all the Gappers who would come and found them placements elsewhere in the world, and those who refused to leave they still supported despite the fact that by staying they ensured GAP Activity projects were no longer responsible for them.
I should probably mention here that at the moment (July 2007) the projects in nepal are suspended due to the political situation, but that is slowly improving, so hopefully things will get going again soon. The staff in the school were also absolutely wonderful, the Headmaster was a little eccentric (I think the purple and black leopard print sofas in his office were the first giveaway!) but a lovely lovely person, and really concerned with so many other issues as well as the school that he had set up, and Vishnu, the deputy-head was absolutely brilliant, wonderfully organised and supportive and helpful, and did a fantastic job of running the school despite the headmaster! But he just made life out there even more fun, and don't get me wrong, he too was a wonderful person, if not quite what you would think of for a British headmaster!
Do you feel that you got value for money on the project?
Absolutely definitely. If I'd paid 5 times what I did, even 10 times, I'd still think I got value for money. GAP Activity Projects are also a not-for -profit organisation, so I know that every penny I paid did go directly into funding my placement.
Would you recommend the project to others?
Yes
