TFN goes to places with bigwigs

US Ambassador Alaina B Teplitz, Singer Amrit Gurung from Nepthaya, media persons including Malvika Subba and around 70 other leaders have been visiting public schools across Lalitpur and Sindhupalchowk and Dhanusa this week. They are teaching students of Teach For Nepal (TFN) Fellows for one day, under the ‘One Day in a Classroom’ initiative.
Other visitors include celebrities like Malvika Subba and Filmmaker Deepak Rauniyar and author Nayan Raj Pandey, Media Personalities, CEOs, entrepreneurs, young professionals, social activists, and artists. Additionally, TFN Board Members and Alumni are also joining the visits that have been taking place from December 13 to December 17. The visits are happening at schools where TFN Fellows are currently serving as teachers and community change agents.
“Many of the students in rural villages have never seen life outside of their village,” says Nawang Sherpa, who served as a Fellow from 2014-16 in Simle, Lalitpur and currently works as Fundraising and Event Coordinator, Teach For Nepal. “Their life aspirations are limited to ongoing career trends within their communities such as going to Qatar to work or becoming a helper/driver on local bus or milk-trucks, he said, adding that meeting these leaders face-to-face will be inspirational to these children. “Our students will learn more about the career choices that are available to them and a higher sense of possibilities irrespective of where they are born. Hearing from these personalities will open their eyes and broaden their horizons towards possibilities.”
On Wednesday, US Ambassador Alaina B Teplitz, who joined the visit and delivered a class at Buddha Secondary School in Tikabhairab of Southern Lalitpur shared, “I was a teacher for a day – and interacted with bright, talented Nepali students at the annual Teach For Nepal’s ‘One Day in a Classroom’ event.”Likewise, Amrit Gurung, lead singer from Nepthaya, who also offered a class at Shree Ram Devi Secondary School and Jana Jagriti Secondary School in Sindhupalchowk expressed thathe had always had an immense respect for the teaching profession. “It is one of the most difficult professions.”Contemporary writer Nayan Raj Pandey, author of the popular books including Loo, who visited Chandeshwari Secondary School in Simle, Lalitpur taught journal writing to the children. He stressed the importance of writing daily if they want to become a good writer in his class. The visits have been inspirational for the students and have provided a unique learning opportunity that the children wouldn’t otherwise have.Seema Golchha, Director of Samsung Electronics and Vice President of Zonta Club of Kathmandu; Bhuvan Dahal, CEO at Sanima Bank; Dr Jagadish C. Pokharel, Former Vice Chair of National Planning Commission; Kiran Kumar Shrestha, CEO at Rastriya Banijya Bank; Aliana B Teplitz, US Ambassador to Nepal and other leaders offered classes to children in Southern Lalitpur on Wednesday.On Saturday more leaders travelled Dhanusa and to rural Sindhupalchowk to deliver classes on Sunday – Bhusan Tuladhar from UN-HABITAT, Shriju Pradhan, Deputy Director of Heritage and Tourism Department, KMC; Sudharshan Ghimire, Editor at Sikai Online, Maya Gurung of Everest Women 7 Summits Eco-Action’ team, Deepak Rauniyar, Director of the movie White Sun.”Education is more than what you read in textbooks,” Teach For Nepal CEO, Shisir Khanal added.