Our stay in Future Village still seems like a dream, but a very vivid one. I always reminisce about the greeneries, morning fogs, thousands of stars at night, the kind villagers, and most dear to my heart, the students.

 

I guess a group of foreign students teaching in a local school for three weeks may not have been the most effective measure, especially keeping the extremely difficult language barrier between the two parties in mind. However, seeing the lively atmosphere at school and even livelier one at our home every afternoon was what marked our trip as probably one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives. When you are stuck in the middle of a remote village with no proper roads or facilities, 100 kilometers from the capital of the country, it wouldn’t be a surprise to know that most of the village-dwellers are so detached from the world. But showing the kids pictures of our families here in Hong Kong, the tall buildings and anything considered “fascinating”, you could tell that they wanted to know the real world out there. Playing simple games with them and teaching them the simplest activities like making embroidery bracelets and seeing how much joy they got out of the smallest things in life really made me take a step back and revaluate how I view life.

 

The children are not the only ones who still make me think about Future Village every night before I fall asleep. Every house we visited or even just passed by, the people of the house, would offer warm hospitality and invite us for tea and an ear of corn or some biscuits. Even during the workshops, although the language barrier was again a problem for the rest of team, if not more serious than with the students, the women still tried their best. One special thing for me was that I spoke both Nepali and English since I am a Nepalese as well. But I never heard anyone speak ill of any of my teammates no matter how frustrating the workshops got at times. Instead, it was more inspiring for me to meet people in my team who were so patient, kind and loving with strangers who neither look like them nor speak the same language. I guess we went to Future Village with the idea of educating textbook materials to the village, but they have educated us to be more appreciative, grateful for every little thing in life and to be inspired to help others.

 

Sumichhya Gurung

Bachelor of Journalism (Year 1)