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Founder's Travel Journal: Bandipur Day 1

June 1, 2008

-Bandipur en route

-Weather: clear; 85% humidity; 35+ degrees C; NO WIND

-Fauna/Greenery: Sal Trees, hard wood, very strong, used in Darbur Square structures

-Becoming a teacher in 8 hours

After today's observations I have learned abruptly that I will be caring for children as young as 3 in the local nursery school with the Nepali teachers; Simultaneously learning the language from the staff and students. Secondly, I make my way to the learning center to tutor children ranging in age from 7 to early teenage years. Third, I move to the computer lab to help children with typing at all age levels including teaching them basic computer operation skills; This class time is spli between adolescent and pre-teen years to mid-late teenage age ranges. By the evening I teach English to a group of women (5 total) who are very eager to learn English as well.

In 8 hours I have been designated the teacher for grads pre-school to community college levels.

Daily Schedule Sunday through Friday:
Computer lab 8am-10am (with Lyndsay?)
Nursery 11am-12:15pm and (every other day) 2:30pm-3:15pm
Lunch 1:30pm
Levels 1 through 5 1:45pm-2pm and 3pm-4pm
Computer lab 4pm-5pm
Tutoring 5pm-6pm
Women's Course 6pm-7pm
Every Wednesday 6am-7am pick up rubbish with community

Currently the government schools are on strike due to a shortage of school books. I found out that the materials and money for printing the children's books was spent on the recent election campaigns instead. Most of the children in the village attend government schools however there is a local private school, Notre Dame, that is not affected by the strike. Of course, this school is anywhere from 4-6 times more costly to attend than government school.

Ajay, a curious and fascinating boy, attends Notre Dame. I showed him an experiment on gravity and force after he began asking me many questions about his readings on Isaac Newton in the learning center today. I used the bucket/water/string experiment where you put some water in the bucket and swing it in circles fast enough so the gravitational/centrifical force keeps the water in the bucket. Ramsaram, the direcotr, would like to review more experiments on physics tomorrow.

I have much to jot down on tomorrow's to-do list.

I have found out this evening that a portion of Bandipur's website will hold a profile of myself and my work here during my stay. They all want me to come back in the near future. Perhaps if I find a job through an American or British teaching company, I canmake enough money to teach TEFL once a year for Spring or Summer courses in Nepal. I would like to bring my husband to come help build and restore some of the buildings too. I have been informed that my shelter and feeding expenses are taken care of. Transportation is my cost as well as school materials I may need. FirstI must stick to my U.S.A. schedule.

 

Ram
Ramsaram is an extremely attentive and well-informed man. As mentioned before, he is the director of this whole operation. According to the staff, he had this vision of what Bandipur could be. He kept his hopes alive and entreprenuership at the core. He can be nosy at first but he is trying to ensure that the people stay focused and consistency remains throughout each program. He navigates management roles well for a first impression.

There is the possibility that I will spend my entire six weeks here. Now it is eight minutes to eleven. Time to attempt to get my mind to rest.

 

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