Hi, I am Gemma and
I live in Holland. I have graduated last year as a primary teacher. After this
I worked as a substitute teacher for half a year. During my study I’ve visited Indonesia for an internship. Because of this experience
my interest for foreign countries and their cultures became more and more. This
is one of the reason why I wanted to volunteer in Nepal. Also I love to work with children and I’m
curious how the learning system works in other countries . I knew that there
would be some differences and I wondered if I could help the local teachers with
facing and dealing with problems we also engage in the Netherlands.
Most of the time here in Dharan I worked on the Dipendra school. I also visited the
Saraswati home, more than I thought before.
This I did because I really liked the children; to read stories with
them in small groups, helping them to understand the stories and trying out new
games. Most of the time I did lose, to great enjoyment of the children. They are so enthusiastic and wanted to play
over and over.
On the Dipendra school I gave English lessons. In the beginning I followed two
lessons of a teacher who can speak English quite well. I noticed that the
English language is difficult for these children. Especially because the level
is quite high and they only hear English during English lesson. Outside the
classroom they do not read, listen or
speak English. It’s good to see that the children are very eager to learn, but
they’re still afraid to speak and practice the language. That’s why I started with
basic words like numbers and the alphabet. In Nepal I could only speak English, Nepali
was a bit too hard. So I was very happy
with the teacher who helped me, he translated sometimes. Only the fifth grade
did not want him to translate, they wanted to try understand themselves. I was
amassed! I started with doing some
educative games with the children, this way they could play AND learn at the
same time. The children were very excited and I enjoyed teaching them in this
manner more and more.
I noticed some differences in the way they teach in Nepal, it was a big
difference with what I am used to. I hope I gave the local teacher some new
input on how they could discipline the kids in a positive way and how they
could make lessons a bit more interesting.
In all it was a great experience for me. I’ve learned a lot and you get
so much back from the children. If would recommend everyone who likes to work
with children, to come to Dharan. The children inspire you in all kinds of different
ways. They have so little but there are
so happy and grateful. Living in Nepal, especially Dharan, is quiet, not
touristic and you can do a lot of things. The people are very kind and it is going
to feel like home.
