On top of the world.

The Nepal experience is getting nearer: on Sunday the 3rd of February, Thomas, Laura and I will be leaving Belgium for about four months to carry out our third-year internship... on top of the world. 

We will be staying at The Butterfly Lodge in Pokhara, which is connected to an admirable organization, The Butterfly Foundation. It exists to make a difference: The Lodge provides the financial support needed for the Foundation, which runs the day care centre and supports other centres in the poorer districts of Pokhara. 

Our initial assignment is to teach in private schools (e.g. The Siddhartha Boarding School) to pupils with the age of 12 to 14, possibly also 14 to 16. There, we will not only try to teach the subjects we took upon ourselves at the Artevelde University College, but also other subjects such as biology, geography, moral and social studies, mathematics, etc. 

Apart from our teaching practice, we will also visit a mountain village, Tallipokhari, our care placement, where we will organize activities for 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers (e.g. teaching them the alphabet, teaching them how to count in English, preparing musical, physical and hands-on activities). 

We will also get the opportunity to take part in volunteer work which we will get to know while staying there (e.g. orphanages, child care centres, participating in construction projects for building new schools, ...). 

Next to carrying out our internship, we will also have about three weeks to discover this amazing country with its beautiful nature and culture. Possible activities: trekking through the Annapurna region, discovering the highlands while paragliding (/microlite), kayaking on the Phewa Lake, Bhutan, Kathmandu Valley and its seven UNESCO world heritages (i.a. Bakhtapur, the Buddhist stupas, Hindu temples, ...), ... and of course, getting to know the locals, who will teach us a lot more about life than we will ever be able to. 

We will be accompanied by other students from the Artevelde University College for the last 8, 6 and 4 weeks of our stay. Hanne, Elise, Stéphanie, Steven, ... I'm already looking forward to your arrival! 

If I won't be seeing you guys on the 1st of February (farewell party), you can always follow my stories and experiences by reading this blog. 

You can expect the following post after we've arrived at Kathmandu.  

Until then!