Johanna Böll (Oct. 2015)
Die Dorfbewohner*innen von Karmidanda haben zum größten Teil noch kein festes Dach über dem Kopf; sie schlafen nach wie vor in Zelten und anderen Notunterkünften. Die Regenzeit hält weiter an. Noch einen Monat etwa kommen erhöhte Niederschlagsmengen über das Land. Karmidanda bleibt dann nur eine kurze Verschnaufpause, ehe im November der Winter einsetzt und die Temperatur nachts bis auf Minusgrade fällt. Genau diese Zwischenzeit wollen wir nutzen: Wir freuen uns, euch Johanna vorstellen zu können, die im Oktober für Walk Along direkt in unser befreundetes Dorf gehen wird.
Mein Name ist Johanna Böll, ich habe Oecotrophologie studiert. Nun zieht es mich mit großer Welt-Neugierde für mehrere Monate nach Südostasien. Beim Reisen ist es mir wichtig, möglichst nah an der Kultur, an Land und Leuten zu sein. Daher ist es mir nun eine große Ehre, mit Walk Along nach Karmidanda (Nepal) zu kommen, um dort nicht nur mit in der Dorfgemeinschaft leben zu dürfen, sondern mich dort auch einbringen zu können. Besonders nach dem schweren Erdbeben ist es mir ein Anliegen, die Menschen in Karmidanda mit den uns zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln beim Wiederaufbau zu unterstützen. Im Fokus soll hierbei die Schule liegen, damit die Kinder weiterhin und auch zukünftig unterrichtet und ausgebildet werden können – eine Notwendigkeit für die Entwicklung eines jeden Menschen.
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Bericht Kirsten
It was time for a new experience, an adventure, doing something useful, doing something by heart – and I did all these things when I went teaching in a school in a small mountain village in Nepal.
In the end of summer I arrived in Kathmandu. The manager of the hostel Mt. Annapurna Guest House picked me up from the airport and brought me into the heart of Thamel. In the hostel I got a nice room, everything was prepared for my arrival. Tomorrow morning we went together to the bus station, I got my ticket und and he showed me my space for the next 6 hours. A beautiful but exhausting bus ride began. I was enjoying the first amazing impressions of the landscape. I came in touch with the local people and I felt their kindly mind immediately. They took care of me even when we couldn’t understand each other. Namaste was the only word I knew at this time. Some of them have taken me to eat lunch in a small place when we stopped for a break. It was a short break for having lunch so they started eating very quickly. I watched them curiously eating dhal baat with their hands. And I also tried – but eating rice with the hands for the first time was not easy and the time was passing. But they gave me a spoon so I could finish my lunch. When we arrived in Kalikasthan everybody took care that I didn’t miss to get out of the bus. And also Jhabaraj Neupane, the English teacher where I should live the next months, came there to pick me up. Before we started our walking to the village we sat down in a small shop. We drank a black tea with milk and sugar, a very common drink in nepal. After about 45 minutes of walking we arrived in Karmidanda. A small village situated in the lower mountains from where you have a great view into the valley and the river “Trisuli”. It reminded me always of the movie “the lord of the rings” – the view was so beautiful that it couldn’t be real -It felt like that a painter created a perfect piece of landscape.
When we arrived in the house the rest of the family were welcome me in a loveable way. I got from Januka, his wife, the first hindu “tika” in my life. A tika is a blessing sign, mostly worn on the forehead. My one was made of red powder and I was very proud. After this exciting day I fell asleep very quickly. They have given me my own huge room with big bed. Just the cat, Kathrina, came sometimes to accompany me in my room.
Next day was my first day as a teacher. The way to school took around 15-20 minutes and was not difficult to find. Just down, down, down. But that means also after school just up, up, up. I didn’t miss my sport activities from home because I had a lot of walking everyday. In the village there are no cars, no bikes – nothing except your feet. And this gave me really a nice and healthy feeling.
In school Jhabaraj went with me in the class room and introduced me to the class and then my career as a teacher began.
And it worked – even though that I spoke hardly nepali and they just a little English. ´But kids are open-minded and they are curious to learn new thing. So everyday they learned some English from me and I learned nepali from them. It is a great experience. During my teaching day I had always 3 classes. First grade 7, followed by grade 6 in the morning time and after lunch I taught in grade 5. We sang songs and played games what they enjoyed a lot. We studied simple grammar together like the word order of sentences and questions, the pronouns, the time or the irregular verbs. In grade 7 we started to read an easy novel – the adventures of Huckleberry Finn in a easy reader issue. It was a great time to see their smiley faces everyday. They appreciated that somebody from far away is giving them attention and time to learn new things in life.
I think for both sides is this a personal gain. And I can suggest to everyone to make this fascinating experience.