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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=nepal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Nepal’s</a> <keyword id="3418665" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Durga-Kami">Durga Kami</keyword>’s dream as a child was to grow up to be a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=teacher&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">teacher.</a>

	 

	But, poverty prevented his family from letting him complete his studies and unfortunately Kami’s dream of becoming a teacher remained unfulfilled. 

	 

	When his wife died a few years ago, Kami, unable to deal with the loneliness, decided it was time to do something about it and enrolled in a local school. 
	 
	

	 

	As a result, Kami, a 68-year-old father of six children and a grandfather of eight goes to school six days a week, as a student in the tenth grade at <keyword id="3418667" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shree-Kala-Bhairab-Higher-Secondary-School">Shree Kala Bhairab higher secondary school</keyword> in <keyword id="12266" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nepal">Nepal</keyword>. 
	 
	

	 

	Everyday, he brushes his bushy beard, puts on his school uniform and with the help of his walking stick, hikes for over an hour to class for another day of learning. He is one of the oldest students in Nepal.

	 

	Kami who lives alone in a one-room house in a hilltop village in <keyword id="121095" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Syangja">Syangja</keyword> district told Reuters in an interview that he goes to school ‘to forget his sorrows.’ 
	 
	

	 

	He also added that he intends to continue his studies until he dies and hopes that people use him as an example to motivate themselves to ignore age barriers.

	 

	“If they see an old person with a white beard like me studying in school they might get motivated as well,” he said. 
	 
	

	 

	Before this, Kami went to Kaharay Primary School where he learnt to read and write and left after finishing grade five with 11-year-olds.

	 

	He was then invited to the high school by D.N Koirala, Shree Kala Bhairab’s teacher. The school provided him with stationery and the school uniform. 
	 
	 
	

	 

	The 20 children in his class have nicknamed him Kami ‘Baa’ which means ‘father’ in Nepali. His classmates were initially puzzled at an elderly man being in the same class as them, but they now enjoy his company and also help him out with his studies. 
	 
	

	 

	Despite his age, their elderly classmate participates in all activities with the 20 other students, including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=volleyball&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">volleyball</a>. 
	 
	

	 

	 
	Next year, Kami will be one of the many students who will take the National School Leaving Certificate Exam and he has told his classmates that hill will shave his beard if he passes the exam. 
	 
	 
	 
	Image credit: <a href="https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/nepals-68-year-old-student?utm_campaign=web-share&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=Facebook">Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters</a>

Meet the 68-year old grandfather who went back to
school after his wife’s death

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Hayden Rue, an American traveler, shares what it's like to live in Nepal.</li><li>Rue says electrical and infrastructure issues are commonplace in the country.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Hayden Rue, a 32-year-old expat who's lived in Nepal since 2016. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.I was born and raised in Salem, Oregon. Growing up, my family and I didn't venture far from the West Coast.In 2016, I worked as a gardener for several older couples. One of my clients recommended that I consider joining the Peace Corps, a US government agency that assists developing countries. I was in my early 20s and didn't have a set plan for a career at the time, so I decided to give it a shot.A month and a half later, I got an email informing me that I had been chosen for a deployment to Nepal, and would be spending 27 months there.In the last seven years, I've worked as a project coordinator for the World Bank, international NGOs, and charities in Nepal. I also run a <a target="_blank" href="http://haydenrue.com">travel blog</a>.<div type="image" title="a man reading to children in nepal." height="3024" width="4032" msid="107835160" hostid="261" sizebytes="874694"></div><h2>Organized chaos</h2>There is an organized chaos to Nepal. As soon as I stepped out of the airport when I first arrived, car horns were blaring. Dozens of taxi drivers approached me, each promising to offer the lowest price for a ride.I felt a mixture of fear and amazement as I drove down the narrow streets flanked by seemingly never-ending buildings that were connected by countless telephone wires. Large crowds of people — and their animals — crossed the street in every direction while dodging traffic.<div type="image" title="a man overlooking patan durbar in nepal." height="2213" width="2950" msid="107835161" hostid="261" sizebytes="627836"></div><h2>Steep learning curve</h2>Nepal is a challenging country to live in if you are not ready for constant uncertainty. There is a steep learning curve when visiting Nepal for the first time.I spent over a year living in Kathmandu, the capital, where it was difficult to get any sort of peace and quiet. Even though it's a big city, it felt suffocating at times as I had barely any personal space.At the time, I was renting a flat where the owners lived downstairs. The owners saw me as a son and treated me like I was a part of their family. While this was initially a good thing, it eventually went overboard. She would come into my flat unannounced. I also had to do jobs around the house, including climbing into a 1,000-liter water tank and cleaning the inside by hand with steel wool and sponges.<div type="image" title="a man overlooking the valleys in kathmandu." height="3024" width="4032" msid="107835162" hostid="261" sizebytes="762426"></div>Even crossing the road can be challenging for the uninitiated in Nepal. Car crashes are common. There are usually no crosswalks, so cars and scooters do not stop for pedestrians.A few years ago, several of my friends from the US visited Kathmandu and were glued to the sidewalk in fear, terrified to cross the road. I had to quickly zig-zag through traffic and lead them to the other side.Infrastructure isn't well developed in Nepal. Taking bus rides from Pokhara to Kathmandu, which are about 200 kilometers apart, could take 15 hours due to accidents on the two-lane highway. When I lived in the small village of Syangja, there wasn't any electricity for two weeks. The single power pole connecting all the houses was damaged. This meant dinners in the dark, no TV, no way to charge anything, and nothing to do but talk after sunset.<h2>The cost of living is much cheaper than in the US</h2>My monthly rent for the flat in Syangja was around 8,000 Nepalese Rupees, or $60. In Kathmandu, I paid around double the price. In Pokhara — the second-largest city in Nepal — I paid around $210 in monthly rent.On average, I spend around $600 a month and live a comfortable life here.One thing that's surprisingly costly in Nepal is groceries. I usually spend between $225 and $300 on groceries a month as processed foods — like chocolate, dairy products, and soda — have to be imported and are more expensive.<div type="image" title="a man on a swing overlooking the himalayas in nepal" height="1228" width="1637" msid="107835164" hostid="261" sizebytes="84912"></div><h2>A slower pace of life</h2>The most rewarding part about living in Nepal is the connections you make with people. Time is slower.While I'm currently traveling in Sri Lanka, I plan to return to Nepal in August, where I hope to open a small cafe in Pokhara someday.Even though friends and family continue to tell me to come home, I don't see myself moving back anytime soon. In Nepal, you can connect with others, no matter where they are from, or what they have planned for the day. I could sit for hours drinking tea and talking to people about their lives, experiences, and dreams.

I'm an American who's lived in Nepal for 7 years. Adjusting to life here came with a steep learning curve.

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Meet the 68-year old grandfather who went back to school after his wife’s death

Poulomi Das

I'm an American who's lived in Nepal for 7 years. Adjusting to life here came with a steep learning curve.

Marielle Descalsota

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