Day Three in Kathmandu

Steve's Blog, February 23rd,  9:03 am

Hindu children at school

Today we visited the East Pole English School, a project that we are participating in with the Bagmarti Rotary Club of Kathmandu. Today was the opening day and was devoted to the training of the teachers who will be working with students with disabilities, so it was a very special day. They allowed me to begin the meeting by lighting the candles and then graciously asked me to speak at the event. The school has 1,050 students with 29 students who are disabled. The school serves children from kindergarten through high school. We had a chance to meet all of the students. There was a question and answer session that allowed me to ask questions and they in turn could ask me questions. It was a lot of fun!  We were at the school for approximately three hours and toured the facility.  During the tour, they showed us the different areas, plus the building plans for the improvements that will include handicapped ramps, modification to the toilets, handrails and adjustments to the table height in the classrooms. This is a pilot project which will possibly include an additional seven schools in the future.  It was really nice being there and to hear their praise for our club's funding of the project. There is a lot more  that I could talk about,  but will save for a later date.

Went to SK's home for dinner this evening and met his family. Not sure what we ate, but it was a great time! The current president of the Bagmati Rotary Club joined us as

well and brought us back to the hotel.



Hindu Temple

We visited a Hindu Cemetery and Temple after the school visit. It was really strange with all of the monkeys running around and walking by the Holy Men. It was a very usual experience - one that I will share with you all when I return home!

Tomorrow we head to Dhulikhel, where we will be involved in some hands on projects with both deaf and blind children. I will hopefully send information about these projects, which will be dependent on Internet access.

I think that about sums up the day.  I  will see you all soon.

Steve Swank is member of the Rotary Club of Des Moines and is on a Rotary sponsored trip to the country of Nepal to view the projects that the club is supporting.