I have just found this piece of writing that I wrote before returning to secondary school in England. The following has not been edited, although my mother probably helped at the time!
'My name is Jennifer Palmer and I'm 12 and a half years old. I was born in Dorchester, England. I went to Holy Trinity School. My early life was spent in Weymouth for eight years.
Then one day we received an email, my mum got a job as a teacher in Kathmandu, Nepal! We packed our bags and said goodbye to our friends and the sea. I was unhappy we were leaving, but I was excited too. We were off to a strange, new country that we barely knew anything about. We arrived at the start of 2002. I only found out that Nepal was a country above India when we arrived.
Kathmandu was so different to Weymouth. It was polluted and there were stray dogs everywhere. The roads were potholed and poor people lived in shacks. As we settled in to our new surroundings we began to realise this was the only city. We came for the mountains and to experience another life.
We cycled around feeding the dogs and adopted two of our own, Wiggy and Fred. We also drove out to the countryside and saw ladies in red working in emerald green rice fields. As well as the vibrant and festive city life there were rural areas too. People had to work hard to keep themselves alive. They had to walk miles for water, they had no electricity and they lived in tiny clay houses. I felt sorry for them, but at least they had their friends and family.
I went to the
British School and I was put in Year 4. It is an International School with 29 different nationalities. Luckily, there was no school uniform, I settled in easily and made new friends.
In Year 5 our class went to
Chitwan National Park. It's a wildlife reserve and we stayed in little bamboo rooms. There were elephant safaris and we even saw a crocodile while canoeing across the lake. Time passed and in Year 6 my class went to
Borderlands. Borderlands is an activity centre on the Tibetan border. This time we stayed in tents and participated in various activities like building a shelter. I felt extremely privileged to be given a chance to go on all these trips.
At the end of Year 6 we out on a leavers performance and took our big step into Secondary school. I was afraid we would get a lot of homework.
In Year 7 we were involved in more fund-raising for charities like
KAT (Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre). Me and a friend started visiting an orphanage with our French teacher. She has adopted two Nepali children of her own. The orphanage is called
Mendies Haven and is organised by a lady nicknamed 'Mummy Mendies'. We read books to little children aged around 7. Even though they're orphans they all live together as a family and that makes me feel glad and relieved. Now I'm in Year 8 and we are still helping our little friends to learn.
Most Saturdays me and my family go on the Hash with the
Himalayan Hash House Harriers. The Hash is a social get-together where people walk or run around the rural areas. We experience something new every time we go. We see people outside their little houses with their friends huddling around a fire. Outside the butchers on a slab we sometimes see goats heads covered in flies and blood. Sometimes we witness poverty stricken families, including children, hammering away at stones, later to be used for road building. Only 52% of the population are literate but parents can't afford to pay for their children's education. The girls are used for housework and boys help their fathers. I feel very fortunate to have the chance to go to school when there are so many children in the world that cannot go.
The Seasons over here include Monsoon which is a very rainy season that happens during summer. This January there have been bandhs, curfews and power cuts. Curfews are when you can't leave your house and go out anywhere because of the security situation. I get very bored when there is a curfew because we get stuck in our garden playing badminton. There are power cuts because of the lack of water. Nowadays we make sure there are enough candles because there is at least one power cut every day.
As a family we also go trekking. In the Desain holidays of 2004 we went on an Annapurna trek to Thorung La Pass. It is the highest mountain pass in the world. It was very cold and I felt a bit sick at times because of the altitude. It was worth it. When we reached the top I felt really proud of myself. The views were breath-taking. This trek seemed very long but I will never forget it.
We have been on many fantastic holidays from Nepal. I loved the holiday to Goa, India even though we got harassed by lots of beach sellers. When we arrived at Delhi I was horrified to see huge families with children living on the platforms!
In Thailand I got my hair braided, which was different. The sea was warm, which is unlike Weymouth! We also flew to Cambodia and visited temples but it was very hot. My favourite festivals in Nepal are Diwali and Holi. Diwali is the festival of lights, people put up garlands and the houses sparkle. Around the stupas, the flames of hundreds of tiny butter lamps waver in the wind. Holi is when the locals throw coloured water balloons at each other. We join in with both festivals.
Going to Nepal for 4 and a half years was a great experience, but I miss everyone back in England. I hope to go back to Nepal in the future and visit TBS. Half of me wants to stay in Nepal and half of me wants to go back to England.'
