Can't believe that my OCIP trip is over so soon. We spent so much time and effort preparing for the trip, all the dance practices and meetings just to get things done and finally it's all over. I would say that it was an enjoyable trip and I really learnt a lot from this experience.

Here are some highlights of the trip:

Star gazing 

Glad that the skies were clear on the first night and we were able to see the beautiful stars in the night sky. Though this is not my first time star gazing, it was still an amazing experience. Stars always remind me how small I am. Staring into the night sky is something that I will never forget. It was quite disappointing though that I didn't have a tripod with me. I was going to try out star trail photography but without a tripod and stable hands, most of the photos came out quite bad (actually, I haven't really looked through them properly yet hehe)

Sunrise

Woke up on the second morning just in time for SUNRISE!!!! Sunrise was a slow process (took around 30 min) but it sure was cool to watch the sunrise from the mountains. It is impossible to get such a view in Singapore and I feel really blessed to be given the opportunity to be able to see the sunrise. Every sunrise is a reminder of how lucky and blessed I am to be living and breathing. It was a magical experience watching the sunrise with my fellow team mates.

The journey to the school allowed me to have a better view of the living conditions of the people in the villages of Nepal. Looking at the children walking so far to school reminds me how lucky we are in Singapore that we have public transport and not need to walk to school everyday. Also, there were many children helping out in the fields as well. The fact that the children would go to such extents just for education made me realise how important education is and how we are so lucky to have good education. 

At the school, we were greeted by the children and the teachers. We also pitched our tents at the camp site just below the school compound. The school compound is really basic as compared to what we have in school. Here we are in Singapore complaining about the lack of air-con in classrooms when the kids in Nepal don't even have proper toilets and classrooms to study in. 

I was assigned to teach the Grade 3 and Grade 9 students on our first day of CIP. It was a very different experience as compared to my previous OCIP trip to Yunnan. Firstly, there was a language barrier. This is the main problem we had during the teaching, we couldn't understand what they were saying and they couldn't understand what we were trying to explain. Thus, we had to depend a lot on our translators. I would say that it was quite hard trying to teach the Grade 9s because only those sitting in the front were participating in the lesson and those in the back were doing their own work. This kind of reminded me of my own learning attitude in class. Always sitting in the back doing my own things, I guess I should stop doing that (hehe maybe...) On the other hand, we really enjoyed teaching the Grade 3 kids cause they were EXTREMELY ADORABLE !!!! It was much easier trying to teach the younger children because all we did was colouring and sing songs. This teaching experience allowed me to interact better with the children. The most memorable moment during the teaching session was when I took pictures for the children. All of them wanted a picture and it gave me a feeling that could not be described when I see the smiles on their faces when I showed them the pictures I took. I guess these are the little things in life that the children in Nepal enjoy that a lot of city kids do not appreciate. 

After the teaching, I was mainly involved in furnishing the classrooms that were built my the previous batch who came last year. Construction work isn't easy at all. From mixing the cement to "raging at the wall", everything took up a lot of energy but I was lucky enough to be with the team. We were singing and plastering the wall, enjoying every moment together. Occasional greetings and small talk with the children would brighten our day and give us the motivation to continue working hard to help provide them with more classrooms. 

I was also given the opportunity to interview some of the builders who were helping out in the construction of the classrooms. They were very glad to be able to work here helping out because it is a better paying job as compared to being a farmer, but they said that if given a choice and they do not need the money, they would rather be a farmer. There was one interview that left a very deep impression in me. One of the builders has a 5 year old daughter who is currently studying in a private boarding school. Public education in Nepal is free, however, the richer people try to send their children to private schools because the quality of education is much better. We also asked him if he would send his daughter overseas if he could and he actually said that he would. As we all know, private education is definitely more expensive as compared to public education and the fact that he would send his daughter overseas shows how much emphasis he places on education. The fact the he had never been to school and wants the best for his daughter shows how much parents actually care for their children and would do anything so that their children can get the best. This made me think about how our parents are working so hard just to provide us with all that we need and more. 

After 5 days at the school, it was finally the day for the closing ceremony. After all the hard work and practices, we showcased our dance to the students and teachers and presented our gifts to them. The students also put up a performance for us and we really enjoyed it. After everything had ended, everyone was rushing to grab as many pictures with the children as possible. I would say that the 5 days of CIP in the school really allowed us to bond well with the children and the people who were helping us out everyday. That night we had a lot of fun at the camp fire with the sherpas who were helping us all the while. We danced and literally partied all night.

The day when we were suppose to finish up our work and leave the school we woke up to a huge surprise. Our camp site was FLOODING.It started raining at around 4 in the morning and I thought that the rain would subside and breakfast would be pushed back later so I went back to sleep. But the next thing I know, I woke up to the voice of teachers screaming for us to evacuate. It was a very interesting experience because for the past few days, all we experienced was the hot hot sun in the day and chilly wind in the night. I guess everyone was panicking a lot as we grabbed out valuables and ran up to the classrooms on higher ground. Due to the wet weather, we couldn't continue with our CIP and we made plans to leave the areas ASAP fearing that we would be trapped there for another day. 

Trekking to the resort 

Due to the weather, the bus would not be able to reach our school and we decided to trek up to the resort (around 8km++) Along the way, we passed through a few villages. Looking at the locals' way of life and comparing to how we live our life made me think a lot. Their lives seemed more carefree and less strenuous, whereas we are constantly living a stressful life, always thinking how to strive for the best and always wanting more than what we already have. I wouldn't say that our way of life is wrong, striving for the best is good, but it has made us want more and more and we tend to overlook the little things in life. Us wanting more and more is also a cause to our unhappiness. We are always not contented with what we have and don't know how to appreciate what we have. Along the way, I had the chance to practice my people and landscape photography skills.

The view of the mountain range was very stunning. Looking out into the mountains made me feel really small. We always think that the world is revolving around us and what we have is what we are supposed to get when actually we are just so small and insignificant in this world. On the other hand, when everyone work towards the same goal, we can make a difference to the world we are living in. Halfway through the trek, we got on the bus because it started to rain again. I feel really blessed to be given the opportunity to trek and see how life is like in the villages and be able to take so many pictures. I think that it is really a blessing that once we got on the bus it started to rain quite heavily. 

Relaxing time

After 6 days of hard work, it's finally time for us to have our well deserved break. I have no idea how but somehow I was allocated to be in the guys block for our second last night in Nepal in the resort. And one of the most amusing things that happened was the fact that almost every room came to to our room to borrow shampoo. (is it a guy thing not to bring shampoo?) It was really fun especially the night. Having HTHT with Sharmila (my room/tent mate) and pedo gor. Never expected to hear so much about their lives and really didn't expect that we actually talked till 1am in the morning (minus the fact that Sharm actually knocked out at around 11)

Our last day was spent sight seeing and shopping in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The day went by in a blast and soon it was night time. Somehow, we just talked through the night and I would say that it was quite interesting. From the violent pillow fight to bitching about people, all the fun things that happened summed up our stay in Nepal.

I would say that this trip really allowed me to know myself better and really clear my mind from all the mess of city life. Before this trip, my head was cluttered with all the stress of school life and relationships but now, I think I return as a new person. I definitely will be more appreciative of what I have and really work hard to do my parents proud. Also, I will continue to improve my photography and editing skills so I can continue to capture this wonderful memories. I wouldn't mind returning to Nepal with the group any time. Hope to make more memories while I'm still young and my parents can afford it. 

I guess this is quite a boring post for most people because it kind of turned into my reflections. (I didn't even write so long for my actual reflections but still...) If you ask the people who went on the trip with me, I think they would say that I'm quite noisy and bubbly, but thank goodness no one saw my other side, this reflective side who can rant on and on about the morals in life and how we should really thank God for all we have. 

Now to end this off, I would like to thank a few people for making this trip possible.

My parents for being supportive and allowing me to go for the trip. They provided me with so much care and helped me along the way when we had problems with the t-shirts amongst other stuff.

The teachers who planned and executed the trip for taking care of us along the way and always ensuring that we are safe and having fun at the same time. 

My fellow team mates for creating such wonderful memories with me along the way. I will never forget all the fun we had and all that we learned along the way.

And finally, Sharmila, my dear tent/room mate who had to survive with me throughout this entire trip listening to my nonsense and enduring my craziness.

Well that's the end of a chapter in my life.

Time to sleep...

Signing off,

Sam