Harvey Scholar Travel- Kyle in Nepal

      As I walked out of the house, I sensed something different than the normal, quiet village life I had grown to expect. I walked towards the noise and noticed the hundreds, maybe thousands, of Nepali villagers crowding the streets. For two weeks, all had been silent. The village had been mourning the loss of an elder, a member of the family I was staying with. Now it was time for the feast, the “Buj”, as the Hindi of the Terai called it. Any moment, rice cakes and lentils on leaf plates would be served to celebrate the passing into the afterlife.  

     The celebration was just one of the remarkable cultural encounters I experienced during a summer spent in a rural Nepali village named Sisautiya. My objective in Nepal was to help a start‐up NGO named Eejot, created by the founder of Red Hat, Prabhat Jha, who grew up in the village and now lives in the United States. In country, it is managed by his brother, Prashant Jha, who lives in Kathmandu, and a local teacher Rakesh, who is also

Nepali.

     The literal translation of the Nepali word “Eejot” means light. In the developing world, light has many indications. Light brings hope. Light extends the amount of working hours people have to complete necessary tasks and to study. Light inspires. Eejot wants to bring hope, teach life skills, and foster leadership skills in the village of Sisautiya.

     For now, Eejot is pursuing this goal by opening up a computer literacy center. For many young people, basic computer skills can mean the difference between success and failure in high school and university. Unfortunately, the people with these skills usually leave rural Nepal.    Few remain to teach computer literacy to the next generation. It was my job to pass on as many of these skills to the younger generation as I could, and set up a program to do so once I returned home.

     My typical day started at about six in the morning, when I planned the day’s activities over a cup of chai tea before the 110 degree temperatures set in. In the morning, I would accompany the local teacher, a Nepali who worked at the Eejot center, to schools in the surrounding area where I usually taught math. The afternoons were filled up by computer classes, cricket and soccer matches, and maintenance work.   The evenings involved tutoring students in math and English.

     Before the trip, I assumed that the language barrier would be the most difficult obstacle. I was mistaken. Navigating the Hindu caste system and Nepali cultural expectations proved a far bigger challenge for me. I was surprised to learn, for exam‐ ple, that I could not interact with women in the village because their culture prohibits such socialization.  I came to admire Hindu culture, which stresses doing one’s own duty at all times. My task was complicated by this: computer literacy was not one of their duties. The adults were very busy with household work such as caring for their animals and farming. Learning and computing was not as important to them as it was to me. Although many students enjoyed the computer center, it was hard to get the local businessmen and adult leadership, who would benefit the most from these skills, to come to class.

     My experiences in Nepal revolutionized how I view service. I will leave my “me and them” mentality behind. I realized that I needed to spend more time getting to know the people in the community. I needed to understand their priorities.    I came to see, for example, that I could best help my students, who studied by candle‐light, by installing an operating electrical system for the center, including a generator, inverter, stabilizer, fan, and lighting system. Bringing this “Eejot” to the students will be one of my favorite memories of the trip.

     To me, this life‐changing trip highlighted the very real impact of experiential learning, a key component of the McBride Honors Program, which I am part of at Mines. Stepping outside the classroom to explore global issues transformed my worldview. As a result, it inspired confidence in my strivings to become a true global citizen, to lead from where I am, whether in the classroom, or the far reaches of the world.