Tangting Tales

Hi folks, we're back from two amazing weeks in Tangting. Sit down with a cuppa cos this could be a long read... So, a bit of perspective: Tangting is in the Kaski valley near Pokhara. There is no road to the village which is perched within view of the Annapurna range, 1600m above sea level. This means a hairy jeep ride on what is called a road but more a dirt track if it hasn't been washed away and a hike (a serious one) up to Tangting for 3.5hrs passing people with loads of stuff to take to the village carried on their heads in dokos (kind of baskets with a headband) or donkeys carrying cement. So that was our journey to TT, halted only by a quick diversion to help a man who had sunstroke but people thought he was on the way out - a drop of water and shade sorted him out (well done Dr Tony).

Tangting has 206 'houses' and everyone has a toilet which is a recent addition funded by the Netherlands - thanks Dutch people as this helped our sojourn in the village. We lived with a wonderful family: Didi, Mr Meyer, Soreta and Subas (the cutest 6yr old you've ever seen - we fell in love with him). The 'house' we stayed in was made of sand, stone and mud and we had to block up the holes in the walls in some attempt to stop the critters getting in - the main culprits of which were dangerous moths (I kid you not, we were warned they can blind you!). Our sleeping bags, and thermarests made the beds bearable but the mud floor was always slightly damp and we lived in fear that someone else might be posted to our room (we had been warned). This didn't happen but the guys finishing off the water project needed access to their supplies which for some reason were kept in with us and were needed about about 6.30am every day.
So before I talk about the school and our work, let me tell you about our daily life for two weeks. We were awakened about about 5am by the old lady next door shouting at her grandson to do some job or another or Didi shouting at hers to get to the field and help dad sow the seeds. We tried to sleep til 7am when we got up and washed using the cold water tap in the insect infested, cement room that was our toilet (squat) and bathroom. Sweet tea and a different 'breakfast' (roast potatoes, hard boiled eggs, fried rice looking like spaghetti, popcorn, and fried flour [I kid you not]) was served by our lovely Didi at 7.30am. We then looked at the Annapurna in all its beauty and prepared for school until 9.30am when we had our 'lunch' (dal soup, rice and different vegetables which were plucked from the ground and cooked fresh -delicious but hard to take at that time of day). Next we clambered over stones and cow pooh to school saying Namaste to a million children on the way. School started at 10am and finished at 4pm so unless we had a meeting it was back home (nothing to eat all day but a few nuts we brought and a cup of sweet tea), where we sometimes got a snack (see breakfast for details), played with the kids (volleyball, catch, chase) and chatted to the various people who visited or were staying at our place (well as much as we could in broken English). Then dinner at 7.30pm (see lunch) and bed by 9pm - for want of nothing else to do and tiredness. By the way, all meals were cooked by Didi over the fire in the lounge/bedroom where you would eat sitting of goat blankets or mats and she had a pressure cooker and a couple of pans for all meals and altered the temperature of the fire by moving sticks in and out. We got spoons but everyone else ate with their right hand. Didi's husband worked the field in the day and slept at the hydroelectric station at night where his job was to turn on and off the electricity in the village (electric went off at 9am and on at 4pm). We learned from the head teacher that this family up until 5 years ago lived a nomadic existence in the mountains looking after other people's cows with little shelter and scratching a living. He'd housed them in temp accommodation to get the kids into school but their future was uncertain. The children (13 and 6yrs) were fantastic and like all children were up at 5.30am working the field, running errands and breaking rocks into aggregate for the school and then carrying the 30kg weight on their backs to school, doing a full day at school, then home for more work, homework and a quick play of volleyball before bed about 11pm (we were well asleep). The village is a serious example of cooperative living, which of course appealed to our community spirited side and my need to 'never knowingly be alone'. What we loved was the way that people just dropped into each other's houses for a chat. And when they did turn up they were offered food (rude to refuse) and Roxy (the lethal local brew). Men and women did the visiting but onlymen were offered Roxy and they didn't visit together. One night we had a shindig at ours and much dancing and singing (one song, loads of verses) was done. We even did the Fields of Athenry one night. Our place was popular and we did a lot of talking informally with the head and teachers over the fire.

So to the school. The school was just starting a new academic year so students and teachers were arriving the first week we were there. The school is seriously basic with cement floors, broken windows (shards still attached - a health and safety nightmare) and grubby walls, no displays (a few posters in primary) and a blackboard. The children sat on benches with attached tables which looked like something out of Dickens. In fact the head said his place was like a display in a museum pre industrial revolution (yes, I know that doesn't sit with Dickens time, but forgive me history was never a strong subject) - agrarian farming at its finest (wooden plough pulled by buffalo, hand scything and threshing, hand made bags and mats). Back to the school, we found children from 4 to 16yrs who were desperate to learn and were the most well behaved children we had come across (maybe it was the 30kg stones they had to carry to school). They were sparky and enthusiastic and responded to our crazy attempts at moving their lessons from chalk and talk (and learning by rote ' this is a clock, what is it? It's a clock, this is a clock, what is it? It's a clock' and so on - really about 10 times) to something more creative and interactive. The teachers probably didn't know what hit them when we turned up and observed their classes for 3 days then proceeded to offer them an alternative to chalk and talk which involved them seeking out no-cost ideas for making learning fun and actually take place by getting the children to discover for themselves. The head teacher was definitely up for change and bless the teachers, most of them were willing to give it a go. It wasn't new as they had all had teacher training, it was just the applying the ideas. Due to some issues with the way teachers are recruited and trained and the unions they belong to and their low salaries (one teacher gets 35 pounds a month) apathy at times had set in. We also helped the head to address some strategic problems around planning (none existed) and the challenge of teaching in the English medium (which means that all lessons are taught in English - popular with parents) when you can't actually speak English yourself. A classic example of this was when we observed a class where the English teacher wrote perfect English on the board for the children to copy at the top level, and when Tony asked: "Where did you learn your English" couldn't understand a word (of course it could have been Tony's Yorkshire speak that threw him). That was a common problem, teachers being expected by the government to teach maths, science etc in English when they couldn't understand the books let alone speak the language. So it was a particular challenge to try and convey our ideas to them. It involved a lot of gesticulating and acting as well as just doing it in the classroom ourselves. We also taught 2 english classes (I don't think they learned much in mine, as I was bent on producing a quality display board to demonstrate that you could put things on the wall with a bit of paper and pen). We covered the classes, because another thing that happens here is that teachers go on training during school time, go off to do other jobs (the social history teacher was fixing the water taps for a week for no extra salary) and the fact that teachers only worked 6 out of 8 periods a day (reading the paper inbetween). That meant that at times some children were left without a teacher for 5 out of 8 periods. Did they cause havoc? No, they often came to the staff room to beg a teacher to teach them, or did their homework or went to the library. We did notice that the teachers never raised their voices at the children, were very loving towards them and this had a lot to do with the culture created by the head teacher who was always approachable to all children and teachers. He is very much like a community leader and had fingers in many pies to enable the success of the school. Despite being one of the best trained in his profession (apparently) he came back to his own village to try and help the children. His openness and community spirit was very much something that could be emulated by some heads I have come across.
So we had a great experience. Of course we had some low moments (dal again at 9.30am, killer moths, toilet issues - literally) but it was great to be without contact in clear air (beside the fires), no traffic, no noise and to see the Himalaya every morning. We also feel that we did some good in the school and we will write a report to the charity to let them know of our experience.
So now we are back in Pokhara for a bit of civilisation - internet, beer and pizza, and a hot shower. (Forgot to say that we had to wash our clothes with soap, scrubbing brush and cold water on the cement and in other news, met the famous honey hunters - and tasted delicious honey which can give you hallucinations - I kid you not - no such luck for us, we obviously didn't have enough). There is a Maoist strike starting from tomorrow so we don't know if shops, restaurants are open. Lots of demonstrating today, so a good day to stay on the computer. We're planning to do the Annapurna base camp trek from Tuesday if the strike is over. If not, then you'll hear from us sooner. Then it's off to another village school. Please comment if you can, we always like to hear what's happening in your world. XX