On Tuesday all three of our patrols headed down to the Khumjung School for the first time.
After all the leaders had been briefed on the work needing to be done at the school, they then briefed us. Some if not all of us started on painting, some on the outside of one classroom, others on the theatre hall and a few started varnishing tables and chairs. This then carried on for the next couple of days with one patrol having the morning or afternoon off to help with the acclimatisation, meaning that two patrols would be working at a time. On the Thursday we finished the the theatre hall, in a dashing custard yellow and dark blue, with many of the painting of walls being done from ladders precariously placed, others of us started on rooms for the children boarding at the school from areas around the valley.
Friday was National Children’s day in Nepal and so the Khumjung School held a sports day with other schools, Namche and Pangboche, coming to join in in the schools activities. During the day there were many events such as the triple jump and hurdles. After the children had a go we all started to join in and give it a try, the children found it rather amusing when we dove into the mud pit used for the triple jump. The leaders, Josh and Andy tried the 100m hurdles, of which most definitely exhausted them, it was funny seeing them jump over the hurdles in such strange ways. They were then shown up by the local school children who ran it much faster and for longer. In the afternoon we continued painting the rooms for the boarding children.
On Saturday we headed back to the school to find it empty as we’d become accustomed to the noise of the children there. Later we finished off painting the rooms and started on the theatre roof, where it was rather hot and a little daunting to start off with as the roof would bend and creek as we moved across the roof, but once over the initial fear we were managed to get most of it done before lunch.
Written by Lhotse Patrol.