Dikesh Deshar, one of our very first United World Schools (UWS) Nepal Fellows, gives us a thoughtful insight into the humbling experience of integrating into a UWS Community School.  UWS fellows are Nepalese university graduates who undergo intense teacher training before a two-year placement in one of our community schools, where they work alongside teachers to improve the quality of education and inspire good teaching practices. Visit our Nepal page to hear more about our fellowship scheme and see how you can support our programmes. 

I still remember the children’s faces when I first entered UWS Nagi Dada School. As I faced the shy faces, I introduced myself as their new friend and told them I was their new teacher.  For the next few days, every student in the school acted unknown and reserved, but as the days passed, they slowly seemed to accept me as their friendly teacher. Finally, after the first week passed, they felt comfortable enough to interact with me and share their problems.

As days became weeks, I noticed, that the majority of the children in Nagi Dada came to school with unkept nails, without proper uniform and dirty sweaters.  With love and respect for these students, I gradually started talking with them about coming to school clean. With every passing day, I got to see slow but steady change: my students started to come to school in tidy and proper uniforms, and most of them had clean nails.  

Apart from improving cleanliness, I am also working with children to improve their vocabulary. I am replacing board and rote learning methods with drawing sheets. Words are drawn on sheets with different colours and used to decorate every classroom. As a result, my students are learning a new word every day.

When I came to Nagi Dada village, I knew teaching children with no access to proper schooling was not going to be easy. The interesting thing that I learnt was that every child in my school is curious to study and learn. And as days and weeks pass, I realised the extent to which they wanted an interactive and fun-based teaching approach.  The storybooks UWS Nepal have provided have been really useful as I find storytelling a very effective teaching method and the students are becoming increasingly curious.   Now, every time they see me outside their classrooms, they call me and say "डिकेश सर, आउनुहोस न  हाम्रो  कक्षामा  पढाउन" ("Dikesh Sir, please come to our class and teach"). 

Seeing my students hunger to learn and grow has kept me inspired. And I wake up each day to embark on another exciting teaching journey. I now know just how much talent exists among the young children in rural Nepal, and that my two-year stay at UWS Nagi Dada will be a great investment of my time.

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