Durga Aran, Founding Director of First Steps Himalaya is back in Nepal for the first time since 2020. Read on to hear his thoughts about returning and how he spends his time:
Flying into Nepal is always magical especially when the snow capped mountains come into view. But this time I was so excited and relieved to get back to Nepal. I’ve been away for two and a half years. The last time I was in Nepal was March 2020 when the whole world was in upheaval and closing borders.
I literally rushed to the airport and caught the last flight out of Nepal back to New Zealand, where our family is based. No one could have imagined how long it would take me to get back to Nepal. I am thrilled to be here at last.
We kickstarted my return with teacher training at our training centre in Sangachok. These teachers arrived thirsty for knowledge and left our training with lots of ideas, motivation and renewed enthusiasm for their jobs.
Giving a certificate to a young teacher at our Sangachok training. Also called Durga, he went away from our teacher training full of ideas of how to make his classes child-friendly.
Addressing teachers at our residential teacher training in Sangachok. I try to inspire them about how they can literally transform lives.
We then moved on to Nuwakot to run a 10-day training workshop for teachers from around the district. This included the First Steps contemporary teacher training course, English Language training and Leadership training.
I am in and out of Kathmandu but most of my time is divided between our three rural project areas: Nuwakot, Sindhupalchok and Syangja.
After such a long absence, my work schedule is pretty packed with the teacher training courses, school monitoring visits and, of course reconnecting with the team. I am also assessing building sites for new schools, which we plan to construct in 2023.
Welcoming teachers to the Nuwakot teacher training.
Durga addressing the new trainees during the opening ceremony for the teacher training course in Nuwakot.
For the last two and a half years, I have been working with the Nepal training team via zoom. But there is nothing like being here in person. It is wonderful to see the progress at the project schools and see how our Nepal team are growing professionally.
This is Pragitsheel School, Nuwakot. I was here building this school in March 2020 when world wide lockdowns started. Luckily, we got the roof in time before everyone rushed to the airport. It is wonderful to be back and see this great little school running well.
Hot off the press
I have also just collected 2000 copies of our first story book from the printers in Kathmandu. It is an English-language children’s book set in a rural Nepali village. Young children learning to read identify more easily with situations and environments that are familiar to them and their daily life. We hope Nepali children learning English will love this book as much as we do.
Durga with the first published book, Sita’s Search. We hope to create a range of story books aimed at Nepali children learning English.
Do I have time to spend with my family?
Although I have a lot to accomplish and always feel pressed for time, Tihar festival happened recently. This is a special family celebration and I took a day off to meet my brothers and sisters for ‘bhai tika.”
Durga with his brothers and sisters in his home village of Jitpur in Sindhupalchok
I will be in Nepal for the next few months. I plan to work with our team closely, visiting all our project schools and encouraging continued improvement in the classrooms and teaching.
In particular, I want to focus on connecting with and (hopefully) inspiring head teachers and community leaders. For long-term change, schools need strong leadership with a commitment to continued improvement. This is vital for the long term progress at these schools.
For more information visit www.firststepshimalaya.org