PAHAD News 11

Bhaba Thami, secretary of PAHAD, was appointed the new POCT Coordinator for Nepal at the end of August 2005 after his predecessor, Bhola Shrestha, had to leave for a course in The Netherlands. His job requires him to make frequent visits to the schools where the POCT-sponsored children are studying, to monitor the progress of these students. In this connection, he and Hikmat recently visited the Sitaram Higher Secondary School in Doti. More in the following article:

A memorable visit to Doti

By Hikmat Khadka

Bhaba Thami and I visited Doti in Far West Nepal from 11 to 13 December 2005. The main purpose of our visit was to see the POCT sponsored students, who study at the Sitaram Higher Secondary School, in a village called Uchchakot of Doti.

On the morning of 11th December, a gentleman was waiting for us in Banedugrisen, a point on the Doti highway, where one has to get off, in order to start the uphill climb to Uchchakot. Mr. Ojha, the father of a former POCT student from Sitaram, very kindly escorted us to the school. We arrived there after an hour and a half of walking.

Mr. Lal Bahadur Kathayat (Lal Sir, who is a life member of PAHAD), the headmaster of the school, and the only person we knew in Doti before the trip, was very pleased to see us. We sat in his office, exchanged greetings, and got talking casually. When it was soon tea-break, we were joined by his staff. We spoke briefly of Pestalozzi, and informed them about our plans during the visit.

Then Lal Sir took us to the boys’ hostel, about a kilometre away from the school premises. This would be our home during our stay. This was also where Lal Sir and his wife (also a teacher at the same school) and other residential staff lived. It was a two-storey concrete building, painted mostly in white. The rooms were large and spacious. There was a separate toilet block outside the hostel. Electric lighting was introduced here only a few years ago. Water was in short supply, and had to be stored in a tank for drinking and other use. Given its remote location, the hostel seemed to provide good facilities.

We left our bags at the hostel, and went to the ‘mess’ to have lunch. This was in a separate building, just a little downhill from the hostel. It was divided into two parts – cooking area and dining space, but lacked the basic ‘infrastructure’ like benches and tables. So, students would either stand and eat, or sit in a squatting position!

We were happy to have for lunch fresh local vegetables, grown by students and staff themselves. Every day, they get to eat these home-grown vegetables, although the rice and the lentils have to be purchased from elsewhere. Vegetable farming seems to be the only vocational activity for students at present, although knitting and sewing training for girls used to be provided before.

Just before dinner time in the evening, all the hostel students (including some that were non-POCT) and the residential staff gathered in a big room of the next building that was the self-catering hostel for girls (part-funded by POCT). In spite of its recent successful completion, this hostel has not found candidates to be fully functional, and is, at the moment, being used for extra classes, outside school hours.

As the POCT students are residential, it was possible for us to see them all in one place. 26 were present that evening; one had gone home because of illness, and 5, we were told, had left the school some months ago, to join People’s War.

The evening began with the students introducing themselves to us. Then they welcomed us by garlanding our necks with fresh marigold flowers, and by smearing our foreheads with vermillion – an honour we did not truly deserve!

We ate that night with Lal Sir. Two other staff, the librarian and the accountant, sacrificed their bedroom for us, making sure there were sufficient quilts and blankets to keep us warm enough. We were moved by their kind hospitality. The hostel boys gathered in our room before bedtime, and we enjoyed talking informally, which also gave us a chance to get to know each other better.

We spent the entire day on the 12th with the POCT students. Bhaba interviewed them individually, while I helped to take photographs and engaged the ones he was not interviewing. I told them about Pestalozzi – the man and his philosophy of education – and about some establishments named after him, including Pestalozzi Overseas and the Village in the UK. I also gave them a short English lesson, and tried to listen to them as much as possible, although it was hard work to make them speak out loud. The boys seemed relatively more extrovert than the girls, who were far too shy and quiet to say anything.

We had lunch with the students, and went to take a look at the girls’ hostel in the same neighbourhood, which, like the boys’ hostel, seemed to provide generally good facilities. Some of the students, both boys and girls, came from suppressed communities, or so called lower castes, referred to as Dalits, and treated by society as untouchables. However, we saw no discrimination there. Dalits and non-Dalits were treated alike; they shared bedrooms, ate together, and lived in harmony. It was heartening to see this positive development at Sitaram, which itself is part of a superstitious and conservative society, where one is discriminated against, on the basis of caste and gender.

POCT’s investment in the education of these needy students in Doti is, no doubt, making a big difference in their lives. Everyone deserves a fair chance, and, I feel, these children are being given a good one at that. Without an opportunity like this from POCT, it is hard to predict where their lives would be today. Most of their families are so poor that they cannot afford an education for their child. And without an education, who knows if the futures of these children would not be insecure and uncertain, bleak and black? Former POCT students from Doti have mostly done well, and are today either pursuing further studies or working. Current POCT students, too, look very promising, and would do well with continued support.

On the 13th, our final day, the students organised a farewell programme in our honour, whereby they decorated us, once again, with flower garlands and vermillion. They also sang and danced in our honour, and delivered speeches to express gratitude towards POCT, for its positive impact on their lives. Without POCT’s contribution, they said, they would not be where they are today.

One student said to us, “Every child feels more comfortable with their Mother, and although you are males, you are like Mother to us. Our Father (POCT) is too far away right now, but today we talk to him through you. Please carry our grateful thanks to his ears!”

We explained to them that we did not deserve all the honour they were bestowing on us, that we had come only as POCT’s messengers, and that the POCT Trustees who work so hard to raise funds to support the education of these children would have been very proud of them, had they been there physically that day.

We left a little after midday. The students became rather emotional about our departure, proving how attached they had become to us in just three days. We encouraged them to smile, as with every departure, they say, there is hope of another reunion. And we left with a vow to visit them again. Five boys accompanied us up to Gopghat, another point on the highway, from where we would take the bus to our next destination.

I recollect with great fondness the beautiful moments spent with the students (and the staff) in Doti. Their simplicity overwhelms me, as does their innocence. It was a privilege to be able to touch their pure hearts through POCT. Bhaba and I returned home to Kathmandu as two very happy men, having gained many new and special friends.