Educational Origami

Today is a comunity service day in Pokara, The whole group went to Shree Lila Lower Secondary School under Shanti Stopa.
We bused across the base of the hill, and then proceeded to walk up the hill. When our guuide and sherpa described the hill he said it was Nepali Up. We work on  a sliding scale of steepness here. We have Kiwi Flat, shich as it suggests is flat, then Kiwi up which is a moderate up hill walk (there is not much of this) then there is Nepali Flat (which approximates to a 45o incline) and then the much feared Nepali up, which almost requires a rope and natural protection. The walk up to the school was Nepali UP!
The mission today was to paint the school, a task which the students undertook with huge enthusiasm, each of our students had a small group of students working with them. They painted with such abandon that several of our students were white washed pale, and we ran out of paint. We also donated a laptop and a huge array of clothes.
The principal of the school also spoke to us. He explained that the school which is a lower secondary teaches essentailly Junior and Middle school students. In Nepal, education is funded to grade 5 (junior school) and student may attend free if they have the uniform. This for many is an insumountable hurdle. After primary, they pay.So in this school half the 12 staff are funded and the middle school staff are not. These are paid for by donations. They struggle from term to term to keep their teachers.
What is really sad is that the cost for a teacher for ONE month is NZ$80. And they struggle.
Nepal is an amazing place, the people are so friendly, but they are very poor. Education is with out a doubt the road out of the poverty trap for them but its only available to grade 5 for free and thats with conditions. One fortunate factor is that Grade 5 is judged not by age, as our system dictates, but by ability. So it is not uncommon to see the big and the small in the same class learning at the same time with not attached stigma.
I think this may be a project I take back to school, “Give a kid a teacher”.
The classrooms were spartan to say the least, no air con, wooden benches and seats, blackboards, 30+ kids in a 5m x 10m space. We visited the nursery class, the teacher had tried to make it different by hanging tinsel made from cut strips of foil and plastic. It helped but it highlighted the poverty. The teachers really do try, but its a struggle.