Nabina, Teaching Fellow

Our Fellowship program in Nepal places talented and committed Nepali graduates into the rural villages we work with. They focus on improving the quality of teaching within UWS schools and improving links with local communities.

Nabina became a UWS Fellow in April 2019, and has been living and working in the Khamare community in Eastern Nepal. Nabina has told us about her daily life and the reality of teaching in Nepal’s remote regions.

Mornings here usually consist of tea and lots of free time. I normally support my host family* with household chores, but in recent days my mornings are quite unusual. I have started extra morning classes for the students of Grade 5. Therefore, I get up early, drink a hot cup of delicious milk, check my lesson plan and head straight to the school.

I teach the students of Grade 5 from 7:30 to 8:30am. After finishing the extra class, I return home to have a meal. The walking distance from my host house to my school is about 10 minutes. I usually return to the school at 9:30am, where I am greeted with warm smiles as the children play with their friends. When I first started, the children were hesitant and shy to greet me, but now they are comfortable around me. As I open the classroom doors, the children often have a little chit chat with me. From these conversations I have learnt a lot about lots of plants, local games, local food, people’s lifestyle and their way of communication.

I have been taking initiatives to make the morning assembly more productive by providing an opportunity for the students to build their confidence and showcase their talent. The initiative has been supported by the whole school and it is so overwhelming to see different students prepare and come up with different quiz questions, poems, drawings and songs every day.

During the school day, I take classes back to back from the 1st to 5th period then I have the 6th and 7th period off timetable. I spend this time making informative materials for the classrooms particularly to aid the learning of the younger students. Sometimes, I also visit the computer lab to help students.

In the afternoon assembly, I summarize the important events of the day and disseminate important information. It is usually just me and the Grade 4 students who are left in the school after 4:00 PM as I take their extra evening classes.

After finishing the class, I return home. I freshen up, eat some snacks while having a conversation about the day with my host family. Despite the busy schedule, I always try to make time for some “me time” before dinner. I listen to some music, go on social media, reflect upon the day and sometimes watch television or take an evening walk. After dinner, I plan lessons for the next day and go to sleep.

* A host family is a family in the village that opens their home to visitors where they sleep and eat as a guest of the village.