Grégoire Deyme, French volunteer.
“Lord Jesus,
Teach us to be generous ,
To serve you as you deserve,
To give without counting,
To fight without the worry of injuries,
To work without seeking rest,
To spend, without waiting for another reward, that of knowing that we are doing your holy will.”
Scout prayer, St Ignatius.
I’m Gregoire, and I was 22 years old when I chose to take a year off during my mechanical engineering studies in France. Maybe this scout prayer was the trigger which pushed me to make the decision to go away from my country and to serve freely others as good as I could.
In 2017, while I was looking for an NGO to be volunteer, and I luckily found the website of Nepal Jesuit Social Institute (NJSI). I was fascinated by the projects that this NGO has in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake. I contacted the INIGO group (a French Jesuit organization for volunteering) and asked them to work with NJSI as possible. The Nepali Jesuits were very attentive to my request and understood my desire to discover Nepal, the culture, and to share my skills of engineer. They offered me the opportunity to be a math and science teacher in a Jesuit school: St Xavier School, Deonia , in Jhapa district.
It was a big challenge for me to be teacher: not only because it was my first time, but also because I had to adapt myself to Nepali culture. I had to teach in English and to understand how Nepali students learn. It does not seem difficult, but the first moments in a classroom, in front of 45 students, are the hardest.
I was very well welcomed by the Jesuit community, the staff members, and the students. They have been a great support for me throughout my mission, and made me feeling at home with them. I took this opportunity to learn about Nepali people, their customs and their lifestyle.
I discovered a new way to teach, and the joy to share my knowledge and my skills with students. I was very happy to see how Nepali students are curious and how they can be friendly with foreigners.
I learned a lot from this experience and these people: Here everything is different. People know the value of the life; the value of the work and they don’t have the same priorities as we can have in our European countries. I’m sure I will not see life the same way after these height months!
Finally, I want to thank Father Roy Sebastian, all the NJSI team and the Nepali Jesuits for all the attentions that they gave to me. I hope to see them soon, after my studies, and help them again for the different projects in Nepal. धन्यवाद!!