Trip to Khotang and YouMe School in Nepal

    Recently I visited Khotang, my birthplace, along with my friend Rupa Ratala and 4 Japanese volunteers - Sohei san, Sakura san, Yuriko san and Kaira san for 5 days. The main aim of our trip was the Opening Ceremony of YouMe Boarding School in which I and Rupa were the MC of the program. This school is the first project of NPO, YouMe Nepal where I have been volunteering since last year.
    The volunteers were visiting Khotang for the first time and they felt very happy, excited and honored at the same time, with the hospitality of the local people. They got to interact with the Nepalese people and also got an opportunity to learn and experience the Nepali culture. They enjoyed the cultural dance of Rai community which is called Chandi Dance. The volunteer’s main purpose to visit Khotang was to interact with the students of YouMe School and encourage them in various activities. So, they had brought gifts, sweets and playing games including calligraphy, kites and origami for the students who were eagerly waiting to welcome them. As the students were keenly interested to learn new things, they got highly inspired by the volunteers and sang a Japanese song and also performed cultural dance during the inauguration. They also actively worked together with us to make the program successful.
    It is absolutely true that Khotang district lacks most of the facilities including local transportation, quality education, proper health services and even water resources. But, despite all these, the volunteers enjoyed the overall trip and also visited the most famous Hindus temple- Haleshi Mahadevsthan and took unforgettable memories capturing them through their cameras.
This visit was a completely different from all the visits I had made so far, because this time I was there with a kind of responsibility on me. I had to take care of everything including the program and the volunteers’ over there. So, the trip was a new experience for me where I learned to become more responsible, more punctual and happier. And after the completion of the Opening Ceremony of YouMe School with the grand success, we came back to Kathmandu with the promise to make trip to Khotang and visit YouMe School again.

Dushan Rai

(YouMe Nepal, Trust)