Stephanie

Name: Stephanie
Gender: Female
Country: Germany
Program: Teaching English in School

1. What did your average day look like?
I got up at 7:30 am. After breakfast and lunch I walked to school at around 9 am. At 9:45 am the school assembly started. I then, taught class 7. Then I had no classes until 13:15 so I often walked to see some sights like Monkey Temple or Durbar Square. When I was back by 13:00 I had lunch with teachers. Then I had lessons up until 16:30. After school I spent time with my host family and the other volunteers. We had dinner together and afterwards everyone went to their rooms.

2. Other things I did on my placement.
I went trekking with other volunteers for five days. The school took me with them to the swimming pool “Kathmandu Fun Valley.” The other volunteers and I also sometimes went to Thamel in the evening or on our day off.

3. What are some of the issues or challenges you faced?
The language barrier was sometimes challenging as well as getting used to Kathmandu traffic + smog, also the treatment of animals and the hitting of the children in school.

4. Advice to next volunteer going to your placement?
Sometimes I wished I would have brought some typically German things to show to the students. The students at A.V.M are extremely nice and interested in other cultures.

5. Would you volunteer at this placement again?
Definitely

6. Would you volunteer at this organization again?
Definitely

7. Suggestion or problem?
………….

8. Please write a Journal-type entry of experience now. This will be for our monthly newsletter & also for our future volunteers.
I arrived on August 7th at around 5 pm. Durga then took me to Hotel Lily in Thamel where I spent the night. The next day Durga picked me up and drove me to her place where I was staying during my placement. There I met the other volunteers, Loura and Elena from Spain and Hanna from Finland. The same day I received Nepali lessons, so I was able to say and understand basic things. On August 9th I started working at A.V.M. secondary school. I taught class 7, 8, 9, and 10 in English. All of the students were very nice and the teachers were very helpful. After work, a member of staff took me to see Monkey Temple. The second day in school, classes 5 to 10 went to the swimming pool and I was allowed to join. It was extremely nice and the school even bought me a bathing suit. The following days I continued teaching. On our day off, the other volunteers and I went to Thamel to go souvenir shopping. On Sunday and Monday there was no school due to a strike. Then I continued teaching. One day, after the lunch break, classes 5 to 10 went to a football court to play and I came to watch. Then, after my best day at school, I went on a 5-day-Trekking trip with the other volunteers. When I return, I went to A.V.M. again to say goodbye. They were very sweet and even gave me a little farewell gift.