A visit from Bryanston school

A team of 31 students and five teachers from Bryanston School in Dorset, UK visited Pokhara in the last week of October to gain hands-on experience with the projects they supported through Right4Children.

The Bryanston school team visit commenced with a visit to the FAB School, an initiative by Right4Children in partnership with Gate Polytechnic Academy. FAB school provides vocational training to young Nepali youths in hospitality management. The Bryanston visit featured cultural exchanges highlighting Nepal’s Tihar festival, allowing Bryanston students to experience Nepali cuisine, traditions, and cultural significance firsthand. Nepali students benefited from collaborative group activities, teamwork, and English communication, building confidence through interactions with peers of similar age.

Next, the team visited the Letepia project, a collaboration between Right4Children and Kopila Nepal. This project aims to provide care and housing for girls and women who have endured severe abuse and exploitation. The visiting students had the opportunity to interact with some of the survivors, who shared their life stories and aspirations. The students also purchased handicrafts created by the survivors. The visiting Bryanston students will also raise funds back home in their November fair to support the project.

The school team concluded their visit with two school visits to Machhapuchchhre Rural Municipality. During their visit to Meghraj Basic School in Ghachok, the team, Nepali teachers, and students were engaged in playground construction together. They together set up play areas, including a ninja course, swing, monkey bar, cargo net, wall-climbing, and zip-liner.

<i>Students painted the monkey bar after they had been erected on the ground.</i>

The local students welcomed the visitors with songs and dances. A group of girls showcased their self-defense skills to the guests. The students actively participated in the construction of the playground, supervised by a professional worker. At the end of the program, Nepali students handed over tokens of love they created to the visiting students.

The Principal of Meghraj School, Bisomohan Pokharel, expressed his excitement and said, “It was a wonderful opportunity to expose our students to British students, fostering interactions, learning, and cultural exchange.”

The following day, the Bryanston team visited Machhapuchchhre Secondary School in Bhurjung Khola. The day commenced with two Sports facilitators from Right4Children demonstrating their typical training methods, which involved basic warm-up exercises. Subsequently, three distinct groups were formed for drama, arts, and sports. 

For the art session, students were paired up from Bryanston and Machhapuchchhre Secondary School. Each pair was provided with a white t-shirt and oriented on drawing portraits of their companions. Afterward, they exchanged their t-shirts and wore them, which were later showcased at a fashion show. The event concluded with students displaying their artwork on t-shirts during a ramp walk, followed by a captivating drama show, a localized form of Romeo-Juliet.

Douglas Maclagan, Founder of Right4Children, shared that the school children actively participated in a child-friendly project to raise funds. He said, “This is a great moment to create an enjoyable learning environment that encourages collaboration, friendship, and the development of a strong bond between Britain and Nepal, as well as between schools.” He highlighted the significance of such activities in engaging and entertaining students during the learning process.

Simon Neil Wheeler, the leader of the Bryanston school team, expressed his satisfaction with the successful execution of the exchange visits, particularly the school exchange program. He underscored the importance of such activities in enhancing the learning experience for students.

<i>Students from Bryanston and Machhapuchchhre Secondary School jointly performed a localized version of Shakespeare’s classic drama, Romeo-Juliet.</i>

The Vice Principal of Machhapuchchhre Secondary School, Yadav Prasad Regmi, expressed gratitude for the exchange visit, stating that the school and students gained valuable insights and knowledge. He expressed a commitment to incorporating similar extra-curricular activities into the teaching-learning process.

In both schools, the Bryanston team was warmly welcomed with traditional Nepali Panche Baja, a set of musical instruments traditionally played during auspicious occasions like weddings and festivals to welcome guests. These Panche Baja were played by students from the respective schools, who had been taught about them as part of Right4Children’s efforts. Both schools had an equal number of students participating in the school visits. 

Check out our Facebook post to view the photos: Link: https://tinyurl.com/yc69cdtv