Kent Ridge Students at Nagarkot, Nepal
We organised Kent Ridge’s service learning trip to Nepal in November 2008.
We first met Sujeetha and Ms Lim in August for a trip discussion in August. It was the school’s first trip to Nepal and no one knew what to expect. When the trip was confirmed, everyone – teachers, students and even ourselves were really excited.
In the following couple of weeks, the Kent Ridge team went into an exciting phase of trip preparation from interaction programs to cultural showcase. We had also nailed down the project work for the trip, which was to reconstruct the volleyball court for a village school in Nepal. Sujeetha, Ms Lim and Ms Chua did a great job of leading the team and keeping them in line with the trip’s objectives.
Parents were equally enthusiastic when they learnt more about Nepal and the trip at the briefing session.
The trip turned out to be an amazing one for Deepak who personally led the trip. Everyone was very involved in their given tasks and gave their best in showcasing our ethnic culture through costume dress-ups. Our Nepalese kids were taught teeth-brushing techniques, oragami, art and craft which was a real eye-opener for them. The 2 huge beach balls which was brought over from Singapore certainly kept everyone happily occupied during break time!
The Kent Ridge team donated books, t-shirts, stationary, brushes and toothpaste sets to the school. Mr Pitam, the school principal, was really moved to receive such generous supplies on behalf of the school.
Towards the end of their service learning days, the team put up a collage made up of instant photo prints – all the very memorable times spent at the school, for everyone to view. Every Nepalese kids were also given their very own piece of printed t-shirt which made them really exctited!
By the end of the trip, it was a paradigm shift for everyone in their perception of Nepal. The visit to the country and the days of interaction with the locals helped deepen their understanding of the country which they previously knew only as a ‘third world country’ through the media. The harshness of life in Nepal had not only taught our students not to take things for granted but also to learn to appreciate what their parents was able to provide them.
Deepak and I are looking forward to their next trip and working with all the friendly and wonderful teachers who made the trip possible.
To read the Thank You card that touched us, see Previous Post.