We were lucky to be in the management team of the Exposure Visit to Jhapa program. The program was a whole new learning experience as well as a big responsibility for us. We helped our best in the management of the team of 66 participants (34 from Dolakha district and 32 from Chitwan district) while allowing ourselves to learn and enjoy from the visit destinations.

The visit had a large team inclusive of school stakeholders from ECCA’s “Healthy Children – Healthy Communities 2: Participatory school and community development in rural Nepal” project areas in Chitwan district and Dolakha district along with the ECCA team of staffs and counselors. The 5 days program from November 29 – December 4, 2022 was engaging every day with a pre-planned schedule. As management team, we were with the visit participants most of the time, which provided us the opportunity to interact with them regarding the things they found insightful from the visit.

The main attraction of the visit was school observation. The schools selected for the visit: Dhulabari Secondary School, Janajyoti Basic School and Kavisiromani Secondary School made a diverse portfolio in terms of scale of management and school infrastructures. Participants were really appreciative of the child friendly school environment including Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructures and improved practices of the schools. The visit participants had the opportunity to observe and interact with School Management Committee, Parents Teachers Association, mothers’ groups, teachers and students. They were motivated to develop and maintain WASH infrastructures in their schools too. Another inspiration was the Child Club in the schools. The students’ presentation on their activities, their behavior and respect towards the guests and their participation in the school visit were admired by all. 

Participants were also curious about the fish farming, cow farming and seasonal vegetables farming that were adopted by the schools as a means of income generation with the involvement of students. By the end of the visit, they were motivated to utilize farming as a medium to increase the school income and also to teach about it to the young generation. 

A very entertaining and different experience during the visit was Homestay. Not only did the participants get to interact with the exemplary homestay management of Shree Antu, Ilam, they experienced it with a night’s stay. “Do we have a prospect of homestay culture in Chitwan?” A conversation sparked in the bus during our travel from homestay to the next destination. The ward presidents of Chitwan-12 and Chitwan-13 discussed the prospect of homestay promoting the Chepang community in Chitwan district. From the interaction with the management of homestay, the participants were intrigued by the economic as well as social upliftment of the community through homestay culture. 

The visit also included visit to Cardamom Development Center and NMC Unified Model Agricultural Farm, which aimed at agricultural exposure. By the end of the visit, participants were discussing cash crops viable in their regions like cardamom, tea and coffee. The participants were keen to learn about cardamom farming and were curious to know its prospect in their regions too. The participants were interested in adoption of modern agricultural techniques.

Kanyam was fun and insightful as well. The beauty of Kanyam attracted the participants and facilitators likewise. The greenery of the surrounding was a freshener for the visit team that  had a busy schedule throughout the visit program.

All in all, we could feel the positivity from the interactions with our visit participants. The participants were enthusiastic to share their visit learning in their communities and schools. The local government representatives expressed how they would contribute to include opinions of school stakeholders in policy making for the development of school environment and quality education in their regions. The School Management Committees were hopeful to work together with ECCA and local government for the development and management of WASH infrastructures in the schools. They were also inspired to promote Child Clubs in their schools. The Women’s Groups, Parents Teachers Association and Village Development Groups were all optimistic to contribute from their part in the development of their schools and communities. They all realized how the cooperation and unison among the school stakeholders is crucial in the betterment of the school and community at large too.

As we returned back to Kathmandu after bidding goodbye to the Chitwan and Dolakha team, we conversed about our program experience. How challenging the management was, yet how wonderful it was to witness the changes in the behaviors and perspectives of the participants through the exposure visit program. How satisfying it was to hear the learning and thankfulness of the participants. How every visit destination was insightful and how the participants also shared their ideas and left their words of advice. How the representatives of different communities were all brought together by the program and how they all exchanged ideas, opinions and a common hope for a better school environment and better communities!