Well, it's getting very real now. I go to Kathmandu in mid September working as a volunteer in a school for a month. I've got my visa, my flight's booked & I've had my jabs.
I'm in the process of collecting materials to teach English as a second language, but don't really know whether that is what I'll be doing. The school takes both primary & secondary children, & I don't know the ages I'll be teaching either. They don't have electricity in the school so there won't be any photocopiers or computers. In fact, disconcertingly, I really don't have much of an idea about anything.
But perhaps that's the point. Perhaps there are times when you have to relinquish control & just do the best you can with what you've got. It's bound to be a journey of discovery on many levels. I'm going to learn about a completely different culture & people. (I gather Nepal is very different to India where I have already travelled). I'm going to see first hand how very privileged the children in Western schools are in comparison - That may well be very hard to come to terms with. I know, from previous travels, I'm going to learn a lot about myself too.
I'm going to be staying in a nice hotel so I am going to be cushioned from the vagaries of basic travel in third world countries that I have experienced before. But life in Asia is an assault on all your senses. You are face to face with great wealth & great poverty which you can't & shouldn't ignore. It is very hard to make sense of & respond to appropriately.
I can't help feeling that doing this at the age of 67 could be a mistake. I should have done it when I wanted to in my 20s. But although the body might be past it's sell by date, the mind does still work. Hopefully I have got some useful skills & experience. I'd like to be able to make a small difference to the lives of people who haven't had the good luck to be born into my privileged life.
I will try to blog out there - so watch this space.
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