Through an opportunity of traveling to Nepal for a school assignment, I became interested in the underdevelopment of Nepal and how I could contribute to providing relief to the problem as an international school student. There are many contributors to the underdevelopment of Nepal, such as: corruption, politics, rigid caste systems, and education. 

Starting from just a school project, we work with the Milarepa Meditation Village under the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist society to support students’ English growth from all over the world. After my first visit to Nepal, I learned that Nepali children have many ambitions and goals, including learning English, but not only is there a lack of qualified English teachers, but the students also do not get the chance to speak English, especially to native English speakers, connect with and talk to people internationally to learn about different cultures, lifestyles etc., and struggle to improve and communicate despite being okay at literacy. What the children need is exposure to the world outside of their country where they are “tunnel visioned” and sheltered from a lot of information. Nepal in general also lacks funds and resources, especially in the education sector. This prompted me to start a fundraising campaign to donate resources and start weekly classes with three schools at first. 

 

In 2024 May, I visited Nepal for the first time to have an understanding of how the condition of Nepal’s cities and their life was, volunteering for the Milarepa Meditation Village’s one minute meditation program to visit different schools. I realized how different their lives were to mine, and how much the education community, especially government schools, relied on foreign aid. I decided to raise money for their technological resources and start weekly online tutoring sessions with three schools, starting my organization “ConnectEd”. 

 

On my second trip to Nepal in April 2025, I visited more schools and monasteries and got to know the students that I had been tutoring online. I was able to interview some social workers and students, and got a better grasp of how to strive for long term impacts instead of short term impacts. 

 

As I continue these online tutoring classes and expand my initiatives for more involvement and schools (even countries), my service tries to target the root cause of the “problem” – Nepal’s overall disparity – one of which is education. My time and commitment prompts the question of what the root cause of Nepal’s underdevelopment is. 

 

Through my research inside and outside of school, I have learned that Nepal has many problems. Their government is incredibly corrupt, their rigid caste systems limit social mobility, their economic disparity affects the lives of many, the country suffers much from brain drain, and the city’s architecture is outdated and insufficient, to name a few. One of the main problems is the education system, specifically access and equal opportunities to quality education. There is a shortage of qualified teachers and government school teachers’ wages are extremely low. 

 

As an international school student with the power to raise awareness, teach basic English, and raise funds, I decided to start my tutoring program to provide opportunities to learn English and get to know the world outside Nepal through conversation-based lessons, focusing on  improving the Nepali students’ communication and literacy, especially if their level is very bad. Although English is a widely used “working language", students who are less wealthy and in government schools struggle with listening and speaking English because they do not have the opportunity to practice communication outside of their English class, and their English classes in school are also very limited. English is very important for Nepali people for their jobs, whether they would like to stay in Nepal, where they are likely to work with tourists and foreigners, or they are leaving the country. 

 

I started noticing how many Nepali migrant workers there are all over the world, especially as customer service workers. I enrolled in a course called Learning Service in Action, and was able to talk to many of these migrant workers. There are many problems and insecurities in the Nepali migrant worker population as well, including mental health and exposure to information.

 

In my most recent trip to Nepal in October 2025, I have learned that the funding government schools finally receive is very low, and many schools do not have qualified English teachers and/or sufficient resources and technology. English is important to the Nepalese community as it is one of Nepal’s national languages, and is often required for jobs nowadays, whether inside or outside Nepal. Many schools and individuals in the extended community have reached out to us in hope that we are able to provide an opportunity for students to improve their English, for the students to gain confidence and develop a habit of practicing, and for them to be able to speak English more often during our classes. Inside Nepal, one of the biggest contributors to the national economy growth is tourism, which English will be essential for in relevant jobs. 

 

In all, my initiatives to support and study the education disparity in Nepal are my weekly English tutoring sessions, fundraising for resources, and spreading awareness.