Nepal Volunteer Journals
The Global Volunteer Network currently has volunteer opportunities available through our partner organization in the beautiful Kingdom of Nepal. Volunteers have the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational and community aid programs. These include teaching English, working in an orphanage,community health and environmental program, school and community maintenance, and a home stay/cultural exchange program.
In a typical placement volunteers stay in a family where they get Nepali food twice a day (around 9 o' clock in the morning and 7 o' clock in the evening). Tea is served in the morning and in the afternoon. Volunteers will have the opportunity to get together with other volunteers and share their experience. You will be able to travel to nearby towns to purchase things for daily use and could travel to other areas on longer vacation. Besides your project work, volunteers can utilize their spare time in organizing the youth and women's groups of the community to do some worthwhile activities like building a smokeless stove, toilet by using local materials, making a soak pit, kitchen gardening, making a solar dryer, garbage management or paper recycling.
For more information, please visit the Nepal page on the Global Volunteer Network website.
June 26th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
Well, that’s it! This is our last night in Nepal. Today was just so overwhelming for us and we found it hard to hold back the tears. We were just so blessed during our time here in Nepal and so very grateful that we were placed in the most beautiful children’s home-Shining Stars.
We did our Treasure Hunt, which was probably the biggest treasure hunt that we’ve ever done with 30 children and then we all ate the mangoes; it was fun and really hectic at the same time. Then we all went to the soccer field and played soccer and [...]
Posted in Nepal
June 24th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
It’s now Wednesday and our last few days are closing in. We really feel like we’ve just begun to settle in here and know all of the children and their personalities. It seems such a shame to leave now, but we have no choice. They keep on asking us “can’t you stay brother and sister”? Were going to have a farewell party on Saturday with mangos and I’m making a treasure hunt.
I’ve now been busy administering ear drops, eye drops and various creams since the Doctors visit. I have a chart to work by and it’s helped me to know [...]
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June 19th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
We took a couple of days off and went to Chitwan, It’s down South and very hot, it reminded me of Cairns. It’s a national park. Geoffrey wanted to have an elephant ride while we were here, so that was the best place to go to have one. It was a seven hour bus ride there and back. The scenery was spectacular, huge mountain ranges that just went on and on forever, just massive, with a river down below. The road was quite narrow and you freaked out if you looked down at how high up you were, but you [...]
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June 16th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
It’s now Saturday and the only day that the children don’t have to go to school. They have their big chores to do this morning and then it’s free time. They get to watch one DVD today (the only one for the week) and they have to take a vote on which one to watch. Geoffrey’s gone in early to take the boys to the field to play soccer with them before it gets too hot. I’ve decided to just take it easy this morning and go in after Dhal baht. We made kites yesterday and when it gets cooler [...]
Posted in Nepal
June 11th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
We’re settling into the routine of things here now. There was a lot of sorting out to do in the volunteer’s room. The reading books were in a bit of a state and so was the medicine cupboard. There are a few things that I need to get from the VSN headquarters to re-stock the first aid kit. The children have their medical check-ups next week which we have to be in attendance for. I’ve started bringing English story books into the girl’s room in the mornings and I’ve found that there are a lot of gaps in their pronunciation [...]
Posted in Nepal
June 7th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
Were at our new home for the next three weeks now, we did well, It’s super modern compared to the last place that we did our training in (some other volunteers are back at the other place). It’s like a western style house, three levels with an inside toilet and shower (still cold water only). There is a kitchen with table and chairs (which makes eating Dahl baht much easier) and a proper lounge room. Not only that but we have a mattress on the bed!! We thought that last night would be our first comfortable sleep in a week, [...]
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June 5th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
We have now completed our training and were back in Thamel for the night before we get taken out to our placement for the rest of our time here. We have been fully emersed in the Nepal way of life in the country for the past three days with extensive language training. We stayed with a host family in their home out amongst the fields. There was only an outside toilet and shower (cold water of course) I’m grateful that its not winter time and thankfullyour training also included a demonstration on how to use the outside shower. The kitchen [...]
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June 2nd, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
Posted in Nepal
May 29th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
We have arrived!! The plane trip was relatively easy as far as flying goes, no problems at all and we managed to get a bit of sleep. Cleared customs with a wave and a smile to go through with no baggage checks. Got collected from the airport also no problems and taken to our Hotel. Reminds me of India, not as smelly though. Feel pretty at home with it all really. The hotel is good compared to what else is around and for the price. Geoffrey’s bed reminds him of his childhood – hard!! I scratched my body with the [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 26th, 2010 by Tracey Jarrett
Getting close now, so I thought it was about time I logged into my journal, Lots and lots of last minute things to do and my to do later list is now quite long – later has become must do now. I’m not sure what to expect, so I’m not expecting anything – just keeping an open mind to what exactly we will be doing as well as what Nepal will be like. I’m grateful for all the donations to take with us, it will probably take me a day to pack it all – I think there will be [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 20th, 2010 by Jyothi Harjani
Hi gang,
Been great with providing english lessons, but our basic conditions are getting challenging by the day. Just can’t get used to lack of water and power cuts which inhibits our class structure and quality of lessons. Very difficult to teach 24 students by candlelight!!!
As for the water - no showers for 3 days, little cooking achieved, no washing hair, hand wash laundry or other basic needs. It’s got to get better.
Will be visit Chitwan (Safari Park) end of next week, providing the moasists don’t kick up another strike and stop all transport. Should have some help in June with a new Volunteer [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 12th, 2010 by Jyothi Harjani
Sorry I haven’t updated my Journal since I arrived, but due to the political unrest, and intermittent power cuts, it has been difficult to post items on this page. I arrived on Wednesday as planned and rested the first day trying to get used to the dusty nature of the place due to their high summer time.
On Friday, met with 4 other volunteers – 2 ladies from America, 1 guy from New Zealand, 1 Guy from Ardross WA along with previous 4 volunteers and Program Manager over dinner for 7pm and whisked away around 9pm to a [...]
Posted in Nepal
April 7th, 2010 by Neel
Got into Kathmandu a little later than expected, flight was delayed from Delhi. Definitely can tell the similarities between India and Nepal, except could see the peaks of the Himalayas from the plane. The airport and route to the city was a different picture but expected. Lots of narrow roads, hooting and drivers all over the place. Weather slightly cooler than Delhi, but it’s night time to in the 70s. During the day it does get pretty hot they say, so we’ll see how it goes. Spending first night in Thamel, which is a slightly more touristy place, will be [...]
Posted in Nepal
April 6th, 2010 by Neel
Flight from Newark to Delhi was fine, had some rest. Delhi seems to have improved in terms of traffic and cleanliness. Will get some rest tonight at the Hyatt, then catch the flight tomorrow to Kathmandu. Was 90 degrees when I landed in Delhi at 8pm at night, but should be cooler in Nepal.
Posted in Nepal
April 2nd, 2010 by Neel
Will be leaving Charlotte on 04/04, going to NYC and flying out of EWR on 04/05, be reaching Kathmandu on 04/07, will stop over in Delhi for a night. A combination of excitement and nerves.
Posted in Nepal
April 1st, 2010 by Jyothi Harjani
I haven’t yet started my journey, just setting up my journal to ensure it’s working before I embark on my trip.
Thank to my family, friends and work colleagues for your support and well wishes.
Posted in Nepal
October 20th, 2009 by Elizabeth Lewer
Hi,
Well Tihar happened over the weekend and for the most of it itwas fun. Sadly I got food poisoning and had to skip some of the festivities. On Saturday night my family lit candles around a chalk drawing on the front step and up to the little shrine on the third floor. Then they did Puja and we had a meal of fried chaapati, chickpea and paneer currey and a sweet rice pudding full of nuts and raisins. For the next few hours kids come round to the houses and sing and dance then they are given money and sweets. [...]
Posted in Nepal
October 14th, 2009 by Elizabeth Lewer
Hi everyone,
Well I am well and truely in my placement now. I live about 8 minutes walk from the home where I am helping out with 30 kids. 23 boys and 7 girls. It is challenging at the moment as they are out of school for the period between two major festivals – Daisan and Tihar.
Tihar is this weekend & goes for 3 days. It is to worship three different Hindu Gods and there is singing, lights everywhere, presents, sweets and Tikka. Different family members Tikka each other on different days. I am very excited to be here to watch [...]
Posted in Nepal
October 11th, 2009 by Elizabeth Lewer
Hi everyone,
Yes I am back in civilisation and to be honest I really was liking the country side….Kathmandu is loud and smelly ALL THE TIME.
So on Wednesday we packed up and high tailed it out of the city out to the village of Bistachhap. That took about 1.5 hours. On the way we stopped at the GVN build site. They are building a new home as some of the kids are currently in a rented place and it is way too small. They are doing such an amazing job.
Then we went on the Bistachhap to meet our host families. My [...]
Posted in Nepal
October 1st, 2009 by Elizabeth Lewer
Hi Everyone,
This is my trial journal. I have about 36 hours to go before I step on that plane and the butterflies are there! So next time you hear from me I will be well and truely there.
love, hugs and boogers
liz
Posted in Nepal
June 21st, 2009 by Valentini Zogopoulou
Hi,
My name is Valentini and i’m from Greece.i’ve just finished my studies as a pre -school teacher and this summer i’m spending two months working with children in Nepal ( sounds strange even saying it let along doing it!). Trough this journal i’ll try to describe as good as i can my experiences in Nepal - i ask for leniency in any spelling mistakes since english is not my first language-.I’m counting 6 days for my departure and only now that i’m trying to fit everything in my suitcase i’m beginning to realize the length of what i’m about to do..anyway hopefully my [...]
Posted in Nepal
June 11th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof
Namaste…this will be the last journal entry to come to you from Nepal!
Bandha bandha. Big strike today. I left the guesthouse before Amanda and Laura woke up to try and find some breakfast. Everything was closed today (not just transportation) and I had to walk all the way to North Lakeside just to find a roadside shack that looked like it might serve me some toast and tea. The butter on my toast was really orange and smelled a bit funky, but I ate it anyway (convinced myself it must have been special water buffalo butter). As I was [...]
Posted in Nepal
June 7th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof
Namaste from the pouring rain in Pokhara,
Rafting – day 2:
I was the first one up in the morning, so I made a cup of milk tea and sat on a rock by the river…thinking about where I was and how I wouldn’t have imagined myself here in the not so distant past. It started raining so hard that we huddled under the tarp attached to the raft propped on its side to eat breakfast (porridge, toast, eggs, fried veg, hashbrowns…way too much food!). We waited out the rain and then broke down camp, washed all the dishes in water so [...]
Posted in Nepal
June 6th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof
Namaste loves!
I think I left off the day before my birthday, so I’ll be starting now with my birthday. I slept in late on my birthday (to 7am). I didn’t even hear the other girls as they came back to the room from the Nepali dance bar around 2am. There was a large scale bandha (strike) today by the Newari people; apparently they want their own autonomous state. I’m not sure how realistic that request is…but then I thought of Canada and Quebec and realized that it’s not such an unusual thing to ask for. Nearly everything in Thamel was closed. [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 31st, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof
Namaste…today is the day I’ll try to catch up with this journal:
Starting with May 27th. Amanda, Laura, Matt, Elan, and I left our Children’s Homes on the microbus to get in to Thamel after walking the kids to school in their matching blue rain ponchos. All five of us squished in to a tiny white Suzuki Maruti (the only kind of taxi there is) from Ratna bus park to New bus park where we were going to buy our tickets to get to Karkabhitta at the Nepal-India border on the east side of the country. The taxi driver was quite [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 28th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof
Namaste and shuba bihani (good morning),
Saturday is the children’s day off from school, so the kids are at the home all day today. I just can’t seem to get used to not having any breakfast when I wake up, so I end up buying biscuits and lapsi to hold me over until my morning dhal bhaat. We did the morning routine with the children and then Matt, Amanda and I looked over an atlas, proudly chirping out interesting facts about each of our countries (Australia, New Zealand, and Canada). There was no decent map of BC, but I still sat [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 23rd, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof
Namaste my much missed friends and family!
So after the Chitwan adventure I arrived back in Thamel and started organizing all my gear from the trek and the garbage bag full of stuff I’d left behind in storage to get ready for volunteering again. I went for breakfast to my favourite place in Thamel and had a bowl full of curd (something like chewy, tangy yogurt…except it tastes much more amazing than that description) and bananas and a piece of thick toast with butter (also doesn’t sound that impressive, but trust me, any breakfast food getting that close to Western toast [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 18th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof
Namaste!
Well, today (May 12) was seven weeks in Nepal and my first full day on the relaxed lakeside dwelling of Pokhara, teeming with hippies. I didn’t have a good sleep at the hotel because my whole body ached, but especially my arms for some unknown reason. I wandered outside in my pajamas (all clothes, including underwear and bra still in the hotel laundry service…they say they have a washer and dryer but I’m certain my clothes are up drying on the roof in the sun because no washer and dryer takes nearly 24 hours to do it’s cycle). Had a [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 14th, 2009 by Katie Gibson
Namaste!
This will be my final post as a 2009 GVN/VSN volunteer in Nepal. What to say?? This has been an incredible experience – and leaving is bittersweet. Originally my trip was supposed to be 4 weeks volunteering + 2 weeks travelling. There are several reasons for cutting the trip short, namely my difficulty adjusting and the political situation (which at the moment poses no real threat but has the potential to suddenly deteriorate). I should mention that the decision to leave has nothing to do with GVN/VSN – in fact, the organizations have been extremely flexible, supportive, and caring throughout [...]
Posted in Nepal
May 14th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof
Well, I’ve been trying to write this with as much speed as possible, but it seems I still only left off at the end of day 8. I think I need to hurry myself up a bit because tomorrow I was thinking of heading out for a couple days of jungle safari (don’t worry, I bought some anti-malarial pills from a sketchy pharmacy – read: tiny hole in the wall with random drug packages packed to the ceiling in an impossibly random order- at the end of the road today) and I’ll be without internet again. Enough of that…
Trek – [...]
Posted in Nepal
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