September 2025
A friendly school in the green Himalayas
The dream, the plan of the CEPP team in the Haku villages and Gatlang!
Just like last year, we visited chairwoman Betty's project in February and worked with the local team, teachers, and parents from the various schools.
In Pangling, we immediately feel at home at the local CEPP office, despite the cold. We enjoy preparing lessons with the anticipation of a delicious meal prepared by Dev Chepang, the educational coordinator.
Together with Rishi Adhikari, CEPP's ecological coordinator, we admire the papayas, kiwis, and bananas, new crops for this region—and we visit the green volunteers. We walk to Haku Besi and, together with the headmaster, look forward to the arrival of the new beds for the hostel. In Thulo Haku, we are impressed by the well-equipped Health Class and especially by the enthusiasm of the school nurse.
The jeep journey to Thulo Haku is perilous, and further on, to Grey, we have to walk—the road has simply washed away in the monsoon. CEPP wants to plant trees on both sides of the road with the students in an effort to prevent erosion. We offer three training sessions in the Haku villages: a basic training session in Thulo Haku for all teachers, and an advanced training session in Grey for all teachers.
Meanwhile, we're getting sick from the cold, the snow, the rain, the altitude, the bright sun during the daytime, and fatigue. The third collaboration in Gatlang, a beautiful Tamang village and new to CEPP's work, becomes a miniature version of the basic training, but a real success! First, we act out English songs with the children during the morning ritual, then we sing homemade Nepalese songs in class about domestic animals, wild animals, and farm animals (curriculum topics), play memory with the photos from the Bikas calendar, introduce concepts of place with a small homemade mouse that crawls in, under, on… a box, tell stories… with all the children from nursery school to the 5th grade and all the school staff! The children's wonder and enthusiasm are contagious. The teachers smile broadly. Gatlang has stolen our hearts, and has also stolen Rishi's heart: he wants to plant almond trees, apricots, and fodder crops between the terraces so the crops won't be washed away in the monsoon. The northern slopes where no food is grown need to be reforested because there are already traces of landslides… All this together with the residents, the children, and the school!
Will you dream and plan(t) with us?
Paul Beké and Carine Verleye