Nepal Teaching Program

The Dalton Academy ELP blog chronicles our annual Experiential Learning Program through the eyes of students. Each article features an account of a student’s experience traveling across the world for the purpose of gaining – through practical engagement – valuable insights into issues of global relevance.

Upon hearing that she would be traveling to the remote landlocked nation of Nepal as part of a volunteer teaching program, Cao Kejia promptly searched online for interesting facts about her ELP destination, and learned a surprising titbit: Nepal ranks among the happiest nations in the world according to the international happiness index. This fact intrigued her, adding to the swelling sense of anticipation in the build-up to her departure. How had this small, under-developed country discovered the key to happiness?

Her initial impressions of Kathmandu were marked by incredulity that the city – with its dusty miasmas and suffocating alleyways – could be the most prosperous part of the country. It was through her encounters with the people, however, that she began to unravel the secrets to Nepal’s happiness.

The warm and enthusiastic reception of her lesson on Chinese kite culture absolutely astounded her. She’d initially been wary of teaching, having never done it before, but her apprehension was soon dissolved by the permanently affixed smiles and overflowing positivity radiating from the children.

When it came time to say goodbye, Kejia’s class swarmed her in a tactile outpouring of affection and appreciation. While she hoped the children benefited from their brief cultural exchange, the experience of teaching in Nepal affirmed the old cliché that you really do learn more from them than they do from you.

She now understood happiness to be little more than an instinctively positive attitude towards new experiences; a personal resolution to say yes to life. Happiness is something inside us – it doesn’t depend on external circumstances.

In her own words, what she learned exploring Nepal was ‘happiness in its most authentic form’, a gift truly surpassing her most fanciful expectations of what experiential learning could offer.