Last day with teaching

Today was our last day with teaching at the global platform. A day where we finished the last things we have been working on for our entire stay here in Nepal. First we had a feedback session on our drivers of change projects, before put our finishing touch on them and presenting them to the rest of the group. The drivers of change projects are plans for projects we will do when we get to the countries where we are volunteering. They are not the main thing we will do, but volunteering we will do besides the main project. There were lots of great projects presented today; we had projects about after school clubs, student councils, art class, HIV/AIDS information campaigns and other exiting projects. This was also the day our photo project ended. All month we have been supposed to take a picture of social change. Today our pictures were exhibited together with a text explaining the picture and why it showed social change. All the people living at the global platform were then invited to look at the photos and vote for the best. Here Sebastian’s picture showing some Nepalese youths became the winner. He therefore won a vase and is now competing in a global ms competition for the best social change picture. Here the grand price is a Roskilde festival ticket.
All these things ending today made me realize how soon we are leaving Kathmandu and all the great people we have been living with for the last month. We have had our daily life and established a daily routine in this house and grown to love being here. I am sure that we have all enjoyed our stay here in Nepal very much and wouldn’t have been without it. It also shows in our conversations which now are a lot about the countries we are leaving for, what to expect, hopes and fears. I feel sad to leave all these great people and what has been our home for the last month. But at the same time I am very excited about getting out and doing some real volunteering.
This evening some of us went to curry without worry. Curry without worry is a project were volunteers give out food to everyone who wants some. There is no strings attached, one can just come and get food. Some had already been 2 weeks ago, they had told about glue sniffing everywhere and street children acting almost violent. Today was very different from what I had been expecting from these stories. People were cueing without problems and I dint see a single child sniffing glue. It almost seemed like everyday life and the atmosphere was nice and relaxed. This was a very positive experience for me, seeing how some people are trying to help those in need. We helped by serving the food, and just talking to people. There was also a lot of people looking and taking pictures of us. I believe that by just being there we helped by creating awareness and showing that we at least try to do something.

Malte