Past Projects
Project Namaste V
WHEN
December 2010
WHERE
Shree Nirmal Primary School
Armala VIllage Development Committe - 8, Armalakot
Kaski District
Gandaki Zone, Nepal
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Pokhara Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PCCI)
WHAT WE DID
Project Namaste V aimed to integrate the use of illustrated dictionaries into the school’s curriculum. We believe that this novel approach to English in Nepal will encourage a sustained interest in English and enable independent learning. Tangible results were seen as grade 1 students who had never encountered a dictionary before could independently find words in the dictionary by the time we left.
Along with the children’s dictionary programme, we conducted a centralized training for the teachers. The teachers were given training in three areas: phonetics, dictionary usage and teaching methods. All the teachers from Nirmal Primary attended, along with some teachers from schools in neighbouring villages.
New to Project Namaste, we explored new areas of skills development for the villagers. We provided the financial resources necessary to fund the skills training workshops for 47 villagers. This will help supplement their monthly income.
Lastly, we upgraded the existing infrastructure of the school, replacing the old zinc roofs, plastering the exterior walls and repainting them with colourful murals. It represented a stark contrast to the bare concrete walls that were previously in place and truly made the school a more vibrant learning environment for the students.
REFLECTIONS
David Ng Yang Sheng
Project Namaste IV
Leader, Namaste VI
Planning an English education program for Nepalese village children who barely understand a word you say can be challenging, to say the least. As we were planning the project, we found it very difficult to decide on the focus of the curriculum.
Ideally, we wanted the children to improve their grammar, to be able to construct sentences and to have confidence to speak more English – but let’s face it, that’s something extremely difficult to accomplish within two weeks.
Teaching them how to use the dictionary, however, was something we could do; something that could possibly go a long way towards the learning of the language.
Towards the end of the trip, observing one of the teachers using the dictionaries to teach in her classroom and seeing how proficient the children were with finding words was something that filled us all with joy.
The joy of Nepal, something we will never forget.
Mou Zong Xiao
Project Namaste V
The mountain we were on was dotted with villages that were connected by dirt trails. The documentary team had no map, no knowledge of the land and no local guide to direct us. But the absence of these things made my experience as the documentary team leader all the more rewarding.
It forced me to think on my feet, to find the next newsworthy interviewee; it compelled me to be courageous, to lead my team down a fork on an unknown pathway; but most importantly, after hearing of the sorrows and difficulties faced by the Nepali villagers, it forced me to reconcile the things I once took for granted in my city life with the harsh conditions faced by village children less than half my age.
They shared a part of their world with me and taught me to appreciate the little things in life.
My interaction with the Nepali villagers taught me that although village life is difficult and many modern conveniences are unavailable to them, they still conduct themselves with grace, compassion and generosity.
Thng Yue Xi
Project Namaste V
Co-Leader, Namaste VI
Every morning, we were greeted by the smiles on the children’s faces, spurred on by their enthusiasm for learning and touched by their simple gesture of running up to us and holding our hands.
We gave them money for their material needs, but they gave us simple joys that money can never buy.
Warm, beautiful, generous and lively – this is the Nepal I have grown to love.
This is the Nepal I will return to next year, to touch more lives and to have mine enriched.