Helping them reach the stars; An Engineer's experience teaching in the Himalayas.

A story about how I accidentally came across the beautiful GEMS school in the Himalayas, and the experiences I had as a teacher in the school.

I got a nice fine weekend now to write this article. Life otherwise got busy. And I can safely say I haven’t been this happy in a long time, life is good here!

As everyone I know is enjoying their remote work, traveling the world, enjoying their cafes and nice scenic locations, I enjoyed many of those too, but it was not long before I started questioning myself: “What am I doing anyways? Is this all there’s to life?”

November 2022, I was nearing the end of one of my long trips and came to Delhi, the capital of the country. Wandered around the mesmerizing streets. I and another Indian were happily guiding two of our European friends through the amazing varieties of food, cultures, and crazy streets. I was almost ready to pack for home and suddenly got a text from a friend.

“I am at Dehradun, come, it’s beautiful here!”

I wasn’t so sure, I resisted at first, but decided to do one last trip anyway. And I think it is one of the best decisions I have made in my life so far.

My friend set the course to explore Dehradun. Amidst them was a little village called Sainji. The road was difficult with lots of hairpin bends, and the weather was so chilly that we had to sometimes stop whenever we saw a bonfire and get our hands warm.

Here’s a glimpse of the mountains we saw to our right when we were on the way to Sainji:

Upon reaching Sainji, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. To all four sides, it was surrounded by mountains. The chilly weather is a bit soothed by the warm sun, and as always, the wind topped the good feelings.

I saw a woman watering the plants in her garden, and it was quite obvious she is not from our country. She had a beautiful house and a nice front yard, and she waved at us when she saw us and helped with guidance on the way forward. At this point, I was a bit tired, so I decided to hit the bakery nearby, and have a nice lunch before proceeding. Upon reaching the bakery, I realised that the bakery is also owned by the same woman. Her name was written on a paper on the wall: Lori McFadyen.

My curious monkey brain would definitely google up everything, and here it was no different. I wanted to know her story, and what made her settle in India. Of course, the beauty of these mountains could be one best reason in iteslf, but I wanted to know more.

Lori is the principal of the Garhwal English Medium school nearby. The Garhwal English Medium School is a not for profit English medium school based in Himalayan rural India. The children at the school mostly come from poor families and in most cases their parents have not completed education themselves. The school aims and succeeds in equipping the children with the right knowledge, skills and confidence.

I requested if I could be a volunteer at the school. Teaching is something I have always loved. My poor knowledge in Hindi was not a barrier, as Lori said everyone at the school speak English really well. And so, by February 2023, I set to start my mission. I became the teacher I always wanted to be!

I like the way they teach at the school. Very creative and imaginative, with lots of room for singing songs, experimenting the learnings, and occasional fun and laughter. Also, sometimes the classes are held outside the building, where we lay a mat, and bask in the warm sunlight. There’s also a reading period every day where you see the kids sitting outside and chilling, reading their favorite choices of books.

My first day started with joining with the kids at the prayer assembly:

Oh my! The kids have a wonderful tune, it still keeps ringing in my head every day.

As an engineer there’s a lot one can do beside teaching maths and science. In the rural areas, the people are not tech savvy, even fixing the wifi and helping with basic computer stuff can go a long way in helping them. I was excited to put my technical skills to use here. I helped install an automated bell for the school, wrote up specifications for a new computer lab, fixed numerous technology issues in and around the school and talked to kids about the technology that we get to use out in the larger world. Lots of eyes and ears were completely focused on my words, their curiosity was limitless.

I have been teaching classes 4-8, mostly science related subjects and mathematics. Some are really naughty to a point you will have no choice but to laugh along with them. Some are bright, some are too curious, asking way too many questions. Few series of questions I encountered are given below:

• “What is your favorite food? What is your favorite subject? What is your favorite VEGETABLE? 😧”

• “What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you that person now?”

• “Who is your best friend and why are you friends with them?”

• “What is the difference between an Engineer and a Scientist?”

I try to answer carefully. Of course, cannot discourage anyone from asking a question.

To make up my poor knowledge in Hindi, I decided to be a student in certain periods. I sat with class 4 students, and I should tell you, these students are excellent teachers themselves! I have been making many mistakes and they have been nothing but very encouraging and supportive for me, and never teased me once. Here’s a picture of all them wonderful kid teachers:

Here’s a video of class 4 students and me describing the features of a smart watch.

And here’s a video of little Manvendar teaching his friend Alishen some mathematics.

And here’s a video from a drama period where they enacted the story of 3 little pigs.

I shall say, what surprises me the most here is, the kids here has no shame in taking initiative. All I have to say are the words “experiment!” or “who wants to solve on the board?” or “I need a volunteer” and before I finish my words, I will have several of them already leaving their seats. Most of my maths or science periods turn into drama enactments for this same reason. The kids are actually happy to come to the school on any given day, even the saturdays!

On Feb 14, I recieved some gifts for valentine’s day from students all over the school. How nice!

One day the kids dragged me to their schoolbus and asked me to join them. They proposed that I shall roam around the city and come back by the same bus. Before I could resist, all little hands were on me and I had to hop in with them. Considering the last time I was in a school bus was over a decade ago, this was an offer I could not refuse. As the bus started moving, we started singing along with the songs on bus. Here’s a video.

There are other days where I would put aside teaching and play with them in their games period, or listen to them sing in their music classes. This is where things get really fun!

Here’s a video of class 5 and class 7 singing chants in Sanskrit. Sanksrit is one of the oldest languages in India.

March is the month for final exams for the kids. I have been taking tuitions for some of them, and also another girl from 12th standard who studies by open schooling. She tries really hard by herself to pass this one. I am hoping she gets to deliver her best at the exams.

I’ve developed a sense of belongingness to Sainji village by now. Lori’s husband, Kunwar ji, is a native of the village and has been the village head for 20 years. Together they have brought a lot of change to this area. As a result, they are well respected around here. I also got the opportunity to attend a lot of ceremonies like weddings around the village, which is an absolute sight to watch.

I have many more memories, little to big ones, all of which are outside the scope of the blog. But I can say, I am overwhelmed sometimes about how little we need to make ourselves and a lot others happy and get better in life.

Most of the details about the school can be learned from the website. The school runs mostly by donations, and takes very little from the students each month. It’s looking to get much more renovations done, and we are trying to get more donations to support this amazing cause. Click here to donate, and help us make their life better with your kind support!

You can read about Part 2 here: Click here

P.S : Special Pic courtesies to Sachin Sreedas who clicked some of these wonderful pictures!