Josh Ashley-Collins who came with his girlfriend at the time – for a month in the summer of 2013 after his first year a Sussex University (studying Business Management).
I came with my girlfriend at the time – for a month in the summer of 2013 after my first year at Sussex University (studying Business Management).
What we did:-Arrived in Nepal. Got a seriously long bus journey down some suspect roads to Pokhara.
– When we arrived we were introduced to the school and shown around. Stayed at the small hotel that overlooks the school. The room is quite basic but not bad by any means. The school is situated by loads of bars and restaurants (its all relatively cheap if you want to go out for the night)
-In the mornings we would go into the school and help out where we could. This included taking different classes, such as English, Maths, Science (the kids are really clever so a lot of the time we just ended up playing games!)
– The children have PE lessons every day. When we took these classes (which we did most days, we would take the whole school down to the lake where there’s a big open plot of grass, and play football/rounders etc)
– FOOD- The children cook breakfast lunch and dinner. I thought the food was fairly banging- it was mainly spicy potato dish, meat and vegetables which is really traditionally cooked. You can also eat locally- we ate some meals for as little as 50p. If you want to eat out at a touristy restaurant which is in the town its not too expensive either.
– School trips- On a daily basis its fairly open to suggestions as to what you would like to do. We took 3 different year groups on school trips. We took the youngest ones (probably year 3/4) to a local swimming pool. I’ve never seen children so excited, happy and grateful for something so small.
We took 2 other year groups on a hike up to the top of a small mountain to a buddhist temple. Both trips probably cost us less than £20. .
It was an amazing and rewarding experience- It’s a fairly relaxed environment and are encouraged to suggest activities for the children.
Josh Ashley-Collins
