How one volunteer made a big difference

Many of our students in Ramche know that A is for apple, but they had never actually tasted the fruit until Apple Day, the brainchild of Sarah, one of our volunteer teachers in Nepal.

“You cannot buy apples in Ramche–no one is bothering to carry fruits up the mountain,” Sarah says. “So I decided that we’ll do an Apple Day and all of our kids will know the taste of an apple and have their own fruit maybe for the first time in their lives.”

Sarah used Apple Day to teach the senses as well as the alphabet. It’s a perfect example of how our school makes learning fun, and of the freedom our volunteers have in the classroom.

With our principal, Rosy, Sarah carried 17 pounds of apples up the mountain so that every student could have one.

“When I gave an apple to each child, you should have seen their eyes! I’ll never forget that,” Sarah says. “And the best scene was when we were singing our apple song together, they realized that they had a real apple in their hands. It was incredible!”

Sarah, who is Austrian, volunteered for 4 months at Shree Santi Primary School in Ramche. Besides Apple Day, she also planned special events like Toothbrush Day and Garbage Police. We miss her energy and creativity.