Handover

So here’s a flashback to being on project. Our handover day. The handover is a big deal. It is the day when we handover the new building to the school community. Complete with giant ceremonial key!

It is a big day for the volunteers and staff, we’ve finished 5.5 months of work and get to see the kids and the community run around in the space. We get to go to the site in clean clothes and without work boots, we don’t have to wear a hard hat. The site looks like a school and not a building site. It is a chance for us to really see what we have been a part of building.

It is a big day for the community. They get to see the new spaces in all their glory. They get to start to take ownership of them. And they get to thank us for the support we have given them. For many in the community who were day volunteers, they also get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. There is a lot of Nepali effort in this building, it is certainly not just international volunteers.

For our local masons (who come from a different part of Nepal), it is a chance for them to take a breath and admire their work (though they may have a little more that they need to do over the next few days). They can relax a bit. They can share the joy with the volunteers and with the local community too.

For our female trainee masons (now graduates) they get to celebrate their achievements and be recognised for them – their graduation is a part of the day.

And the kids – well, they get to run around and play in the playground and see their friends and generally have a ball!

The day starts early. All the staff and volunteers wear our brand new, clean, grey All Hands and Hearts leavers t-shirts. Some of the volunteers they had saris tied round their waists. Some had their hair done nicely. Some wore make up.

The community start at the school and there is a procession with community dignitaries, religious figures, musicians, etc that makes its way along the highway to the base, where we are collected and we join in and we all process back to the school. Singing, dancing, chanting, clapping, lots of photos.

We are greeted at the school gate by the principal who gives us a tikka (the red powder on the forehead) and a scarf and a topi (hat).

There’s some milling around and some photos and some general excitement.

And there are speeches. The principal, the chairman of the school management committee, representatives from All Hands and Hearts and Relief Nepal and other local partners. The longest serving volunteer gives a volunteer speech (in this case, me). The certificates etc are handed over to the female masons. Certificates are handed out to all the staff and volunteers. There are some photos.

There are some dances by some of the students.

And there is the handover dance. This is the Nepali dance routine that some volunteers, staff, masons, female masons had been working on for the preceding weeks. Two of the girls from the local community choreographed the dance for us and taught it to two of us. We then taught the rest of the group. We had practice sessions in the evenings and on site instead of the stretch circle before our morning meeting. It was such an incredible effort from everyone who participated – dance practice is hard anyway, even harder when you’re working full days (and then some) on site trying to get everything finished. I was so incredibly pleased with everyone who danced and all those who supported us to learn the dance. And the biggest thanks of all to our incredible choreographers who smiled and helped us despite the times we asked them to substitute something simpler in place of one of their really beautiful movements (I’d have to dislocate things to get my hips to move like that!).

The giant ceremonial key was handed over, the ribbon was cut, the plaque was unveiled, the actual keys were handed over, the classroom doors were unlocked and opened up for everyone.

The newly fixed and painted perimeter wall was then decorated with hand prints from volunteers, staff, community members, teachers, parents, kids, anyone who wanted to. (One of the local dogs also ended up with a hand print on its fur!) Lots of different coloured paint was available and people really enjoyed making their very personal mark on the school. It really does take a village!!

The school served us lunch (which was lovely) and very welcome after the long morning. Proceedings had been interrupted by rain at one point and everyone (except the kids who are not water soluble) dashed for cover inside the old school building. Fortunately, this was before we put handprints on the wall!

After lunch, we all started to drift back to base. The residential volunteers had to get packed up as we were all leaving the next day to go our separate ways. The staff stayed around for a few extra days to finish the last bits on site and for base ramp down and pack up. But the handover night involved a lot of letting our hair down (literally for those who had it tied up beautifully for the day), dancing, singing, chatting, drinking, making merry.

For me, personally, handover was a very poignant day. I had arrived with the first batch of volunteers, said hello and goodbye to 73 other residential volunteers. I’d worked with the 10 residential staff, the six visiting staff, the visitors from Happy Hearts Czech, the 9 Nepali masons, the 4 female masons, the two chefs, four drivers, two housekeepers. I’d worked on site alongside some of the 80 community day volunteers. I’d been into the classrooms and worked with some of the teachers and the students. I’d bought crisps and chocolate and fruit from many of the local vendors. Handover day was a way of celebrating everything I had done; remembering all the volunteers who had been a part of the journey with me; and saying thank you and goodbye to the community that had made me so very welcome.

It was also a chance to dance!