The year passed

It is now just over two weeks until we are getting on that plane. We are all getting excited as well as a little apprehensive of the things we have to get done between now and then (packing). But today we saw these videos on Facebook. A great reminder of what we are going back to. If you have a spare few minutes and want to get an idea of what a great school it is, then enjoy, even if it's just a couple of minutes worth.

The first one is the Secondary school, which includes video of the new site, EQUIP and all the staff as this is shown at the end of year Graduation ceremony.

The second video is for the Primary school end of year assembly and includes a picture of Year K (Reception), the group of students Sam will be joining in August.

Hopefully you can see now why we are so excited to go back...

Getting ready to go back

It is now less than 5 weeks until we return to Nepal. This week we’ve really started going through all our stuff and started the big sort for moving back, including weighing most of it to find out whether we are going to fit and what we need to get rid of.

The whole school

But our thoughts are predominately taken up with what we are going back to. As we’ve mentioned in our last two blogs, we are really looking forward to going back to a place that feels like home and somewhere we’ve missed this past 11 months.

We will be returning to a different situation to the one we left and a situation we weren’t expecting. As we mentioned previously, the CEO of KISC, who has been there 13 years is stepping down at the end of term (which is next week). Dan had been expecting to be working under her as the secondary principal next year. However, the board have asked Dan to fill the role of School Director in an interim capacity from when we go back.

The CEO role is being split into 3 roles, there will be a director of EQUIP (the teacher training branch), a Business Director (who will be responsible for all the non-academic side of things) and the School Director who will have overall responsibility for the Primary and Secondary schools – although there will be a separate Principal of both these.

Because this wasn’t expected, all 3 positions have been temporarily appointed with Interim Directors, with the hope to make permanent appointments in due course. This was to ensure there was a leadership structure in place immediately. Currently there is a Primary Principal for the start of term in August, but no Secondary Principal
.

This has been a difficult time for the school and the step up to Director is a big challenge for Dan. While he’s been on the leadership team for several years now, it’s a big change and a significant responsibility to be taking on. He has really valued the time on the course and is sure there will be plenty of opportunities to put into practice some of the ideas he has read and explored this year. And he’s looking forward to it.

"Home"

As we mentioned in our last blog we have booked our tickets for returning to Nepal. We are looking forward to getting back and catching up with friends there and getting back to KISC. Sam will be going into year 1 at KISC and is super excited to be starting there.

We have had a great year here, we have enjoyed being in England with its yummy cheeses and green space. The children have loved getting to know their grandparents better and we have all had a great time being able to see friends and family over the year.

It has been great, but also a bit weird as we know this is temporary and that life continues in Nepal and that for now that is where our life is. So as we plan to return I find myself telling people we are going home, but then correcting myself. The truth is I am not really sure where home is anymore! I’m not sure I (Becky) ever have, having never lived anywhere longer than 4 years when growing up.

So the conclusion I have come up with is that the old saying “home is where the heart is” is probably true and to be honest I think I have left little bits of my heart all over the place. So for now we are going “home” to Nepal in July, but leaving our “home” here in the UK in order to go and continue our work out there.

Departures

We have booked our flights back to Nepal! We shall be returning slightly earlier than originally planned in mid-July and we are looking forward to it. We shall be returning to the same flat which we have been able to keep on and looking forward to settling back in ahead of the new school year, which starts in early August.

We are starting to sort out our plans for our return and arrange final visits to see friends and family. If we haven’t seen you and you would still like to see us do get in touch as we are filling dates quickly.

One of the reasons for heading back slightly sooner than planned relates to changes that have happened at KISC this year. There has been some changes in the leadership and the governing board are currently working out how to redesign the leadership structure to take the school forward. Dan will have a significant role in this leadership structure, the details of which are currently being worked out and we’ll give you more details before we head back.

If you pray, please do pray for the school, particularly the governing board as they plan and those responsible for taking the school forward next year.

Of course the main focus for this year out has been Dan’s study for his Master’s degree. This has gone well and he is aiming to have the majority of the work done before getting on the plane. There will be some finishing off work to do before the final deadline of his dissertation in September and KISC have agreed to allow Dan the time to work on this as required.

Now we are in the process of gearing up for our return, we will be aiming to return to more regular blog updates and will keep you updated on our preparations and return.

  

Land Grab

The New Basketball court

Last May we blogged about KISC's excitement at being able to finally rent land for play space and we included details in our prayer letter last Autumn when they opened the site. It included a Basketball court and a Futsal (small football) pitch which only opened earlier this month.

However, at the end of last month there was significant disappointment as the Landlord gave KISC notice to vacate the site at the end of this academic year. This obviously came as a staggering blow to the community, particularly the students who were just beginning to enjoy the extra space and especially those staff who had played a big role in bringing about the site.

If you saw an update on Facebook the school was encouraging everyone to pray for the future of the site. There was uncertainty about the landlords plans - he was hoping to build a hotel - that did give hope, but we wondered if our hope based more on what we'd like to happen than on reality.

The opening of the Futsal pitch

Well yesterday we heard the good news that the landlord has agreed to extend the notice period until December 2014. Of course this is only a small extension, but it is a massive answer to prayer. There are still question marks surrounding the proposed use of the site and we will continue to pray that the plans will be shelved and that KISC will be able to remain on the site for several more years.

But this whole process reminds us of the need for security. Our ultimate security comes from God and we trust in Him to always provide for the school, as He always has done. But as a school we are also hoping that we will be able to purchase a permanent site for the school in the not too distant future and we are asking God to provide. Either for the opportunity to purchase our existing sites or for a new site to become available and for the finances to do so.

Emergency

2014 has seen a relatively eventful start for our family with two events that could be described as emergencies overshadowing the first two weeks of the year.

In fact it all started a few hours before the New Year began when Dan ventured into the garden to get rid of rubbish and kind of got in a fight with a tree, a tree he didn’t see as it was pitch black. The tree won and inflicted one scratched pupil. Unable to see out of the eye he didn’t even make it to midnight before he gave up and went to bed. New Year’s Day involved a visit to A&E instead of the planned trip to the football.

Thankfully the eye was fully healed by the weekend – eyes do fix themselves very quickly, although it did make work on assignments due for college quite difficult for that week. He was awarded extensions to enable him to complete them successfully. Then just as he was back to full vision the next excitement began.

The second Wednesday morning of the new year a routine gas inspection revealed that there was a gas leak. It was a minor leak, hence we hadn’t noticed it before, but obviously a gas leak was not something to mess around with. The gas was promptly shut off and the process of getting it fixed began. In the meantime we had no heating or hot water and no hobs upon which to cook. Cue decamping to the in-laws. Becky’s parents very graciously opened their house to the four of us, and two friends we had staying that evening. Unfortunately it wasn’t fixed by the weekend and so we were with the grandparents for a longer than expected stay, finally returning on Tuesday after the house had warmed back up again after 65days without heating.

Now we haven’t written all this to elicit pity. These two experiences have given us the chance to reflect on the differences between our life here and our life and the lives of others in Nepal. Firstly, the hospital. Despite being New Year’s day and far from being the most urgent case in the waiting room we were in and out in just over 2 ½ hours without having to spend a penny or fill in a form. In Nepal we would have had to queue up for and then pay for any medicines as well as the services of the doctors before being discharged. The queue might well be a lot longer for the average Nepali, and while the costs might not sound a lot, probably less than £10 for a Nepali receiving the treatment I got this would be a lot for most Nepali’s. Enough at least for them to be put off attending.

Secondly the gas experience. It reminded us that for the last 6 years we’ve had no central heating in January. It’s not as cold as England in Nepal in January, although it feels it as it can be very hard to get properly warm, despite efforts with small individual heaters. Again these heaters can be beyond the cost of many Nepalese. January is always the ‘shortage’ month as petrol and gas are usually in short supply and load-shedding (the enforced power cuts) usually rise to around 12 hours a day about this time of year. And as always it’s the poorest who are hit hardest.

So an eventful start to the year, but thanks to supportive family and the NHS it really hasn’t been that much.

Merry Christmas

A blog update to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas. For the first time in 6 years we are celebrating in the UK with family. A UK Christmas is very different from a Nepali Christmas as you can imagine.

This week we spoke in a church and I shared with the young people about a Nepali Christmas so I thought I would replicate that for our blog this Christmas.

School

Children in Nepal will not be enjoying school holidays this week and many will be at school on Christmas Day. As Nepal is not a Christian country there isn’t the expectation of holidays, in fact their school year is quite different to ours. In addition there is regular disruption to schools due to various political protests which means they often have to make up those days in the holidays.

Church

They may have thought that with going to school it would mean they’d miss church. But don’t worry – church is a full day affair on Christmas day. Many Christmas church programs run for 6 hours or so.

For Nepali Christians they are so excited about being able to celebrate Christmas that they want to make the most of it, it’s not that long since it was illegal to be a Christian in Nepal. Also many Nepali Christians’ families won’t be Christian and so won’t celebrate Christmas – so the church is their family and they want to spend the day with them.

Christmas Dinner

As part of the 6 hour long service there will be Dhal Bhat for Christmas dinner (Dhal Bhat is the standard food for all Nepali’s). They eat it twice a day, every day, it’s made up of rice, lentils & curried vegetables – so no Turkey.

Whenever Nepali’s get together it’s important to share a meal and so this is an absolutely essential part of Christmas for them – their national food. This is their Christmas tradition and having turkey would be weird for them. Also most Nepali’s couldn’t afford to have the huge amount of food that we consume, and waste, at Christmas.

Presents

After school, 6 hours of church and a huge dhal bhat I wasn’t sure if any of the young people fancied a Nepali Christmas. But one thing we share in common with Nepali Christians at Christmas is that we exchange presents with those we love.

The reason for this is that we want to show people that we love them and sacrificing a little bit of something we have to give them something they would enjoy is a great way to show love. At Christmas we remember that God gave us the greatest gift he could possibly give us, himself, in the form of Jesus.

For Christians, whether they are in Nepal, England, or somewhere else that is what we are celebrating this week – using our own traditions, or those of others, it doesn’t matter, but celebrating and giving thanks for that very special gift.