Life in the village has been going swimmingly for our group of travelers in Nepal. Their service project – re-building a school that had been destroyed by an earthquake in 2015 – has been hard work but is very rewarding. The group has moved on from simply moving material (rocks, dirt, cement, you name it!) to dry masonry. It should be no surprise that Mason is a rockstar at this task!
Dy masonry is slow and intellectual work. It involves finding stones, placing them, chalking them into place with smaller stones, and finally setting them with mallets. The group has also been gathering fine sand from a nearby river to sift and mix into mortar. Mary has been especially keen on being part of this ‘river crew’. While other students have tried to avoid getting their shoes wet, Mary dives right in!
Our group also recently started their secondary projects. They put together a summer school for local children, complete with two levels of English classes, arts and crafts, and athletics/stretching! Josh has been invaluable in designing the language curriculum. He figured out a delightfully novel way to teach grammatical concepts in Nepali and English, by having students re-arrange themselves to form correct sentences.
Josh, Cassius, and Blair are teaching the intermediate English class with great success. Renee B has been heading up the arts and crafts; bubbles and play-dough are huge hits. Lauren and Nina have been teaching beginning English with Jenga blocks custom made with simple words.
We also had a birthday last week! Renee P turned 17, and the group celebrated with a beautiful chocolate cake, baked and decorated by their local leaders, Binod and Bolle. Renee was delighted to receive gifts, sweets, and poetry from the group. To celebrate her day of birth, Renee has also been on toddler duty, chasing after two adorable gold earring-ed girls. Christian and Cassius are both naturals with the boys, who follow them around like ducklings.
Finally, home stays have been splendid, Kate and Max have been visiting families, drinking too much sweet chai, and turning down offers to have third dinners. It’s hard to believe how quickly the weeks fly by, and how soon everyone will be headed back to their homes. Until then, we’re excited for what awaits our travelers!
