The Nepal Tiger Conservancy and Keene State College (KSC) collaborated and developed an academic program where 12 undergraduate students, two professors and one volunteer, spent 23 days in Nepal. They spent few days in Kathmandu, the capital city, exploring UNESCO World heritage sites and remaining 16 days at Meghauli, Nepal Tiger Trust (NTT) field office. The students explored Nepal’s history and culture, participated in adventurous wildlife excursions and collaborated in tiger projects activities.
Natural environments enhance creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving and improves physical/mental wellbeing. On May 9, 2023, Keene State College, students from New Hampshire, USA arrived at Kathmandu International Airport to spend more than 3 weeks in Nepal. The group spent first two and last three days in Kathmandu valley, exploring various heritage sites including Kathmandu Hanuman Dhoka, Patan Durbar Square, Swayambhu Nath Stupa and popular tourists hub, the Thamel.
On day three, the group drove to Meghauli. The accommodation at Meghauli was arranged at Tharu Community Home Stay. Five different Home Stay was engaged by the group with 2-4 people in each Home. The accommodation and food were taken care by their respective host families. However, Home Stay number one was also used for meeting and gathering.
The groups were introduced and provided opportunities to interact with the national park ranger, buffer zone council members, community based anti-poaching unit youths, women group, school children and local people.
They also participated in many NTT activities including camera trapping and pugmark tracking of tigers, jeep safari inside the park, canoe ride along the Rapti River, and bird watching in the community forests. They also visited gharial breeding center at Park HQ, and Vulture Restaurant in Nawalparasi.
One cool project KSC and Meghauli school students did together was to build ‘chautara’ a structure around a tree. They used discarded plastic bottles, filled it with soil and arranged it around the tree. The ‘chautara’ is a place where people rest, relax, gather to communicate and share. Thus the team cleaned the environment by re-using the non-biodegradable plastic and made it useful spot.
The KSC group was also introduced to Tharu cultural show, organic farming, and cooking classes by their host families. On May 27, 2023, the group departed from Meghauli to Hetauda Forestry College where they interacted with Nepali forestry students before continuing their journey to Kathmandu.
Overall, the KSC group shared numerous positive thoughts about the trip. However, the summer heat of May in the terai of Nepal was uncomfortable for many first-time visitors. Therefore, KSC future trip will be planned during the Spring.