Written by India & Nepal Overseas Educators, Tara and Anand
Eight Wild Women and Anand! This wild journey went through Nepal and India encountering all that it had to offer. We began as a group of 9 individuals but slowly made our way to forming a group of people who were ready to take on this world. We walked, ran, and traveled by jeeps, buses, trains, and planes to take all these countries had to offer to us.
In Nepal, we walked many circles around the Boudhanath Stupa, understood the role of religion, climbed never-ending vertical steps to be greeted by the most beautiful peaks of the Himalayan range, and inhaled vast quantities of Daal Bhaat, Momos, and Chowmein.
In India, we saw beautiful sunsets and came face to face with The Taj Mahal. We experienced clouds all around us, cows everywhere we went, and never-ending Tea Fields.
While we saw so much of the world outside we also found ourselves navigating through under layers of these communities. We observed the collective grieving, we saw how communities support one another and we saw the importance of taking care of one another in our world today and questioned the harsh realities of the world around us.
This journey showed off the world that existed and the history that has created the culture we are in along with that we heard stories of hope for the future that is constantly being experimented with.
The diversity in Nepal and India allowed us to see opposite realities co-exist and it also showed us people engaging with life at different paces.
All of this was experienced by us with 7 incredible girls bringing their own realities and ways of looking at the world. 7 incredible girls who brought their stories and were always curious to listen to the stories of the world around them. We become our own community. Crying, laughing, dancing, and singing together. Sometimes doing questionable things, everything with the best intentions. We were also nourished by many communities we became a part of. Every community we became a part of allowed us to see how this world works in different ways. There was no one way of how this world is meant to be, but a definite source of what everyone hopes for our world to become. This was something that was deeply showcased by how these students showed up to us.
We couldn’t have imagined this journey without either of them, each bringing an integral yet highly quirky way of being. We consumed large quantities of food and chai and at the same time found ourselves throwing them out of our systems in different ways. Naans/Parotha/Chapati/Appams were consumed by the dozens and spice thresholds were tested with every meal. Food became our way of understanding society and many beautiful conversations were had over dining tables across the countries. Reflections, personal stories, and gratitude become our fuel to find clarity within and the history of Nepal and India has allowed us to be present to the world around us.
Through this experience, we hope things have shifted within all our students, even if it is a degree and we hope this shift brings them closer to their hearts and the world around them. Witnessing each one of them during this semester was a privilege we hold close to our hearts and if there was a word that would describe each one of them, it would be:
Ava – Resilience
Steph – Decisive
Nora – Precision
Mae – Liberated
Iona – Benevolent
Nina – Essential
Sarah – Enthusiasm
These words in many ways sum up what they mean to us and what they brought to this incredible journey.
We hope as they move forward they find the courage to be true to their hearts and speak for what our world needs. And as they go home they appreciate their loved ones and their communities a little bit more.
Through this semester, we are grateful to all the people who brought different stories, to all the moments when nature left us speechless, and to the communities that allowed us to be our wild selves in their presence.
Wild Woman
What makes the grass grow?
Blood makes the grass grow.
Who makes the blood flow?
We make the blood flow.
WILD WOMEN WILD WOMEN WILD WOMEN
They are 7 incredible women who hold the strength to do big things and to remain wild and will constantly remind us what hope means.
We hope wherever they go, they find time to sing and dance.
As they march forward we hope the words of this poem ring true for them