On July 13th a team of eleven American teachers boarded a plane in Chicago bound for Kathmandu. Their mission: to present a training conference for 130 Nepali teachers from twelve schools where ServLife sponsored children are being educated.
The team was hand picked for their special talents and passion to share the joys of teaching. They represented six states with experience ranging from 15 to 37 years in the classroom. Trainers and translators from Nepal joined them in Kathmandu where they all piled into a tiny plane and headed to far west Nepal. Over three days they presented twenty-four different workshop sessions for Nepali pre-school, elementary and secondary teachers and administrators. However, the American team insisted that they were receiving just as much inspiration as they gave through their interaction with their Nepali peers.
“The [Nepali] teachers reinforced the lesson that it is not necessary to have a lot of technology and other resources to be a good teacher,” explained Craig Hofmann, “but rather the commitment to building positive relationships with your students and a positive atmosphere in the classroom are essential.”
“The teachers in Nepal taught me that teaching and learning are not determined by circumstance but instead by the love a teacher has for the students and the commitment to education by both parties,” Chris Evans shared.
Through the journey across Nepal and the challenge of teaching together, a group of relative strangers became a family. “We had so many memorable meals that truly felt like family gatherings,” ServLife’s Tim Kurth says, “And just like family we can’t wait to get together again next year. If you’re a teacher we hope you’ll join us in 2017.”
If you’re interested in the 2017 Teacher Training Conference in Nepal you can find more information and apply for the trip at http://servlife.org/teacher-training-trip/.