In the heart of the mountains, already far from the outskirts of Paris where he grew up, and now miles away from the chaos of Kathmandu, where he first landed in Nepal, Gustave Boussard wakes up each day to teach computer science to three classes of students aged 11 to 15. A very different kind of wake-up call for this young Frenchman, easily recognizable by his beard and calm demeanour, in Nishanke, a remote village in Okhaldunga district, where on clear days, the view of Mount Everest is a rare but stunning gift. He’s lucky: the roads are decent, and it only takes a hundred meters to reach the classroom, just enough time to admire the pine and bamboo forests along the way.
At first, Gustave, 22, had two options to validate his diploma: work abroad or take on a humanitarian mission. For him, the latter had more meaning. Raised in a family of teachers and deeply passionate about computer science, Gustave naturally gravitated toward teaching. After some research, he found the perfect opportunity, a position of computer science teacher in Nishanke, over 8,000 kilometres from home.
Without hesitation, he took the first flight to Tribhuvan International Airport. After one week of training alongside other international volunteers, he was finally on his way to Nishanke for a four-month adventure.
Teaching in Nishanke
For Gustave, teaching in Nishanke is a real challenge. Academically, his goal is to help his students discover new things. He’s positively surprised by how committed the community is to education. Some buildings may be basic, but he notices newly painted walls and large flat screens used for video presentations.
He’s struck by the politeness of the students, with class sizes ranging from 5 to 25, depending on location. From day one, they greet him warmly.
“Good morning, sir!”
Every time he walks into class, Gustave feels his students are genuinely happy to see him. Many remain extremely shy and hesitate to speak in English, but some are slowly bridging the gap between themselves and this foreign teacher, creating a true connection. Through conversations, he learns about the difficult lives of some of his students.
“One of them told me he had lost both his parents, lives with his sister, and walks several kilometres to school every day. That’s when I realized this world is not the same as in France, and that I’ll come out of this experience changed,” he says.
He immediately draws a comparison between computer education in France and Nepal. Back home, digital tools are everywhere. Almost everyone owns a computer or a smartphone, making it easier to troubleshoot issues and learn by doing. But in Nishanke, things are very different.
In a practical lesson, Gustave tries to make a simple comparison: “Kids, your phone is a bit like your computer.”
To his surprise, and even shock, he discovers that many of his students don’t even have a phone. He realizes just how complex his mission really is.
In fact, due to context and lack of resources, Gustave is the only computer science teacher in the entire region, and the subject is no longer mandatory. His students rely heavily on him. A real challenge lies ahead: bringing back the desire to learn computer science.
A hope to spark curiosity
After a few weeks, Gustave notices a real gap in basic digital knowledge, and he’s troubled by the national curriculum, which, in his view, doesn’t develop actual computer skills.
“Two classes of 45 minutes per week just isn’t enough, especially for a practical subject. And I don’t feel useful when I’m only teaching theory. I gave them a Word exercise, and I realized most of them don’t even know how to use an English keyboard properly,” says Gustave.
He further says, here the best students are usually those who can afford extra private lessons. The others don’t touch a computer outside of Gustave’s class.
He also shares his frustration about a lack of encouragement for independent thinking. Students tend to memorize rather than explore or create.
“Sometimes, I feel like they’re not encouraged to think for themselves. One time, I wrote about what I like doing in life and asked them to do the same. They just copied exactly what I had written.”
After some reflection, Gustave, a 22-year-old French student, understands just how much work remains to build computer literacy in this Nepalese village, where most people work in small shops, on farms, or as drivers, far from the digital world he was immersed in back home.
And while he doesn’t expect to turn his students into computer experts, he hopes to spark curiosity in a few of them, especially around programming.
“I really want to show them that with a computer, you can do fun things, you can do more than just type a document. I want them to get out of the traditional academic box,” he says.
I want them to enjoy tech the way I do. If I manage to get even one of them hooked on that idea, it’ll feel like a real victory. I’ll have given them something that lasts, he concludes.
