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Voyage Npal 2014 : tmoignages dlves

A la demande dOlivier Revaz, les lves de lcole ont rdig un texte sur les
vnements qui les ont marqus lors du voyage effectu au Npal en avril
2014. Les photos des lves ont t ralises par le photographe Mike Gorski.

The schooling system in Nepal
By Julia Beck
Schools in Nepal seem to have both similarities and differences
compared to Switzerland. The years are split from 7
th
to 10
th

grade, which is what they consider school. Afterwards, the last
two years are called college, which is the equivalent of 11
th
and
12
th
grade. Most students will consider going to university in their
future. School goes from 7h30 to 8h30, which is followed by a
lunch break of one hour at home. School recommences at 9h30
until 18h00. After having carried out a little interview with one of
the orphans from Sagarmatha, I found out a lot more about their school and how it works.

What grade are you in and do you like school? What do children generally think about school?
I just finished 10
th
grade, which means Ill be entering college next (11
th
grade, after two months
of holidays). Children usually like school. I miss school and especially my friends. I want to go
back to school.

What happens in you fail college?
If you fail the first year you can retake the exam. If you fail that exam again, you have to wait a
year before attempting a third try, which you have to pass.

I saw that some reports included hygiene and confidence grades, can you tell me something
about that?
Those grades are based on observations and teachers impression. They allow parents to see
how children are doing at school, other than in an educational way.

What happens if you do something bad? Do you get punishments?
The principal doesnt beat the children, he only explains and gives lectures. But some teachers
beat the children. If you get caught in a fight, your teacher will punish you by hitting you with a
stick. For other situations you are punished with a slap.

What are you going to do after college?
Im hoping to get a scholarship and be able to go to university. My dream is to go the MIT. Im in
the top 10 of the year so it might be possible. After that I want to become a software engineer.

How many students are in a class? Is the teacher capable of maintaining the class?
39 students in one class, but many are absent so the average is about 31 students. Depends
whether teacher is good or not if hell me able to manage the class. The classroom is controlled
by a surveillance camera, which is connected to the principals office.

Is homework important?
Homework is no big deal in 10
th
grade. If you dont do your homework you get a lecture by the
principal but students dont usually take it very serious.




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La pollution Katmandou
Par Helena Brown

Pendant les vacances de Pques 2014, jai pu participer un
voyage incroyable au Npal, plus prcisment, Katmandou. Jai
pass deux semaines l bas et jai rencontre des personnes
superbes, avec une vie stupfiante. Jai vcu une exprience que
je noublierai pas.

Katmandou est une ville magnifique avec une culture riche, mais la
pollution augmente de plus en plus et devient mme dangereuse pour la sant des habitants et
des touristes, surtout pour ceux ayant de lasthme ou dautres problmes respiratoires. Etant
donne que Katmandou est dans une valle, cela ne permet pas la pollution des vhicules et
des industries schapper. Jai pu constater par moi mme que lair Katmandou est vraiment
sale et touffant. Aprs un certain temps, cela ma fait tousser et jai eu un peu mal la gorge.
Gnralement les habitants portent des masques pour se protger de cette pollution. Rien quen
respirant la fume dune seule moto qui passe cot de nous, nous ressentons la pollution qui
entre dans nos poumons. Mais ce qui ma particulirement frapp cest le fait que certains jours -
cause du smog - on ne peut pas voir la chane de lHimalaya. La cause principale de la
pollution est en effet la circulation routire.

Il y a aussi Katmandou un norme problme de gestion des dchets. Le Npal est class
177
me
sur 178 pour sa qualit dair au monde. Lair Katmandou peut atteindre jusqu 20 fois la
limite suprieure de scurit de lOMS. Pendant mon sjour, jai demand Anil un des jeunes
de lorphelinat - pourquoi il y avait autant de dchets dans la rue et comment les gens pouvaient
vivre avec des rues remplies dordures. Il ma rpondu quils savent que cest malsain, mais que
les niveaux de dchets sont tellement levs quils nont pas les moyens de le grer.


This trip inspired me for the future
By Nomie Clerc

During my trip to Kathmandu, Nepal I experienced a lifestyle that
requires so much energy. It was mesmerizing to be embraced
into such an intricate culture, one that is so different to our
normal narrow international view. For once I can come back
from a trip and feel really cultured, influenced and mostly
inspired. This trip was inspiring, inspired me for the future, made
me look at things in a different light, especially myself. Who I am,
where I stand, and most importantly what or who I believe in. My rapport will be on some aspects
of religion and generally what I learned at the orphanage about their own religion. Keeping in
mind that my information was taken from the children at the orphanage Sagarmatha, so the point
of view might be slightly naive or very influenced by something or someone. Firstly the orphanage
is run by a "Sherpa" family. This meaning that N. Phinzo the 'father' of the house is Buddhist and
that the orphanage is therefore oriented towards Buddhism, even though Beena the 'mother' and
Phinzo's wife is Hindu. 'Sherpa' is a family name that is located in a mountain region in the
Himalayan mountains many of the kids in the orphanage were also named Sherpa and belonging
to the same Family region.

To collect my information I asked the children to answer some of my questions. The first one was
simply to write their names, their age, their religion that they believed in and finally why. What
marked me was all the children's reaction when I asked the question "why?". Some would laugh,
look at me funny, and simply look taken aback. Almost as if it was such an absurd question to ask




$

why. It really made me think about how much freedom we (international students) have when it
comes to choosing a religion. For the kids it wasn't something they ever thought about, it was
something that was passed on to them and they had no choice but to except and fully embrace it
because if they didn't there would be consequences. Maybe it's also due to the fact that they
have no knowledge of any other religion. As a result almost all the children except one or two
wrote their religion and the reason why was because this was their parents religion and so
therefore they had to follow it. Family holds and extreme importance and weight within the Hindu/
Buddhist culture. Following the same view points whether religious or not was a tradition and
holds value. Considering your own opinion or religion would be defying your family which is sinful.

This led me to ask them what they thought about Christianity. Many of them naturally didn't know
anything about it, but the ones who did, their view and opinion was very shocking for me. One 16
year old boy told me he was an Evangelical Christian which seems odd considering that there are
no Christians in the orphanage. Although his parents are Hindu he did not choose to follow his
parents back this is very unusual in Nepal. He did not say much more about the subject but
another girl who's mother is Buddhist and father who is Hindu, she told me that she loved
Christianity and went to the extent to say that she would want to be Christian. Naturally I asked
her why, and she responded that she believed that they don't "hurt each other", that there is no
discrimination, no smoking or drinking (any deathly substance). She told me how she believed in
Jesus and that Christians brought peace. It was very hard for me, having to sit there and listen to
what was something so naive and wrong. Religion especially Christianity in particular is the
number one reason for the causes of war. As I mentioned before we have the choice, we have
our opinion and we are educated about different views and society. Over there I understand that
they don't have the same opportunities and that their knowledge about the outside world is much
narrower than ours. It was just an experience that marked me and made me better. I tried my
best with the situation I was in to explain to them my knowledge and own personal perception of
Christianity and give some arguments and show her a side that she wouldn't have thought about
or knew about. I was not sure if it was my place to contradict her or correct her, but I did it
anyways and simply explained what I knew and I think that made her happy. Being an atheist and
listening about all the kasts in Hinduism and the ways of life in Buddhism, it made me feel
complete. Nepal filled a part of me that was empty and now I am here in Switzerland, a little bit
more cultured telling you what I have learned.


Katmandou, un autre monde
Par Devy Philippart De Foy

Jai ralis que javais dbarqu dans un autre monde quand
nous sommes arrivs laroport de Katmandou. Aprs le
rassemblement des bagages, nous sommes alls prendre le
bus. Les visiteurs sont monts dans un bus, les bagages ont t
chargs dans un autre bus. Puis le chauffeur a dmarr, sauf
quun jeune garon a ouvert la portire et sest joint notre
groupe. Au dbut jai pens quil sagissait dune blague ou
quun simple inconnu tait mont pour que notre bus puisse le dposer en chemin. Au long du
trajet, jai compris que le chauffeur avait un assistant pour laider en cas de difficults dans les
ruelles particulirement troites ou dans la circulation chaotique de Katmandou.

Un autre vnement du voyage que jai trouv trs touchant sest pass lors dun trajet en bus.
Jtais assise cot de Yamuna, une des filles de lorphelinat. Plus tt dans la journe nous
tions alls acheter de quoi djeuner et goter dans un supermarch avec les orphelins. Yamuna
souhaitait principalement du chocolat. Ainsi lheure du goter aprs avoir faire connaissance
durant la journe, elle ma gentiment propos de manger sa tablette de chocolat ensemble.
Evidemment gne, jai accept et jai mang quelques carres de chocolat avec elle. Ensuite je



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lui ai dit par politesse que jen avais eu assez. Mais elle a insist et ma montr un petit mot crit
sur lemballage Share with a friend . Jai t trs touche et nous avons pu crer un lien trs
vite.
Jai beaucoup apprci le voyage. La misre, la poussire, la pollution et les infrastructures ne
mont pas autant choque que je le pensais. Je me suis sentie au contraire trs laise. Les
locaux sont trs accueillants. Les orphelins sont adorables. Lorphelinat est sur la bonne voie. Le
btiment en construction est trs bien. Je serais ravie dy retourner un jour.


Une leon de non violence
Par Lara Debard
Etudiante lUniversit de Lyon

15 heures d'avion. Accabls de fatigue et d'impatience, enfin
nous arrivons dans cet autre monde tant attendu. Je suis
passe d'un monde organis stress un monde dsorganis
serein. Ce que j'ai relev durant tous ces moments et ces
paysages diffrents, c'est la non violence de ce pays plus
qu'aux antipodes du ntre.

Arrivs l'aroport, un bus nous attend et nous embarque sur une sorte d'autoroute ou les
voitures, les motos, les scooters et les bus risquent tout moment de se rentrer dedans... Sans
oublier les vaches au beau milieu de la route qui ont dcid de se poster l pour faire une petite
sieste. Malgr les coups de klaxon rptition, tous ces gens dans leur vhicule restaient tous
calmes. Je n'ai pas vu un seul moment des individus se disputer. Incroyable, alors qu'ils n'ont
pas le quart de ce que nous avons, ils arrivent se respecter et ne pas perdre leur sang froid...
Est-ce une question de religion ? Est ce une question de bon sens ? Est-ce une question de
patience ou encore de culture ?

L'admiration pour cette non violence, voil ce que je retiendrai de ce voyage, bien qu'il y ait je
pense encore tant de choses dcouvrir. J'admire cette attitude parce que je me rends compte
que dans nos pays, il est si dur de garder son sang froid. Il est si dur de ne pas s'nerver pour un
rien ou encore de rler. Alors que pour eux, la simplicit et le respect d'autrui, mme sil est en
dsaccord avec lui, leur paraissent vident. Je ne veux pas dire qu'ils n'ont pas de colre, car
tout tre humain ses pulsions et ses dsirs, mais ce que j'apprcie chez eux c'est qu'ils n'en
rajoutent pas comme certains.


Welcoming new children at Sagarmatha orphanage
By Charlotte Gaillard

While we were in Nepal, from the 11
th
to the 26
th
April 2014, we
spent time every day at the Sagarmatha Orphanage. During our
stay, we were very luck to see the arrival of 2 new children at the
orphanage.

The first one was a beautiful little girl named Dolma who wore a little pink dress and two
ponytails. She arrived at SASS on the 16
th
April, she came as her mother is dying of cancer and
her dad had been electrocuted. The first time I saw her, she seemed lost. Small Dolma (as they
call her!) was looking around, looking at people and seemed so unsure of what was going on. It
was absolutely heart-breaking to see this beautiful little girl, who had just left her parents, seem




&
so confused as to what was going on. But! on the next day, Small Dolma was smiling, playing
with the other kids. I was so pleasantly surprised to see that she had been so well included. All
the other kids included her in their games and tried to make her feel at ease. She seemed so
happy and comfortable that one could think Dolma had been there forever.

The second one was an adorable little boy by the name of Dendi. Dendi was brought to the
orphanage as his dad was physically handicapped and her mother could no longer afford to pay
everything for him. He had not showered in a while and he had a skin problem that seemed like
chicken pox, which caused him to scratch himself a lot. He also seemed sad at first but, just like
Dolma, was welcomed by the kids so warmly that hed cry if he was separated from one of his
friends, Samrat.

It was so beautiful to see how quickly both of them were included. All the other kids at
Sagarmatha orphanage made the best they could to include them and make them feel like they
were home. I also felt like it was very enriching to see both of them arrive as we are reminded of
the path of every child here at Sagarmatha. All the children started off by leaving their parents
and coming to the orphanage. Its only when seeing the arrival of Dolma and Dendi that I was
actually able to realize what every child has been through, each of them with their own heart-
breaking story.


A visit to Pashupatinath
By Carl Giardina

On Thursday 17
th
April, the 6
th
day in Nepal, we went on a half-
day trip to Pashupatinath which is a Hindu cremation site 10
minutes drive away from the Sagarmatha orphanage. This site
had a large Hindu temple which was not open to the public but
only open to Hindus, like most of the other Hindu temples in
and around Kathmandu.

The place was clearly a place of worship as many of the people walking about the temple were
barefoot and the sacred animals such as the goats and cows were dressed and painted in very
bright colours. In such a holy site where the majority of people were there to worship, I felt very
out of place in Western clothes and carrying a camera. Also, when we entered the site, we could
witness many groups of people sitting in circles, singing prayers to what seemed to be dead
family members or friends. On the other hand there were also animals which werent sacred but
which were roaming freely, such as dogs and monkeys. Due to the fact that it was somewhere to
worship the dead, there were many fires and piles of ash scattered about where Hindu rituals
were performed to remember the dead.

Further along was the area where cremations took place. There was a large pool of very dirty
green water with two bridges crossing over to be able to see from three sides. The most shocking
thing when we saw this filthy water was that small children were swimming in this sludge, and
diving down looking for coins that people had thrown in for good luck. As the children swam and
dived to collect the coins, they would bring up ash from the bottom of the pond which had been
deposited by the cremation of the dead. In the same pond of filthy water, dead bodies wrapped in
robes were transported to the bank of the pond and were washed in the water before the
cremation process. The more I watched this disturbing series of events, the more ill I felt until the
cremation ceremony started. The washed corpse was laid in a bed like coffin where it was then
covered in more robes and flowers deposed by the family members. A process where the priest

and family members walked around the cadaver three times whilst humming was performed. And
finally a fire was placed by the head of the dead and was then covered by wood and hay to
spread the fire. The ceremony before the cremation was not what was disturbing but seeing a



'

corpse being set alight and burning so easily and vigorously gets to your mind even though I did
not know the man being cremated.

What was also surprising to see was that the women were cremated separately to men, as men
were seen as being more important and were cremated in the luxurious area and the women
were cremated apart in another area that no one wished to observe.

Seeing the number of people who, we could deduce, were not family or friends of the deceased
and who could watch the cremation so freely, was quite remarkable considering how concealed
the temples were. There were people of all ethnicities and religions watching the cremation as
tourists were invited to visit the site and so could openly witness a cremation of an unknown
individual. The whole experience was very new to me, which is probably what made it harder for
me watch and accept.

Pashupatinath, un temple unique
Par La Hiralal

Pashupatinath est un temple hindouiste, mais il donne aussi son
nom au quartier qui lentoure. Le temple tire son nom de
pashupati, un des noms du dieu Shiva. Il a t construit juste
ct dune des rivires les plus sacres du Npal : Bagmati. La
rivire Bagmati est un lieu de crmation et doffrande pour les
familles bouddhistes. La crmonie de la crmation est trs importante, car elle permettra au
mort de se rincarner dans sa vie future. Envelopp dun tissu orange, le mort sera lav et
purifi, tous ceci devant sa famille. Lan de la famille devra ensuite soccuper des rites qui
doivent tre faits. A la fin de la crmonie, les cendres seront jetes dans la rivire Bagmati, avec
des offrandes, ainsi quun bain purificateur. Mme aprs leur mort, les castes leves seront
spares des autres, les plus leves dun ct et les autres de lautre. Jai t impressionne
par ce genre de distinction que lon na pas dans notre culture, mais aussi mme aprs leur
mort la personne sera traite de manire diffrente.

La premire chose qui ma choque est la diffrence entre les ruelles dans lenceinte du temple
et lextrieur du temple. Tout de suite, nous avons pu voir que ce temple tait un lieu privilgi
et respect par la population voisine. Ds notre arrive, nous avons visit les diffrentes parties
de cet endroit, dont celui o ont lieu les sacrifices. Les animaux - spcialement les vaches - sont
sacres dans le temple, mais aussi sacrifies pour le bonheur du peuple hindouiste. Nous
navons pu que voir le temple de lextrieur de Pashupatinath, car il est interdit aux non-hindous
dy accder.

Je trouve la sparation entre touristes et hindous judicieuse, car lendroit des crmations est
accessible tout le monde. Cela en fait presque un show touristique , alors que pour les
hindouistes, il sagit dun endroit dune grande importance religieuse. Jai t encore plus
choque en voyant des enfants, probablement des rues, en train de se baigner et de rechercher
des objets prcieux dans la rivire. Les gens regardaient ce spectacle comme si ce genre de
situation tait normal. En tant que touriste, jai t prise dune tristesse norme : le gouvernement
npalais et le peuple npalais ne donnent pas une chance ces enfants. Jai pris conscience
que les Npalais nont pas les mmes principes que nous.

Je pense que Pashupatinath ma beaucoup apport, non seulement du point de vue de ma
connaissance de la culture npalaise, mais aussi par la prise de conscience de ce que je voulais
moi-mme dans ma vie, commencer par le fait dapprcier la vie que nous avons en Occident !



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Nepal was truly an eye opening experience
By Lia Johansen

Nepal experiences one of the largest disparities between the
sexes in the world. It is 102nd of 140 in the Gender Inequality
Index, and women's status, as subordinate to men seems
accepted throughout the country. Knowing this, it was so
refreshing to see girls talk about their school life and seeing
them take pride in their sport achievements. They talked to me
about how they were involved in sport clubs and one of them blushingly recounted her path to
victory in a basketball tournament. In a nation where boys and girls are actively encouraged to
appreciate the differences between the two sexes, it was truly incredible to see these girls talk
about how they aspired to higher education and good employment.

There were small clues that pointed to a foundation of inequality, however: girls and boys were
discouraged from having close friendships, and going out late is all but forbidden for young girls
because the streets are too dangerous. And the case at the orphanage is an exceptional one- the
country as a whole is steeped in a patriarchal system where women inevitably wind up losing.

In hinduism, a woman is expected to work for her family without any credit given to her, and
arranged marriages which do not take into consideration the choices of the often very young
woman are still common in Nepal. Along with the caste system, Hinduism oppresses women
beyond their class: they fast in the hopes to achieve a good husband, and only until recently, the
practice of sacrificing women after the deaths of their husband was common practice. I found it
fascinating to discover a country that was only in the beginning stages of establishing equality.

Despite the every day tragedy of women being trafficked into sex trade and working without pay,
the role of women in Nepal seemed to be improving especially from what I could see from the
window on the bus. There is a substantial lack of female sex symbols, and women business
owners seemed to be a common occurrence.

Nepal was truly an eye opening experience, and for someone who's always been very interested
in the roles of women in different societies, the contrasts that the nation presented were
fascinating. Some parts were heart breaking; particularly the realisation that Nepal at night is
simply not safe for young girls due to the sexist environment they inhabit, but some parts filled me
with hope, especially seeing the young girls at the orphanage challenge their "traditional" roles
and aspire to greatness despite their society telling them otherwise.


Pollution in Nepal
By Zachary Ogden

As soon as I arrived in Nepal I could feel a difference in quality of
air than from back in Switzerland or from the airplane for that
matter. According to an article on The Guardian called Has air
pollution made Kathmandu unlivable?, Nepals air quality is
ranked 177th out of 178 countries from a Yales 2014
Environmental Performance Index.

Everyday you in Kathmandu you see more or less 33% of the people wearing masks over the
mouths, and you have to expect this. What is more surprising though is that the people wearing




)

the masks are mostly Nepalese people, youd think that people who are used to such bad air
conditions and mold to live with it and breath fine, but no, this only proves that the pollution is
getting worse and worse and something needs to be done about it. Although Kathmandu may be
known for its air pollution, there is no big organization helping to find a solution.

After a week or so of living in these conditions, you start getting throat pains, with an end result of
having to take pills, you develop problems finding your voice as well as constant coughing. This is
quite dangerous because you can get Viral infections, Bacterial infections and also the worser
one such as tumors and muscle strains.

So far I have discussed mostly air pollution, but littering is also blatantly obvious. You will not find
an area in Kathmandu, except in fancy hotels maybe, where don't see piles of cans or paper
bags. Nepal is not a very safe environment and if you plan on going on holiday there, you really
want to come prepared with pills or something similar, it is hard to walk down streets without
seeing cans in the middles of roads or even entire rivers filled to the top with garbage, the
electricity lines are very low, there are also many of them. If I were a parent living in Nepal, I will
be petrified that my children would try touching these with the risk of being electrocuted to death.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in Nepal, but of course I would have prefered better air conditions and
less pollution in general, better chance of eating food without risking getting sick, etc! But then
again, thats the experience you need to take out of the trip. If the negatives were taken away, it
would have been a whole different experience which may not have been as enjoyable.


This trip has changed the way I will view the
world
By Lo de Riedmatten

I was fortunate enough to be selected to partake in the
humanitarian mission, taking place in Nepal. This country has
fascinated me for many years, and it was top on my list of
countries I wanted to visit in my lifetime. After spending two
weeks in Nepal, Im glad to say it reached and exceeded my
expectations. It is a very special country full of breath-takings
scenery, majestic temples and wonderful people. We spent a lot of time at the Sagarmatha
orphanage and this gave us a chance to befriend the remarkable orphans. Every single one of
them has their own story and their own personality; but all of them are joyful and caring.

For my report I thought it would be interesting to ask some of the orphans what their dream job
would be, forgetting about money, skill and location. In other words, what they would love to
spend their whole life doing. And with this compare it to what the students that came on the trip
would want to spend their life doing to see if there is a link, despite the enormous cultural,
economic and geographical difference.

I started by asking some students on the trip as I thought it would be more straightforward to
them, as we are asked this question frequently. Carls dream would be to be a professional
footballer, Zach dreams of being a football manager. Lia would like to be a writer and Julia a
doctor. Raphs dream would be to be a professional skier. Nomie would love to be a commercial
fashion designer in a big metropolitan city like London or New York. Mine would be to be able to
make a living out of music. Note that it took me a bit of prying to really get the person to picture
their dream job. Some of them answered by giving me the job they were most likely going to be
performing in a few years. This shocked me and made me realize that most people in our society
today dont even bother dreaming anymore, because they are aware of the slim chances of those
dreams becoming true, but to me dreams are probably the most important thing in life. As we can



*
see, the students from Switzerland dream big, and all of them have a degree of fame and
achievement linked to them. There is however a broad range, varying from sports to arts to
medicine.

I asked some orphans their dream job and where theyd first heard of it. Anil and Rezin want to
be professional skateboarders after watching skateboard videos on YouTube. Dawas dream
would be to be a professional guitarist in a band. He loves watching people play guitar in videos
but also in the streets in Nepal. Ganesh wants to be a cook. He helps a lot with the cooking at the
orphanage. Dilip would love to be a footballer, and after playing with him several times during our
stay, I can assure he is already a very good footballer.

As we can see, there is not much difference between the dreams of the Nepalese kids and the
dreams of the Swiss students. Even though we come from completely different backgrounds and
live in a different culture and economic state, people still have similar dreams of the perfect job. In
both cases, we see a prominent dream of professional sports like Carl, Zach and Dilip interested
in football, Raph in skiing and Anil and Rezin in skateboarding. There are also the arts, with
Nomie wanting to be a designer, Dawa a guitarist and me a musician. And then in both cases
there are the closer-to-reality dreams, like Julia wanting to be a doctor and Ganesh wanting to be
a cook.

I find these results fascinating. I have to say I expected such results, but I still find it extraordinary
that teenagers living so far apart, coming from such different backgrounds and living completely
different lives, still have similar dreams of what they would like to do when they are older. Our
society and culture promotes individuality, pushes us to live our dreams, but at the same time it is
organized in such a way to condemn these individualities. Most people in my entourage dont
even have dream jobs anymore, or when asked what their dream job would be, their answer is
the job they will most likely do in the future. I find this saddening, that most of us will spend our
life doing things that we might not even like, when it is so obvious that there are certain paths that
seem to provide joy and make people dream.

Overall I think this trip has changed the way I will view the world as a whole. We live in a time
where globalization is at its peak, where it has never been so easy to travel and meet people
from around the world, but I feel that as a human race weve never been so trapped under
domes. To be able to discover new countries and new cultures, and to meet people who come
from unimaginably different backgrounds is what we should live for. To me life is about
discovering who you are, about knowing what person you are and what trace you want to leave
behind you; and this trip is one step further down the path I want to take.


Le chaos zen
Par Alice Ramazzotti

Le Npal est un pays trs surprenant. Nous observons sans
cesse lnorme cart entre riches et pauvres, la misre et la
pauvret. Mais les personnes sourient toujours! Chaque
individu reste joyeux, un contraste agrable avec le triste
paysage.

De plus, un aspect du voyage mayant normment surprise est le chaos zen prsent dans les
rues. En effet, le bruit incessant des klaxons se fait entendre jour et nuit. Mais jai pu observer
que derrire cet horrible son, se cache un rseau de communication. En effet, les klaxons sont
utiliss comme moyen de communication pour viter les accidents, ou pour prvenir de son
arrive dans une ruelle troite.





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Ensuite jai pu observer la pauvret au sein dune famille. Elle vit plonge dans une misre
terrible, dans une pice sans meubles, mais les sourires sont toujours prsents et les
diffrencient de la ralit cruelle de leur vie. Mme pauvres et privs de tout, les enfants de cette
famille sont dtermins finir leurs tudes pour pouvoir ensuite aider leur propre famille.

Finalement, jai pu observer le mme phnomne chez les enfants de lorphelinat. Aprs de
nombreuses souffrances (tmoignes par le nombre de leur cheveux blancs), ils vivent leur vie
en souriant, avec une volont de vivre extraordinaire! Ils sont donc tous dtermins travailler
durement pour amliorer leur situation et aider les autres. Certains dentre eux ont aussi
lincroyable rve douvrir leur tour un orphelinat pour donner aux plus dmunis, un plus bel
avenir!

Pour conclure, jai ador le voyage, et jai pu vivre des motions incroyables et profondes. En
plus, jai pu remarquer que les gens l- bas vivent avec le minimum et sont heureux, tandis quici
nous avons trop, et nous osons tre malheureux!


The most amazing thing was the buddhist culture
By Seong-Jae Woo

Before the trip, I barely knew anything about Nepal. All I knew
about the country was that, it is a small country that is situated in
between China and India. It has a very unique flag and also
renowned for Mount Everest. That was probably the only
information that I had about Nepal. Through this trip, I learnt
many things that I wouldnt have learnt from studying in
classroom or reading a book. This trip was very special to me.

There were many fascinating things that impressed me but the most amazing thing was the
Buddhist culture. Buddhist culture that I encountered in Nepal was very different to other Buddhist
culture. Ive been to many temples and I have seen lots of monuments but Ive never seen a
stupa before and until this trip, I didnt know that such thing existed in Nepal. The first stupa I saw
was Boudhanath. It was a huge dome with a tower on top and the tower had eyes were painted
on each side of the base of the tower. You could spot the eyes from any directions and to me, the
eyes looked somewhat scary. Big blue eyes staring down from the top made me feel as if I ever
do something awful, I will get punished from it. However, at the same time, it made me feel
protected as well.

On Nepalese New Year, Buddha's birthday, the stupa was filled with people walking around the
stupa. The view of it from the caf near the stupa was magnificent. I was on top of the roof and I
could see the whole stupa and the city from above. Colourful prayer flags flapping over the
people all around the stupa. It was really wonderful and it was one thing that I couldnt have
experienced from any other place around the world.

The time spending with the orphans from the orphanage was marvellous. We were sitting
together at the caf and drinking milkshake and showed them pictures of our lives in Switzerland.
Where we live and our school La Chtaigneraie. Showing them my life made me realise how
fortunate I was to live in a beautiful country such as Switzerland. I thought of all the times Ive
wasted on useless things and complaining about small things that didnt really matter in life. Im
having an opportunity that not many people have and this trip really reflect on my usual life and I
felt that Ive had an experience that has taught me a lot of things.