6.6.14
On
6th June, our team was divided into two groups. Ms. Akanksha along
with Mr. Saom went 
to St.Thomas School in Longshyel. While the others stayed at
Reon SSS Primary School to complete the painting work.
to St.Thomas School in Longshyel. While the others stayed at
Reon SSS Primary School to complete the painting work.
Programme
for Akanksha:
The
visit to St.Thomas School in Longshyel was really an overwhelming experience
for me. Longshyel is the most remote area of the Kalimpong sub-division. This
area hardly has any connectivity with the main land. There are no roads
constructed in this area. In fact I was extremely surprised to know that even
today this area doesn’t have any electricity supply leave aside mobile network.
No wonder the whole village had gathered in the school to see the installation
of the solar lights NER group had given them. We can’t even imagine what the
value of those solar lights is for the people there and how grateful the people
are to NER Group. For going to Longshyel, I left the camping area at 7:30 in
the morning and walked for half an hour till I reached the end of the road
where Saom picked me up in his car. We
had to travel a long way to reach our destination. We crossed the tourist town
of 
Lava (at the height of about 7200 ft. from sea level). We also saw a newly
inaugurated (inaugurated on 3rd May 2014) Buddhist Stupa at Ugyen Samten, Lava. We passed the picturesque tea gardens of
Kalimpong. Despite the rough roads, the journey became enjoyable because of the
lovely weather and breathtaking view all around. The journey took us longer
than we had expected. We reached St. Thomas at 1:30 p.m. The teachers and the
students were eagerly waiting for us. I was moved on seeing their humility and
gratitude. It filled a great sense of pride in me that I am a part of NER Group
and EKIN who are doing so much for the these underprivileged people with the
help of EDI and GFF. The school Principal welcomed us with a speech and
honoured us with “Khada” and a beautiful badge. Then Mr. Saom delivered a
speech and introduced NER Group and EKIN to the people. We then gave the
various gifts to the school members comprising water filter, a set of teaching
learning material and a solar light system. They asked me to switch on the
light of the school which is undoubtedly a very prized possession for them.
Many villagers had also gathered there and they all were expressing their
gratitude. The students then presented a very entertaining cultural programme comprising
a skit, few dances and poems. We then had lunch. After that we distributed
sweets to the students and then bade them goodbye. We then headed towards
Kalimpong which took us nearly four and a half hours.
Programme for the rest of the team:
After
having breakfast, all the team members got ready to finish the remaining work
of painting the school. The first coating had dried and we applied the second coat
of paint on the walls, doors and windows. It took us nearly six hours to
complete the work. But none of us was feeling tired or exhausted. The lovely
smiles on the faces of the students encouraged us to do as much as possible and
the work became pleasant. The students were very pleased to see their renovated
building which now appeared so beautiful. We all thoroughly enjoyed the day.
We installed new lights at the St. Thomas school:
We installed new lights at the St. Thomas school:
And it was not easy at all reaching this place:
No comments:
Post a Comment