How My First Semester at Georgetown Led Me to Nepal

By Shreya Ambrose
Shreya Ambrose is a first year student at GU-Q from India. For the Desert Hoya Blog, she writes about her First Year Experience.

Starting my journey at Georgetown was exciting, but I never imagined it would lead to an adventure in Nepal within just two months of stepping foot in Qatar for the first time.  When I found out I got selected for a fully funded, 10-day trip to Nepal under the Community Engagement Program, it was amazing news! 

I took a deep breath as I set foot into the airport that night, the first time I had done so without my parents. That’s me on the far left of the cover image. The flight route from Doha to Dubai to Kathmandu felt like a gateway to the unknown. As I stepped out of the aeroplane, I felt a gust of clean, mountain air on my face. In Kathmandu, we walked through the myriad of buildings, and I observed the paintings on the ruins of two-storey buildings shaken to destruction in an earthquake. It made me realise that art can heal the scars and tears of a city too, the same way it can a soul. I noticed how time shaped the city, from the water droplets creating small dents on the clay, to how the smaller statues of deities in the temple didn’t have a face because they were smoothed away by countless hands touching and worshipping them for generations creating a million thumb impressions that slowly etched away the stone. 

We Made Connections and Built a Biogas Plant

The next three days after that were the most exhausting but rewarding experience of my life. We spent our days hiking, carrying bricks, cement and sand under the hot sun, and building a biogas plant to promote sustainability as a renewable energy source. Instead of using wood fire stoves that require much more effort (and are harmful to the environment), biogas plants use food waste to efficiently produce fuel that can be used for cooking purposes. The work brought on a side of the professors, peers and staff I’d never seen before. A suit and briefcase only go so far in hiding one’s humanity. After work, we would hike back down to the village, where we had meaningful reflection sessions before going to sleep. We talked about finding ourselves, disconnecting to reconnect, escaping the stress and pain of thinking about one’s family during times of crisis, accepting the privilege we have, and recognising how strong and resilient we are as people to come so far.

I Learned the Meaning of “People for Others”

After we finished our construction, a celebration was held for us by the members of the village, who danced gracefully, and elegantly. They had a sense of animation and vigour I had never seen before. We danced the night away and slept well. Our goodbyes the next day were difficult and emotional but full of closure. As we returned to Kathmandu, the laughter and camaraderie among my fellow Hoyas felt like the start of lifelong friendships. 

At our final reflection session, each of us was handed a piece of gravel from the construction site. We were reminded that, like the gravel, we may seem small in the vastness of the universe, but our contributions, no matter how tiny, are meaningful, especially when they accumulate.

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