Posts Tagged ‘environmental volunteering’

Two American volunteers make a big difference in Kathmandu with their environmental program

We have new volunteers coming through the Volunteer Society Nepal office the whole time. Read recent volunteer Jan”s account of life in Pepsi-Cola and the environmental project two American volunteers have just completed…

There is never a dull moment here at the Volunteer Society Nepal’s head office in Pepsi Cola, Kathmandu. It is always a hive of activity with all volunteers sharing experiences of their individual projects, supporting new arrivals and also recounting their most recent adventures. My daughter Misty and I have been here for 4 weeks now and have just returned from an 8 day break from Kathmandu where we went to Chitwan National Park for the “safari experience”. Then we headed to Pokhara to do the Ghorepani Trek. The trek was arranged by VSNs tour guide Gelu Sherpa and was fantastic with magnificent vistas of the Annapurna mountains as our backdrop.

Within moments of being back at the office we met the new, larger than life, Irish recruit Andrew who is heading off to Salleri, in the Everest region, to work in the monastery. We also met the two new volunteers from America, Antoinette and Humsini. In their two weeks here they have exceeded all expectations with a great contribution in a short period of time.

The girls have initiated a clean-up of the local sports field. The field is the central meeting place for the whole Pepsi-Cola community, where the locals and children play sport and sun themselves. But it is covered with litter and rocks. With the help of Sugandha, the girls have painted 8 brightly coloured garbage bins to be placed around the park and VSN is going to pay for the clearing of the bins. It is hoped this simple environmental project will have a big community impact and begin to lay the foundations of an awareness of the social responsibility of rubbish collection. Currently all rubbish is simply thrown on the floor.

The day they were put out saw children from the VSN supported New Life Children’s Home and school working side by side with volunteers clearing up the rubbish by hand. Talking to the onlookers reminded us how long a journey it is until garbage bins are used regularly, but it was a very visible start to the process with a huge pile of rubbish cleared within just a few hours.

Edited: January 21st, 2010