From left to right, Bhumika, NCEF President Steven Lustig, Sagar and NCEF Secretary Sagar Marahatta at Bhumika's and Sagar's school

In September, after visiting our students and volunteers in Chitwan, I returned to Kathmandu, excited to meet those in our Patan and Kathmandu areas. My first opportunity was to take the students to a local amusement park. Although the entrance fee (about US$0.50) and prices for rides (about US$1) were inexpensive by US standards, this is a treat that is not affordable for these students' families. It looks quite different than amusement parks in the US - it was a lot smaller, the rides were a lot more basic, and construction debris and mud was all over the place. Still, the students had a lot of fun and it was great to see them enjoy the experience. They particularly liked the pirate ship ride and the bumper car ride. I learned about the lack of lines in Nepal - little Shakti kept missing out on getting a bumper car as older kids (not connected with NCEF) kept running faster and securing the cars, until the volunteers and I took the action of waiting on different sides of the ride and getting a car for him. He was really happy once he got to drive it around. After the morning at the park, we went to a small restaurant so the students could eat some traditional Nepalese momos (dumplings) for lunch. Thanks to Hari Tripathi for suggesting this trip and for helping organize this along with Kathmandu area coordinator Sarita Gopali and Patan area coordinator Name Raj Ghale. NCEF Secretary Sagar Marahatta also participated in this event.

Later in the week, Sagar, Hari and I joined the Kathmandu and Patan area coordinators and volunteers to visit some of the students at school and home. First, we visited Bhumika and Sagar (a student NCEF sponsors, not to be confused with our Secretary!) at their school. As in Chitwan, we talked with the headmaster, teachers and students, then observed a class. We learned that Bhumika is very busy at home with chores and does not like math class. Sagar said he likes to play soccer and study science. We also heard that he is ranked 1st in his class, which we were very happy to hear.

Our next stop was Kopila's house as she was home ill that day. Kopila, her mother and her brother live in one room together, located in part of a courtyard surrounding a small shrine. That one room serves as kitchen, living room and bedroom. When asked where she studies, she pointed all around the room, with no particular place set aside. In front of the home is a small, hand-pump well that all of the people living in that courtyard use to obtain water. Kopila's mom sells tea at night in front of a hospital, and Kopila enjoys playing basketball, dancing, singing and jump rope. Afterwards, we visited Pramila at her school. We were impressed that the headmaster of the school seemed very caring and organized. Pramila likes math class and also listening to songs.

After a busy morning and early afternoon, the volunteers gathered for a long working lunch, where we discussed how the areas were operating, challenges and opportunities for improvement. Thanks to the volunteers, including Yubaraj Ghimire and Sudeep Shrestha, for their help with these visits and suggestions.

[Please note that none of your donations to NCEF were used for this trip, as we take seriously our commitment to use the huge majority of donations to directly support students]

Students, volunteers and NCEF officers at amusement park near Kathmandu

Patan students Dinesh and Shakti enjoy a day at the amusement park

Volunteer Sudeep Shrestha, volunteer Yubaraj Ghimire, Patan area coordinator Name Raj Ghale, student Kopila Karki and volunteer Hari Tripathi in front of Kopila's house

Dinesh in Patan enjoyed spending the Dashain festival with his family

Sabina in Patan was happy when her Nepali class teacher praised her handwriting