LONDON/ It were all about Nepal: Nepali culture, language, cuisine and geography. The Royal Grammar School Guildford enjoyed its first ever Nepal Day on Wednesday 6 July to celebrate the first year of their school partnership with BhuPu Sainik Secondary School and Janabikas Government Seondary School in Besisahar, Nepal.

The whole school, both students and staff, took part in many lessons with Nepali themes including the exploration of the Himalayan nation’s geography and history. Art lessons incorporated an exploration of the meaning and painting Mandalas; Geography lessons focused on the tourism trade; Chris Eldridge, a History teacher, did a passionate talk on the history of Gurkhas; Maths students were entertained by the strategic Nepali game of Bagh Chaal; the boys even enjoyed some delicious Nepali dishes at lunch time. The boys enthusiastically picked up basic Nepali greetings and first-timer’s dialogues as Abinash Budhathoki, a new member of the IT Department of the School, taught the boys the Nepali language. The eager students finished school at the end of the day in high spirits, full of knowledge and excitement of the tiny yet beautiful country, its language and culture. Much enjoyment was had by all, with many looking forward to joining the Nepal Society next year.

The School began its international partnership with the two schools in Besisahar of Lamjung province, Nepal earlier this year. The Nepal Day is an annual day where the School raises money and awareness for the partnership and Nepalese culture. The day is also marked in the Nepal schools where the two schools compete against each other in various sporting events. The partnership aims to enrich the schools, both in the UK and the other two schools in Lamjung, Nepal, to bring a shared understanding of the cultures and to build a sustainable relationship between the school communities in the two countries.

The connection with the two schools was formed through a connection with the late ex-RGS student Alex Ewart who had worked in Besisahar during his gap year in 2004 before tragically losing his life in a white-water rating accident. The Alex Ewart Fund has since raised more than £150,000 for the two schools helping improve the infrastructure of the schools and changing the lives of many children there.

Over the past year the details of the partnership have been drawn together. Mr Richard Sears, former RGS teacher, taught at these schools in Nepal between September and December 2010 helping to initiate the partnership and build a relationship with the schools. This followed his initial trip in 2009 with Mr Phill Griffiths, ICT Network Manager, and Dr Ian and Dr Wendy Ewart to visit the schools. During the autumn half-term 2010, Mr Nick Gough, Head of the Partnership, and Mrs Maggie Goodman, travelled to view the schools and explored how best to develop cross-cultural links and understanding between the schools. They experienced a very warm welcome from both schools and came back armed with ideas of how the partnership could move forward.

BhuPu Sainik Secondary School was established in December 1985 by Captain Ram Bahadur Gurung, a retired Ghurkha in the British Army. He wanted to provide a school in the town of Besisahar and started with a couple of bamboo shacks at the back of his house where students would be taught, ate and lived. Now, 25 years on, the school has around 1,200 students and 60 staff ranging all the way from nursery to the sixth form (plus 2s). The school hums with energy and all lessons are taught in English medium.

Janabikas Government Seondary School is a smaller school, with around 480 students and 20 staff, situated up on a hill overlooking the town of Besisahar. It is day school and, because it is a Government School, currently all lessons are taught in Nepali. ‘Chandi’ caters for grades 1 to 10, though students must change schools if they want to continue through to sixth form study (or plus 2s as it is known in Nepal). This is the school where Alex Ewart taught at with his time in Besisahar.

The link between the schools is mutually beneficial and it is hoped that exciting new initiatives will continue to allow the partnership to flourish in the future.

More about Nepal partnership between these schools can be found here at http://www.rgs-guildford.co.uk/page_viewer.asp?page=Nepal+Partnership&pid=722
– Abinash
Please click here to view the album