SMD School is open again!
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the girls. How are they doing? How have they been coping through the pandemic? What is life like for them in the mountains?
Well, I’m happy to say they Karma and Pemba are doing very well. Since Covid forced all schools in the Kathmandu valley to close their doors last year (including SMD), the girls had to return to their village in the mountains. Fortunately SMD was able to run remote learning classes over the internet. While there is no internet in Nar village (where Karma and Pemba are from), we were able to arrange with their parents for them to stay in a teahouse in a lower down settlement where they’ve been taking classes (and where I could tutor them too :)). Prior to that, they had re-immersed themselves into their village life and had some incredibly rich experiences, expanding their village knowledge and village wisdom.
Pemba I think summarized it best in this little school assignment, titled “What I learned during lockdown”, which she is happy to share. It touched my heart.
What I learned during lockdown
During lockdown I learned how much our parents love us, and how it is. I also learned to make meals and take care of our siblings. I learned to take care of our animals. And how life in the Himalayas is. They work really hard for food and shelter. Even though we say we are from the Himalayas, we didn’t know how hard it is to survive in the Himalayas because we were in SMD School in very young years. It’s because our parents don’t want us to have a life like them.
Love your parents.
In the meantime, I just received the good news that schools in the Kathmandu valley are allowed to operate again, and SMD School has opened its doors. They’ve been phasing students in by grade, and with the success of bringing in the grade 10’s, have now brought the grade 8’s and 9’s in as well.
I hope this is also a step for me being able to visit Nepal and SMD School, and the girls again before too long.
SMD School kids at their first assembly for the 2020/2021 school year (courtesy of SMD School)