Our volunteers do tremendous work in the field monitoring our students, speaking with parents and teachers, and getting updates on the progress of our program’s beneficiaries. The lack of Infrastructure in Nepal makes some of these visits more of an adventure than others. In December of 2014, Omprakash (NCEF’s President) and Shyam, and two local volunteers in Nepalgunj, Kainlai  and Shanti visited several schools where NCEF-supported students study to get a first-hand look at our progress thus far. You asked – so we tell. Here is the journey in Om’s words...Continuation of the March Newsletter

When we last left, Om, Shyam, Kainlai and Shanti had visited students NCEF supports at the schools where they study, and were trying to visit two more schools when they were halted by an impassable road.

Fortunately, Mr. Rana was familiar with this area from his previous work and suggested a side road. The alternate path was a bit concerning since it appeared to go directly into the rice field. “Eventually,” said Mr. Rana, it would meet up with the main road. Natuarlly, we had our concerns.  We went on this road for what seemed like forever, venturing through a considerably bumpier path than everything we had experienced that day. Mr. Rana was right - we did meet up with the “main” (dirt) road. After some more driving, for what felt like several hours, we arrived at the school about an hour later. We were glad to finally meet Dhanmaya, another NCEF sponsored student. We really enjoyed

sitting out in the yard on plastic chairs and talking with them. Hearing a student’s experience makes you realize the reason behind the organization as a whole. After speaking with Dhanmaya for almost an hour, we had to say goodbye. Our day was not yet done.  

Volunteer Shanti, NCEF-sponsored student Dhanamaya and volunteer Rana

We traced our way back to the main road, through the rice fields and avoiding the big puddle that delayed our trip originally. We went back toward Nepalgunj. Then we headed towards eastern Nepalgunj in massive traffic jams, one lane dirt roads, and finally arriving at Mangalprasad Higher Secondary School around 4pm. This leg of the trip was surprisingly short - about 30 minutes. Mr. Rana works in this school, and it is a unique school compared to our other sponsored groups. Many students who attend this school are visually impaired or blind altogether. Mr. Rana himself is also visually impaired. NCEF provides financial assistance to four students in this school: Pabitra, Kamala, Sunpuri, and Lil Bahadur. We spent about half an hour chatting with the students and finally got a chance to enjoy some tea and cookies with Mr. Rana at 4:30 pm.

  Volunteer Rana with student Sunpuri at her school

My experience in Nepalgunj helps me appreciate the challenges of fieldwork, the work of our Volunteers like Mr. Rana, and helps me remember the role of this invaluable organization. Trekking through the rice fields and the unpaved roads only make the opportunity to share this experience with our NCEF students that much more special. Our trip was surprisingly without any incidents -- the puddles on the road were not too large (except for one place), the traffic jams lasted only tens of minutes, and there were no political strikes.

Most field visits are done on public transportation to save costs so they would never be as "quick" as what we were able to accomplish on this day. What took us five hours could easily take a few days on public transportation. We are grateful that the taxis were available and efficient.  A special thanks to our volunteers in Nepal for making visits like these to our students, despite challenging conditions.

We hope our readers now have a better idea about what fieldwork entails. Feel free to send us questions if you want additional details about this trip or if you want to know more about our work.

The NCEF family in Nepalgunj (in far western Nepal) sends its greetings and thanks to all the readers, friends, and supporters.