Later in November

At the beginning of November my friend Suzan and I went to the Pame school. We received a really warm welcome from the Headmaster and his wife whose house we would be staying in for the duration of our teaching. We walked 5 minutes up the hill with the Headmaster to Pame school where we were warmly welcomed by the teaching staff. We had a great time teaching all of the classes (except the nursery class) and found the pupils as is usual for Nepal to be warm, fun loving, bright, and very keen to learn. On one of the days we all sat out on the grass in the sun and distributed hats, jumpers, socks and shoes, and notebooks and pencils we had been able to buy with the money collected through our fundraising. The children were all very excited, the staff were incredibly appreciative as were the parents when they saw their children coming home wearing the new clothes and shoes. On another day we distributed some warm jackets and other donated clothes to the children with the help of the teachers. The shoes, football boots and jackets were particularly prized. While we were teaching at Pame we were struck by how excited the children were to the use coloured pens, crayons, and coloured paper we had brought with us. We made animal masks with paper plates and coloured books for learning English. The Headmaster and teachers at Pame are very caring and dedicated doing a great job in an environment with very few resources. In addition to the notebooks and pencils your money paid for, we were able to contribute coloured pencils, a model human body, a couple of footballs, and a frisbee, the kinds of things that make school just a bit more interesting and fun. We were sad to leave and were treated to a lovely speech and presentation from the Headmaster, and we also had a visit from the Chair of the school management committee who had come out to the school specifically to thank us for our work and support. We promised to return next year. We then visited the school in Jogimori where Elina and I have taught for the past 2 years and where last year we provided uniforms and school supplies from the money through last years Islip concert and our Go fund Me campaign. This year we went to Jogimori to help out with some more teaching and to catch up with the children and our friends in the village. We were able to take a pair of donated shoes to one of the boys who we had heard from another volunteer was in need and we were able to take a new football and a skipping rope to the school. It was lovely to see everyone. Now we are home and its time start to plan next years trip! Diane