It was a day of celebration at the Career Building International Academy last week as the community came together in honour of the Hindu Goddess of Education, Saraswati. Nick, one of our teaching volunteers from England writes about the event that saw another 50 pupils enrol at the Volunteer Society Nepal funded school…

We had known about the up coming celebration for some time and had been looking forward to it. All the Hindu festivals are a treat for any visiting volunteer to Nepal with bright colours, smiling faces and always some delicious local food! The 20th January was the celebration of the Goddess Saraswati. She is recognised as the Hindu goddess of spiritual enlightenment; encompassing learning, wisdom and fine arts. It is customary to begin a child’s education on this day and the CBIA organised a special worship of Saraswati.

The most significant aspect of this day is that Hindu children are taught reading and writing their first word – as it is considered an auspicious day to begin a child’s education. Goddess Saraswati being pure and white and representing learning, no animal sacrifices are made to her. Everyone has a vegetarian meal on this day. While the preparations on the new basketball court were underway, at the back of the playground the VSN language trainer Beesal was hard at work making Prashad in a huge cauldron over a wood fire. This was a mix of ground wheat and rice meal, sugar and dried fruits topped off with apples and tangerines. It was delicious and fed all the assembled after they received a blessing from the Brahmin. Standing with the families of the children you have been teaching witnessing the ancient rituals was an incredible experience. The school seems to be going from strength to strength with new classrooms, a new basketball court and an expanding library all donated by the funds of VSN volunteers.

We only have one week left at the school after 3 months volunteering here and it’s going to be strange to say goodbye to the children. It makes you want to come back and see how everyone in the community is getting on. All I can say is that I can fully recommend coming to volunteer as a teacher here. There is something new everyday and the kids surprise you with what they want to learn about. The pride they have in their country and their ambition is humbling and to be able to help as a volunteer even in a small is a great way to spend your time as a volunteer.

To find out more about volunteering as a teacher with Vounteer Society Nepal you can explore the Placement Pages:

• Volunteering in Schools
• Teacher Training and Subject Specific Teaching
  
• Teaching in Monasteries

Last Friday was both an exciting and a sad day in Pepsi-Cola Kathmandu. It was Jan and Misty’s last day volunteering in Nepal with us and we will miss their energy and enthusiasm greatly. But to say goodbye they organised a party at the New Life Children’s home (Volunteer Society Nepal’s orphanage), which was a great way to spend a Friday night and rarely have we seen an orphanage feel so much like a family gathering!

All the VSN staff, their kids and the volunteers squeezed into the orphanage at 5pm where a house full of very excited children were getting themselves dressed up for the concert and munching on some sweet treats. Whilst the kids did their last dress rehearsal we all helped to help make momo in the kitchen. With over 20 hungry mouths to feed a big team effort was important! Beesal mixed the buff meat with the secret blend of spices, Gelu mixed up the hot sauce, Nick rolled the dough and the rest of us tried our best to stuff the mixture into the dough in vaguely momo like shapes. This is not as easy as it looks when the Nepali’s do it! If there is a knack then it will take another few months of volunteering to get it.

Once the momo were steamed and ready to eat, the whole house fell silent for half an hour of filling bellies with delicious food. I think about 50 each was the average number consumed, quite a feat given that some of the children are just 5 years old. The hot sauce was no barrier either with the call of  pani, pani! (water) being echoed throughout as the children flapped their hands in front of their mouths.

After the feasting came the entertainment. Misty had prepared some dancing for the kids and they each took it in turns to sing a song of their choice – a nice mix of Nepali and English classics that found the rest of us humming away. The volunteers were also called up for an impromtu singsong of their own, which lead Nick to get all 20 of us to do the hokey-cokey bringing on much hysteria from the kids.

Finally it was time to try and calm the children down and say goodbye. The New Life Children’s Home presented the volunteers leaving the next day with beautiful and very touching hand made cards to say thank you for all their love and support. A few tears later and we all headed off to bed, the adults as exhausted as the kids, but all with the warm feeling of love and laughter! It was incredible finish to the time as a volunteer in Nepal and a wonderful memory to take away back home.

In Nepal, especially in remote rural areas, child labour (especially of girls), domestic abuse, and sexual exploitation is prevalent. Additionally, girls are traditionally kept illiterate, increasing their financial dependency and keeping them unaware of their basic human rights. A number of laws also discriminate against women’s rights regarding inheritance, divorce and the persecution of abusers. Volunteer Society Nepal has been helping with various projects to address the problems of women in Nepal through education, skill training, financial and legal empowerment

Strengthening women’s entrepreneurship and access to markets is one effective method of providing economic empowerment and building gender equality. Social mobilization through the formation of a women’s group is an acclaimed way of achieving this recognised UNIFEM and the International Centre for Research on Women.

June 2008; The founding of our women’s group…

We invited interested women to a meeting and focus group. The poor and low-educated women outlined their desire to learn or improve their Nepali literacy, English language speaking, hygeine and family health knowledge, business and accounting skills, legal literacy, and income-generating skill options. Subsequently, the Everest Tailoring and Training Centre was established in June 2008. The open-front shop in Pepsicola Town, Kathmandu is where 6 women, recently trained as tailors, offer their services to customers in the local community. Other women have been given skills, seed materials and marketing help to produce and sell wax candles, a growing cottage industry in Nepal.

Plans for the Women’s Group in 2010

We would like to sustainably expand Everest Foundation’s services. We want to offer women a course with a complete set of skills and knowledge training to allow people to set up their own income-generating projects. This will spark attitudinal change in both the women’s families and in their communities. The following activities are arranged to begin in early January 2010:

• Nepali language classes for all members for as long as requested
• Counselling services for victims of domestic violence, trafficking, or violent conflict
• Lectures about women’s rights, legal comprehension, and progress of women’s groups in Nepal by the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre, an independent NGO in Nepal
• An 8-day entrepreneurship training workshop for all members given by the Microenterprise Development Program, a UNDP funded program
• A market analysis to investigate job demand for low-educated women in Kathmandu

Future volunteer contributions:

We want to maximise volunteers’ skills to improve the women’s groups. Outlined below are a series of things we would like to complete through volunteer contributions. This will allow a continuation of the group’s business development plans and ensure the success of future common enterprises for our members.

What we need from volunteers:

1. A market analysis for potential projects: Conduct a market analysis of skills, products or services that can be set up by the Everest Foundation Women’s Resource Centre. Take steps towards making these income-generating activities.
2. Do a value chain analysis for potential projects: Perform a value chain analysis for a viable industry, product or service and determine how the members can fill roles in the chain from basic production to marketing and vending
3. Business Training: Educate the women in financing, accounting, or business development for the enterprise in question
4. Health Education: Hold an educational program on home hygiene and family health.
5. Women’s support education: Present information to the members about relevant women’s issues in Nepal or globally.
6. English teaching: Create and deliver a comprehensive spoken English lesson plans
7. Overseas marketing support: Provide marketing services in your home country for clothing, candles, or other products that can be produced by this group
8. Grant Writing: Search for and apply to grant making foundations that will support the planned activities at the Women’s Resource Centre

If you would like to get involved in supporting the women’s groups then please contact us to discuss options for involvement.

To speak to Jason about his work please see our Community Page.