Ludiya’s story
After working for many years in education management, Head teacher Ludiya Besisira decided she wanted to do something meaningful and give something back before retirement by undertaking a two-year VSO placement in Nepal.
Ludiya Bessisira is passionate about the role that strong leadership can play in transforming schools. She worked alongside senior management and head teachers at Nepal’s under-resourced government schools, supporting them to develop and implement strategic plans to radically improve the quality of education for thousands of children.
What made you decide to volunteer?
After working as a head teacher for nearly ten years and having been a local leader of education for four, I really wanted to find a meaningful way of sharing my experience before my retired. For me, the best way of doing this was volunteering overseas with VSO. I spoke to my family and friends, and within three months I was in Nepal!
What did your role in Nepal involve?
My placement was about developing the leadership and management of government schools in Nepal, and improving teaching through participatory teaching methodologies, effective use of resources and encouragement of parents’ participation in their children’s learning.
VSO volunteers support government schools that are mainly attended by marginalised children who lag behind their peers in private institutions. Such schools often lack adequate buildings and resources and are full of teachers that aren’t aware of interactive learning techniques. It doesn’t help that head teachers in Nepal spend 90% of their time teaching and are essentially just an administrator of their school.
What did you achieve as a volunteer?
During my time overseas I developed a partnership between private and government schools where several government school senior management teams have visited private schools to see first-hand how strategies are being applied to improve the leadership and teaching of all students. As a result of these visits I’ve supported head teachers and senior management teams to review their policies. I’ve witness how the head teachers I’m working with have transformed, and the teachers at their schools are now trained to plan lessons and use child-centred teaching methods effectively.
What was it like working in Nepal?
Living in Nepal was a real eye-opener. The people are so friendly. So many friends and colleagues have invited me into their home to eat and celebrate festivals. I thoroughly enjoyed putting human relationships first rather than always thinking about outcomes because to create long-term change you’ve got to come to know people as individuals rather than a mass of teachers or head teachers …it was wonderful.
Did you gain anything from volunteering?
A sense of achievement – I really feel all the schools I worked with have acquired the knowledge and skills of the role of a head teacher, compared with before.
Personally I’ve gained a lot. I’m more patient than before but more than that, since I left Nepal I am not running through life like a marathon. In our modern way of being there’s a tendency of rushing through life and not stopping to appreciate our surroundings. The VSO experience has also taught me to appreciate people the way they are rather than judging them. Those two years also taught my family that they can live without me, but most importantly that they can give without expecting something back in return.
What would you say to someone thinking of volunteering with VSO?
I’d say it’s a privilege to be able to do VSO because you are sharing knowledge and expertise with people who have invited you into their homes. You will be making a difference to a future generation of citizens who might not have much materially, but are eager to learn.