The Big Day: Swearing-In

We had just spent the last hour getting prepared for swearing-in.

I stepped into the hall. After being surrounded by the flurried activity of seven women in a small hotel room, it was nice to have a moment to myself. I took the opportunity to get a feel for my new dressings and looked down. What caught my eye first was my hand, which was adorned with a red Ganesh ring. Hajuraamaa Khadka had gifted it to me on the day of our departure from our training villages (I cried; but that’s a different story). Further down, a bracer of sparkling green bangles (chiura) cupped my wrist (these I had bought for the occasion); and under my arm the matching draperies of my forest green saree could be seen. Its gilded peacock-feather design shimmered in the light.

I remember beholding this sight for several long moments, quizzical. Whose hand is this? I thought. It felt unfamiliar – like it didn’t belong to me. For past three months I had been surrounded by women wearing these effects – wives, mothers, aunts, grandmothers. Suddenly, I was one of them. The feeling was foreign, viscerally maternal, and honest in a way I can’t describe. I felt like I was harnessing a form of myself from another time – another life. A latency; a potential. Would I ever hold this feeling of presence in the future, if I ever became a mother? Or is this who I would come to be by the end of my service? (Somehow, that didn’t seem right). I mused.

My friend Pearl came around then, and I tried to describe my predicament.  “Whose hand is this?” I repeated. “It’s like a mom’s hand,” I said, jokingly (yet, I was not joking). “Look.”

Pearl looked. “It totally is,” they agreed.

The engraved Ganesh smiled from my hand.

Whose hand is this? Get it out of here.

***

August 24 was a big day. Our cohort of 21 trainees swore in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. There was a short program that included us singing the national anthems of Nepal and the United States, and Reshram Phiriri (a very traditional and classic Nepali song). Then speeches were given by the US Ambassador of Nepal and Nepal Secretary of Foreign Affairs to an audience of American and Nepali government officials, Peace Corps staff and other guests.

I gave a speech as well. During pre-service training, my friends elected me to deliver the Volunteers’ speech – a great honor. The transcript, which is below, I wrote in English; staff translated it into Nepali some time before, and I delivered it in Nepali after practicing and preparing in the days leading up to the ceremony.

Following the speech-giving, attendees were given some time to mingle and enjoy tasty snacks and patisseries provided by the venue – and of course, to take lots and lots of photos. Everyone was dressed to the nines. (I will note that we did require considerable help from Nepali Peace Corps staff in the effort to get dressed – none of us knew how to wear sarees properly, and it takes about 10 minutes for even a habitual wearer to pin and drape it nicely).

This would be our last day together with most of our pre-service training staff, so the moment was bittersweet as well as a delight. I’ll never forget it.

Delivering my speech as Ambassador Thompson looks on from the background.

***

Honorable Ambassador Dean Thompson, Esteemed Bharat Raj Paudyal, admirable guests, family, and friends: please allow me to welcome you here today on behalf of us all. My name is Tomoe.

Three years have passed since the COVID-19 outbreak and the evacuation of Peace Corps volunteers from Nepal in 2020. Since then, much has changed in the world and in our lives. Despite this, the government’s support of Peace Corps in Nepal remains. We are deeply grateful to the Nepali government’s continued confidence in Peace Corps programs and its enthusiasm in welcoming our return. Without its commitments we would not be here.

Eleven weeks ago, our group of 21 was still living in the United States. Then we sold our things, packed our belongings and said goodbye to our friends and families. Ten weeks ago, we arrived here in Kathmandu. We came to acquaint ourselves with the wonderful Peace Corps staff who are smiling at me from the audience now. We were introduced to our first sights, smells, and sounds of Nepal; and here we had our first taste of daal bhaat. Nine weeks ago, we enjoyed home-cooked meals with our new host families; and six weeks ago, we continued to try – and fail – to prevent them from serving us second and third helpings of bhaat after we said “pugyo”. In the next weeks we learned the language, practiced teaching Nepali students in secondary schools, built Nepali-style nursery beds, and planted ginger and turmeric in our demonstration gardens. We visited the Kirtipur Horticulture Center and Bhaktapur Square during our cultural field trip to Kathmandu two weeks ago. Finally, we are here before you today as fully-fledged trainees who are ready to be sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers.

This day has only been possible with the earnest dedication of our staff and supporters. We would like to thank all who have given their time, resources, approval, and love to our cause; the government of Nepal; those who have prepared, planned, replanned, and toiled through three years of the COVID pandemic; and those who have taught and guided us through our two months of pre-service training, including our language instructors who have patiently tolerated each one of our misspoken “le”s, “laai”s, “bhanda”s and “banda”s. One morning during language class, I asked my instructor Ashish Ji: “Don’t you ever get tired of asking, ‘ke ke khaana khaanu bhayo*?’” To this he said, “No, I never do. If I ever were to get tired, I would have no work.”

As we swear in, our time as trainees ends and our work as volunteers begins. We leave for Kavre, Ghorka, Syangja, Parbat, and Myagdi in only a few days. In these districts, some of us will support the next generation of Nepali with the mastery of the English language. Others such as myself will be working with our local counterparts and rural households to improve crop production, nutrition, and wellbeing. And all of us, collectively, will be serving our Nepali communities: as friends, colleagues, collaborators, mentors, educators, and agents of change – however big or small that change is. As the saying goes, “ek haatle taali bajdaina*”;  however, working together, hand-in-hand – Nepali and American – our impact will make a difference in the lives around us – in the lives of Nepal.

Peace Corps is often referred to by past volunteers as “the hardest job you will ever love”. We know that our time as volunteers will not be easy. There will be challenges and triumphs. But we also know that we will carry the experiences that we build in Nepal with us for the rest of our lives, and we hope that others will too.

We are humbled to begin this journey with all of you. Thank you.

Tomoe Matsumoto-Hervol

August 24^th, 2023

PC Nepal N208

*ke ke khaanaa khaanu bhayo: what food did you eat (today)?

*ek haatle taali bajdaina: you can’t clap with one hand

Big day selfie.

Pearl and I all gussied up before the celebration.

The N208 PCV crew and much of the Peace Corps Nepal staff.

A selection of delicacies from the afterparty. Soooo good. I had two of the tiramisu-type puddings.