Wednesday and Thursday we taught in the classrooms at an
elementary school here in the village.
Each morning I spent an hour with the 3rd grade class, then
the 7th grade, followed by the 6th grade. In each classroom we went over their English
workbooks, reading stories and improving pronunciation. In Nepal, as in most the countries I’ve
taught in, I’ve been impressed with the amount of respect and discipline the
children possess; not to mention the curiosity for the foreign visitors. They wanted to know everything…every family
member’s name, age, location, hobbies and pets.
The highlight of the week came on Friday when we got to
arrange a fun day for the entire school.
We decided to split up the grades for the first hour or so and then
bring everyone together to teach them a few fun songs and dances. Bri and I took the first and second graders
to begin with, and had a BLAST teaching them some simple American children’s
games. We started with the ‘over-under’
relay. We split them into two lines and
used an eraser to pass between each person, first over, then under. When the eraser reached the last person they
had to run to the front and continue the relay.
It ended when the person who began in the front returned to that
place. It took awhile for them all to
catch on to the idea, and many times they got caught up watching their
opponents, but they loved it.
Next we taught them Duck,
Duck, Goose; and this time the teachers jumped in to join the fun. It was refreshing to see someone enjoy, for
the first time, a game I’ve taken for granted all these years. They got so much joy from it.
However, the game that caught the entire
school’s attention was the Limbo. We
began playing with the first and second graders and soon ALL the teachers
wanted to give it a try…in their sarees and all. It gathered more and more attention until we
decided to spend some of the entire school time doing the Limbo. It was hilarious to watch people try to bend
their bodies in ways they probably have never thought to do in the past. For some kids it was impossible to grasp the
concept of bending at the waist and curving the back, so the entire time they
continued to squat and waddle under the pole….I loved every confused second
of it. I was also quite impressed with
the flexibility of the 5th grade boys.
We concluded our time with some team mates
teaching the entire school yard silly songs.
I left the school tired but refreshed in spirit by the joy and freedom
kids carry. God is revealing to me more and more why Jesus said it is so
important to be like little children.
