• Reports from Previous Fellows

As a part of the Grinnell Corps, Grinnell College appointed two members of the graduating classes of 2001, 2002, and 2003 as teaching fellows to assist in the teaching of English for one year in a private school located in Lalitpur, Nepal, just south of Kathmandu. Although currently suspended, Grinnell College has every intention of renewing this program when the security situation in Nepal improves and the US State Department Travel Warning is lifted. The fellowship was proposed by Sunil Sitaula '99, whose brother Madhab Sitaula founded the cooperating school, LMV. The program is also based on the experiences of Ryan Redmond '99, who taught at LMV for a year after graduation, and continues the long connection between Grinnell College and Nepal. The first two Grinnell Corps Nepal Teaching Fellows arrived in May, 2001.

In selecting the Teaching Fellows, Grinnell College seeks native speakers of English who will be able to teach English to grades four through eight for a three-term school year. LMV, founded in 1982, is a day school of approximately 800 students with a curriculum that prepares students for the "School Leaving Certificate," the exam for which is taken after tenth grade. Despite its short history, LMV students have performed exceptionally well on the SLC. The Grinnell fellows will join LMV's faculty as full teachers, teaching five or six forty-minute classes per day, six days a week, on a school schedule that runs from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm (please note that though the school day runs this long, the fellows may not need to be at the school during all open hours, and we hope to cluster the Fellows' classes).

The Teaching Fellows should plan to leave for Nepal within two weeks after graduation. Fellows will live with the family of Madhab Sitaula, in a comfortable house about one mile from the school. Fellows will each have their own room, and will take most meals with the Sitaula family. Grinnell College will provide round-trip transportation, health insurance, and a small stipend to help cover other living costs. Doug Cutchins, Director of the Office of Social Commitment, will assist the Teaching Fellows with arrangements.

As with all Grinnell Corps programs, the Teaching Fellows will be expected to keep journals and to send three reports for publication during the academic year to Grinnell College, as well as shorter, monthly check-in reports. After their return to the United States from Nepal, Fellows will be expected to spend several days in the fall semester in Grinnell to talk with faculty and students about their year at LMV.