KISC Alumni Newsletter

Thank you for showing an interest in the KISC Alumni Programme. It’s great to have you onboard! Already several people have expressed an interest in being part of this, but we will always need more, so please keep spreading the word that this programme is happening. KISC has been around since 1987, so we know there are hundreds of former students and teachers scattered all over the world who would love to hear that there is a KISC Alumni Programme – they just need someone to tell them!

Founders’ Day was celebrated on 17th February with cake!

It was a time to reflect and give thanks to God for all the staff, students and parents who have contributed to making the KISC community so special over all these years.

Hands up all those who remember Activity Week? But wait.. what? Activity Week in March? That’s right, after a two-year break because of you-know-what, Activity Week from now on is going to be in the Easter Term. Primary will be having all sorts of fun on site, while Secondary will be heading off to engage in various activities across the country, including visiting some of our partner schools.

If you have a memorable story from one of your Activity Weeks that we can share in another edition of this update, please get in touch.

To get this Alumni show on the road, a small group of keen and creative volunteers has been assembled. I’ll let them introduce themselves:

My mother moved to Nepal in 1956, where her father provided hospital management in Kathmandu and Butwal. My parents met and were married in Nepal. My sister was born in Nepal. However, I only lived in Nepal for three and a half years, from 1996-1999 as a child when I was 9-12 years old. I attended the British School and KISC at that time, absolutely loving my experience despite the "dukha" I brought on the KISC teachers. After returning to the U.S., I remained passionate about Nepal. After teaching at a Christian international school in South Korea for six years, I was able to get my Masters in International Education and join the KISC EQUIP team to train teachers and moved to Nepal in 2018 with my family. At EQUIP, we are passionate about developing critical and creative thinkers across Nepal. Currently, my wife Abby is eight months pregnant and we will be returning the US to have the baby. We also have two sons, Jude (5) and Esko (2).

I'm looking forward to being involved in this group as I fondly remember my KISC experience as a child and enjoy currently working on the same campus while also visiting far-off schools. I believe there are so many wonderful things happening here that we can share with alumni to build a strong and healthy relationship that can lead to meaningful outcomes for all.

I first came to Nepal in 2017 on a journalistic trip to get stories for my work at BMS World Mission in England. KISC was one of BMS' partners, so that's how I initially found out about the school. I came back to Nepal to work as a Communications Manager at KISC from 2018-2021. I also worked part-time at United Mission to Nepal. I loved my time in Kathmandu and especially within the KISC community! I'm back in my home country now (in the United States) and recently got a new job as a Marketing Coordinator at a YMCA in Fargo, North Dakota.

I'm looking forward to being a part of this group because I have such positive memories of my time at KISC! I think it's the most unique community I've ever been a part of, I like how you get people from all different ages and backgrounds and yet we all come together to strive for excellence and become like a family! It will be fun to be a part of this group and try to get alumni more connected to what's happening at KISC.

I'm on the right of the picture, and I graduated from KISC's Class of 2020. My family first moved to Nepal in 2006 as missionaries from Singapore. My parents also ran Jars of Clay Cafe at Dhobighat (now Deli Himalaya) during our time there. I started studying at KISC when I was in Grade 1, and since then, I have had many great memories which I still treasure to this day. Don't touch the ground tag, walking around the science fair and playing card/board games during electives are high up on that list of things which I remember fondly from my time at KISC. My two younger brothers (Kiran and Josiah) and I thoroughly enjoyed being taught by great teachers who came from all around the world.

After my graduation in 2020, my whole family moved back to our passport country of Singapore. Following those 14 years in Nepal, I am now spending 2 years to complete my compulsory National Service. I have been fortunate enough to be posted to the Air Force, where I aid in the military runway's servicing and repairs. The next chapter of my life would be studying at a local university in August this year. I am pretty excited to see where God takes me next, and I am looking forward to seeing this Alumni Programme set in motion.

I joined KISC in the year 2016 and graduated in 2021. Everything in the middle was a delightful learning journey. I am a music enthusiast and it is at KISC where I really developed as a musician and realized that a career in music is a possible path for me. Currently, I am a freshman studying Music Production at Los Angeles College of Music. My mom Leema is a teacher at KISC and my brother Saumya studies in grade 7 at KISC so I still get all the updates from KISC. I feel really privileged to be part of this committee and to have a chance to be part of the homely KISC Community again!

I was part of KISC's graduating class of 2021 (along with Shreeyash). I joined KISC back in 2018 after my family moved back from Nigeria. I only spent 3 years in KISC but those 3 years are amongst the best moments I have had so far, ones that I will treasure and cherish forever throughout my life. Memories such as playing futsal during lunch/electives/club/tournaments and spending PE with the whole class playing line tag will forever stay with me.

As for the present, I am currently taking a gap year before starting university again this fall, using my time to further discover myself and what I want to be, while also really just enjoying my time and learning valuable skills that I believe will help me in the future.

My time at KISC was extremely valuable to me and I would not want to change even one slight thing if I could go back in time, except maybe try and live more in the moment. I am really excited to be a part of this programme and can't wait to see it unfold!

I've been in Nepal since 2012 with my wife and three children, who also attend KISC (Caleb, Charis and Esther) and last year we adopted our 4 year old son, Qiniso - and hopefully he will be starting KISC in April. I worked at KISC from 2012-2020 and since then I have been Chairperson of the KISC SMC.

I became Director of KISC in 2020 just as Covid took hold. My first year in the post involved running KISC online from the UK. At that time we had staff and students in all the continents of the world apart from Antartica! To run an online school across the world was something that was impossible only 20 years earlier. It was challenging but amazing!

I was previously a Headteacher of two Christian Secondary Schools in the UK, culminating a career in education which began in 1982. I am proud of my Scottish family roots and am married to a lovely English woman, Elaine. We will have been married for forty years this coming July. We have two daughters, both of whom have chosen to become teachers. The older one is currently Head of Science in a large Secondary School and the younger is a Technology teacher in another large Secondary School. We live in Bolton, in the North West of England, near the city of Manchester in a county known as Lancashire.

I am also a school inspector, inspecting Primary and Secondary Christian Schools on a regular basis in the UK, having been heavily involved in Christian education all my career. I previously worked in an international education context in Oman.

Alongside all this, I am a church leader, being an ordained minister in the Church of England, where I have served for 16 years as a pastor, leading churches in different parts of the North of England.

I am excited about the development of the KISC Alumni organisation and programme because I believe that KISC has an amazing opportunity to develop a ministry in education that will impact the whole of Nepal in so many ways, thus fulfilling our goal of demonstrating the love of Christ through excellent education. I look forward to working with you all as we begin this journey together.

My connection with KISC goes back to the year 2000 when our family first arrived in Nepal and our three children joined KISC, which was then at the Naya Baneshwor site. I've had contact with the school over the years, despite living in other parts of Nepal, through many friends who have worked on the staff.

I started working part-time for KISC in September as Donor Relations Coordinator and I'm living with my wife in Ekantakuna.

Please pass my email address (abarker@kisc.edu.np) to anyone who might be interested in the alumni programme and if you’ve got any Activity Week stories, please send them to me too.