A French teacher’s mission to bring computer literacy to a remote Nepali village

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.