Finally getting out more to see what goes on in the valley, I visited Loyola House, a home for about 35 boys who study at local schools.
Most of these boys have families back in their village, but the schools are not very good (if they even have one). Their parents know that a good education is their ticket to get ahead, so if a child shows real promise, they try to send him to Kathmandu where there are good schools. But not every family has relatives in Kathmandu or can afford a private bording school, so Loyola House takes in boys at no charge, giving them a place to stay, someone to look after them, and a chance to go to a local school. It is run by the Jesuits, and there is another house just down the road for girls, Preranalaya, sponsored by the Sisters of Charity.
I visited on Saturday afternoon, and most of the boys were down by the river playing soccer. A few were by the house getting haircuts. This boy was studying for a test in the dining room. Instead of turning on the lights, which would be expensive, he was sitting at a place where a hole in the roof let light fall onto a table. I was on the other side of the room talking for a while, and I noticed that he had to keep moving as the light shifted.
I'm pretty sure that I never took my studies this seriously, at least not until very recently. Fortunately I never had to.