2 weeks to go

The main building nears completion

In January 2008 KISC moved to its current site in Dhobighat, its 5^th site in its, then, 21 year history. Now after a decade at the site, the longest KISC has remained anywhere it’s time to move again. For hopefully the last time (at least in a very long time!)

We now have just 2 weeks left at the school in Dhobighat. We arrived in Nepal just as KISC was moving onto this site, and we saw the first day of school and the official opening ceremony here. Now we will see the last day of school there and help oversee the move to the new location.

The school will finish on Thursday 8 February, and Friday 9 is “pack up day” – although work is starting before then – we hope to have the whole school packed by the end of the day. A small army of staff as well as parent and student volunteers will have a busy day. Then a fleet of trucks will move all the furniture, equipment, school books and everything else that we have up the hill to the new site over the next few days.

Lights on in the corridor

It will then be a busy week of unpacking, setting up classrooms, working out where everything goes (including students as there is a lot more space!) and getting ready to open for classes on the 21^st. Although I’m not overseeing the development project, I am working very closely with the person who is, especially now as we get closer to the move. I’ve been to see the school development several times in the last few weeks. It’s always exciting and scary. Exciting as we see the potential, the progress and things coming into place. Scary as I see the work that still needs doing.

Dan's office is coming on - with adjacent balcony!

It has been an amazing 10 months since the work started on the site, and we know that the next few weeks will be challenging, hard work and exciting. They have built one 3 story building from scratch (see top photo), as well as developing 2 existing building. We expect all the classrooms to be ready on time (although the last few will be down to the wire), as well as a basketball court (very important). We are excited that soon after opening we’ll have a new sports site, thanks to the success of the walkathon and we know that as soon as we move in thoughts will go to further developments and additions. But the next 2 weeks are going to be fun.

Walkathon

Last Friday KISC held a walkathon. It was a great community event with the whole school, students, staff and some parents walking to the new site. The students have been busy collecting sponsors since before Christmas to raise money for a covered sports field. This would provide them with a good quality astro covered pitch to play on all year round with shade from the sun and shelter from the heavy monsoon rains.

The aim was US$45,000. Many in the community didn’t think we could make it. After arriving at the new site it was announced that not only had they reached the target, but they had smashed it! They have collected pledges totaling over US$56,000! Now we just need to collect the money in!

Once at the new site we had music and balloons to welcome us, hot dogs, brownies and lemonade for lunch and tours of the new buildings. It is just 5 weeks until we open on the new site, so it was all very exciting as many of the students hadn’t seen it before now. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are on target. If you would like to sponsor Sam and Mim it’s not too late, just get in touch and let us know!

A New Year and a new home.

Our new flat

Moving Truck

This was our final Christmas in Nepal, and a rather busy one. We had a 3 week break from school, so we spent the first week resting after a busy term and slowly beginning to pack – as well as some end of term sickness unfortunately. We then took a few days to celebrate Christmas including lots of singing and dancing (not by us!), a roast dinner and a picnic with friends on Boxing Day.

Then on the 27^th we began packing with some urgency and moved on the 28^th. We have moved to a small flat 7km away from our old one on the outskirts of the city. While this may seem crazy just 6 months before leaving, it has meant we have already downsized a lot and so

will have less to clear out in the summer. It also means we are just 10mins walk from KISC’s new site. KISC will move in mid-February and so will make our last few months here much easier.

Moving was interesting, but actually went very smoothly. We hired a small truck plus driver and two moving men who had to do 3 runs between the houses to get everything shifted. Dan also did about 5 runs in 2 days in the schools vehicle which we borrowed.

Enjoying more space and spectacular views.

The third week of our holiday was then spent settling in. We had to begin by squeezing all our stuff into a much smaller flat plus all the niggling DIY issues of a new house. We’ve had an electrician in 3 or 4 times, plus a plumber. We’ve also had to figure out where to get things in a smaller town which isn’t used to foreigners. Took us nearly a week to discover there is a dairy nearby where we can get fresh milk. Today we got our two empty gas bottles replaced (essential for cooking and hot showers!) and so feel nearly there.

Monday we start the new school term and the new commute, but also celebrate 10 years in Nepal. We will have a small housewarming party tomorrow (Saturday) to mark the occasion.