Where are they now?

My family moved internationally a fair bit during my upbringing, and consequently, I went to many schools - both in my passport country (Canada) and internationally. Other than KISC, the schools I attended were mostly mono-cultural, and because I was an international kid (a Third Culture Kid), my time at KISC were the only school years I felt like I truly shared culture with my classmates. In Canada, I may have looked like I belonged, but I knew I wasn’t of the culture, and had to learn how to fit in, but at KISC, so many of us shared the Third Culture cultural characteristics so I didn’t need to ‘learn’ culture there. Because of this, KISC will always hold a special place in my heart.

I attended KISC for Classes 4 and 5. English class with Mr. Backler was probably my favorite class - I still remember many moments from his classes, even after 22 years! Other favorite memories were socials, both on school property and off. End-of-year functions were wrenching for the teenage heart - saying goodbye to a set of classmates and knowing it was probably the last time we would see each other. 

Becoming a teenager with my international friends in this precious country was a highlight of my youth. My final memory of KISC is unforgettable - we had to write our IGCSE’s in the midst of the unprecedented upheaval of June 2001. Because of city-wide curfews, our whole class stayed at the Summit Hotel for a few days in order to be able to write our exams. I remember studying by the swimming pool with my classmates in the quiet hotel courtyard - enabling us to shut out the turmoil temporarily to focus on the exams.

Where Am I Now? 

I am living in Osaka, Japan, doing ministry focused on God’s ways for our sexuality and relationships. 

In the area of God's ways for boy-girl relationships, I went my own way, actually beginning during my time at KISC. When I was 18, I decided to follow God again.

Later, I found out how much my parents and also some of my KISC classmates were praying for me, and the impact of their prayers. I knew that God was calling me to follow in my parents’ footsteps and live in a new country - Japan - the last thing I wanted to do, and specifically work in the area of relational and sexual wholeness. For those who know how God calls us, His plan for me became my desire, and it became the only thing I wanted to do! 

After a very difficult life event, my resolve to follow God in the area of relationships was shaken and I again went my own way. In 2010, I realized once and for all that His ways are the very best ways, and I have followed Him ever since. 

In 2018, I moved back to Japan for the third time. Settling in Japan has been anything but easy - the language, the culture, the challenges of trailblazing work, the loneliness of living far from family… but even five years in, I still can’t believe that I am actually doing the work I dreamed of doing since high school!  

Starting during my time at KISC, I began journaling my questions, thoughts and prayers regarding topics of sexuality. My current project has been taking excerpts from my journals to make a Bible plan for people who want to discover God’s heart on this topic of sexual purity - not simply just hearing rules, but hearing from Him how His instructions ARE His love… and experiencing the total restoration available. 300 women have gone through the 55 day Bible Plan so far, and we are in the process of submitting it to YouVersion (the Bible App). 

My parents are still in Nepal, and I can’t wait to visit again (my last Nepal trip was in 2019). There are 25 Nepali restaurants in my city alone, and probably 100s in my region, so I can have a piece of home in the form of Japanized curry anytime I want! I will forever treasure my time in Kathmandu.

If you’d like to get in touch with Rae-Anna, please contact alumni@kisc.edu.np and we’ll connect you.

Dawa Steven Sherpa: entrepreneur, mountaineer, adventurer and KISC alumni! It was a pleasure to catch up with Dawa recently when he visited KISC.

Dawa spent his secondary school years at KISC when it was based at Satobato and then moved to Naya Baneshwor. Having completed his A-levels in 2002, he went to Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, where he studied Business Administration. After gaining an honours degree, he returned to Nepal in 2006 and took over as Managing Director of Asian Trekking, his father’s established trekking and adventure company.

Growing up in Kathmandu near the hotel that his mum and dad ran, which catered for a lot of climbing groups, he says he has always been fascinated with climbing and mountains. His first ever rock face climb, however, was at age 11, when he went with the then KISC Geography teacher, Grace Penney, to Balaju. Since that time, he’s gone a lot higher, having scaled Everest, along with several other mountains in Nepal and elsewhere.

“The first mountain I climbed was Cho Oyo. I didn’t tell my dad, but I just went off and climbed it.” he said modestly. “But when I got home from the first Everest ascent, my uncles said I should slow down and stay in the office more.” That suggestion led him to design and build the now well-known Astrek Climbing Wall in the heart of Thamel. “I wasn’t going to slow down that easily,” he smiled.

And clearly, he hasn’t slowed down much at all, having been up Everest twice more since then, and has become an environmental champion, highlighting the effects of climate change in the Himalayas.  “Even in the 15 years I’ve been climbing in the region, I’ve noticed so much change,” he points out. “Retreating glaciers, changing seasons.”

Of his memories of his time at KISC, he says it was great to be part of a multi-cultural community. Even though the school didn’t have much in terms of facilities or equipment at the time, he remembers the passion and commitment of the teachers, which taught him modesty and the ability to appreciate what he has.

And what does the future hold? He got engaged this month and the wedding is planned for next year. There will be more adventures and more mountains, he says!

Congratulations, Dawa. The KISC alumni wishes you all the best!

Nathaniel (Nate) Loper, a graduate of the class of 2020, is now in his third year at Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, USA, where he is studying Sociology. I grabbed him for a chat while he was in KISC recently. He was on vacation in Nepal visiting his family.

Although only young, Nate clearly remembers being at the official opening of the then new KISC site in Dhobighat in 2007. Nate spent his entire school life in KISC, firstly at the Dhobighat site and then at the current site in Thecho. He took an active part in the KISC community, especially in sports where he was a member of the football and basketball teams. He starred as the Beast in the school production of Beauty and the Beast and was a member of the School Council.

Asked what abiding memories he has of this time in KISC, he smiles and says that he can’t remember just one. After some thought he decides that the whole, all-round experience of being part of a loving, supportive community where everyone mixes with everyone without cliques and divisions, is what sticks in his memory most.  He loved being at KISC and loves the school. Mr Colville is the teacher who had a big influence on not just him but his whole class. Nate says that Mr Colville embodied all that was good about KISC and was a great role model who pushed the class to be better people.

Having had two years in the USA, Nate isn’t sure where ‘home’ is any more. Having spent his whole life in Nepal, two years ago he would have told anyone that Nepal was home. But since he has begun to invest in life in the USA, he is probably more confused now about where home is. He admits that the first year at college was tough and he realises that he was almost scared to begin to feel comfortable in the USA.

So, what advice would he give to this year’s graduates? Accept that it’s going to be way tougher than you expect to settle into your passport/home country! Be open to making new friends and realise that you can’t wish you were back in Nepal all the time. Accept too that it’s OK to be in your home country and feel comfortable there.

And any advice as we get the Alumni Programme up and running? Nate is quick to answer and says we need to create ways that alumni can give back to KISC, especially financially. He says that he, and many others, would want to continue to have opportunities to invest back into the school that made such an investment in him.

And what’s next for Nate? After finishing uni, he hopes to do some theological studies but he’ll definitely be coming back to Nepal as well, even if his family aren’t here by then!

Thanks, Nate, and we wish you all the best as you head back to the USA to start your next year at uni. We will see you in Nepal again.