Pheri Bhetaula Nepal!

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Jess Kellett

Our time in Nepal is coming to an end - it's hard for me to believe, but this is our final update! We have had a pretty incredible last month here, moving from our home in Nursery to the orphanage and then to our final weeks of exploring and adventure!

Our last week at the school was a big one, saying goodbye to the school, village and host family. We used our final day teaching at the school to have a sports day, playing volleyball, badminton, soccer, skipping, throwing and catching games. The kids loved the break from work and it was a great opportunity to spend time with then and have fun together for our last day.

The next day the school held a farewell ceremony for us. It was hard to hold back the tears as the students gave speeches and covered us in garlands of flowers. They danced and sang traditional songs, and the principal gave each of us a certificate, thanking us for our work at the school. We took a big photo with all of the students and teachers, and then it was time to leave. There were lots of hugs and waves goodbye as the kids ran off to enjoy their two-week holiday for Dashain.

It was then time for the saddest day of the placement - saying goodbye to our host family. Here there was no stopping our tears as Leela and Kamal gave each of us tikas and a beautiful bangle as a goodbye present. Saying goodbye to our Nepali family was the hardest thing I've had to do here, but we have all come away from it with incredible memories, knowing that we love and are loved by an amazing family on the other side of the world.

The same day we left our village we arrived at the Oppressed Welfare Orphanage Home to begin our two week placement. We brought with us new clothes for each of the children, as well as kites to celebrate Dashain, craft supplies, sports equipment and over a months worth of groceries.

In the mornings we would help the older kids with their holiday homework and read with them until breakfast. The middle part of the day was the hottest, so we would spend it inside, playing board games, drawing pictures and watching Bollywood movies! Then when it was cooler we could go for walks - sometimes the kids take us to a nearby Hari Krishna temple, where we play soccer and frisbee, fly kites or help out in the vegetable field. Then all too soon it was time for more tikas and scarves as we said goodbye to our new brothers and sisters and finished our placement.

We then began our final two weeks of travelling - the Poon Hill trek, white water rafting, and for Susie, trips back to Chitwan and Pokhara! And now, unbelievably, it's time to pack our suitcases and go back home.

We are so grateful to our family and friends back in Australia, who helped us to raise over $3000 to give back to the Nepali communities who have given us so much. In addition to what we donated to the orphanage, we were able to buy a printer/scanner for the school, sports equipment, office supplies, and a whiteboard for each classroom. We also bought a laptop for our host family's daughter, to assist in her university studies. Finally, the remaining money - around $400 - was donated to a government disaster relief fund, to help with the devastation caused by the landslide near our village and recent flooding.

The three of us have had the most incredible time in Nepal, it is really indescribable. Together we have laughed until we cried with our host mother, been forced to dance in our saris at Teej by the most enthusiastic old woman and eaten dal bhat 97 times! We have visited the monkey temple, Durbar Square and Boudnath in Kathmandu, were taken to a Hare Krishna temple by the kids at the orphanage, the cutest tour guides you could ask for! We rode elephants on safari in Chitwan National Park, have been on a jungle walk, seen rhinos, monkeys and deer, and kayaked down a crocodile infested river. We've played endless games of memory, badminton and skipping. We have gone paragliding in Pokhara, zoomed down the worlds longest zip line, visited the birthplace of Buddha, crawled through the biggest cave in Asia, white water rafted and been trekking in the Annapurnas. And, most importantly, we have taught classes full of the cheekiest, loudest, funniest, sweetest kids. Of course we have been frustrated at times, and have left a few lessons unconvinced the kids learnt anything at all. But every day we were greeted by sixty enthusiastic kids yelling good morning, grinning and holding our hands as we walked up to the school building. Teaching was a challenge for sure, but it is the best feeling to know how much we have grown over the last few months, as well as the impression we were able to leave behind at our school.

We are all so proud of everything we have achieved here, and will all return to Australia a little (or a lot) different from how we left. We have had the most amazing, funny, beautiful adventure together. We know we will leave as lifelong friends. As we pack our bags and get ready to see our families, we leave this beautiful country knowing that we will be back again. So it is not goodbye, but pheri bhetaula.

See you again Nepal!