Posts Tagged ‘past volunteers’
50 more children enroll at Volunteer Society Nepal charitable school
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:
Edited: January 30th, 2010
Two volunteers donate much more than just their time to our children
Some of our volunteers from abroad donate more than just their time in Nepal. Through hard work and generosity people bring bags of clothes, teaching equipment and money they have raised from their schools, companies or friends. Two volunteers from Australia, Jan and Misty, recently arrived in Kathmandu with some great resources to donate to Volunteer Society Nepal. These were specifically to support 2 of VSN’s own projects here in Nepal: The New Life Children’s Home orphanage and the charitable school the Career Building International Academy. What they managed to bring with them on their volunteering experience hugely contributed to the effectiveness of their stay and well being of our community.
The below account was written by Jan about how they managed to raise money and donations for our projects.
Donations for the New Life Children’s Home
Clothing: Firstly, we bought loads of second hand clothes that our friends had generously donated. We ended up with so many clothes that I wrote an email to Singapore Airlines, and they generously gave us 60 kilo’s of free luggage to Kathmandu. The joy in the children’s faces was a moment in time that was irreplaceable. Even more rewarding was the joy in our hearts, when we arrived the next day to take them on an excursion and they were so proudly dressed in their new clothes
- Learning Materials: We bought numerous stationary items which included: colouring books, pencils, texta’s, educational wall charts and most popular, the growth chart. Misty uses these resources for quiet time in the morning sun.
- Sports Equipment: Another $100.00 that was donated, was spent on a heavy duty food processor, 6 school bags, skipping ropes, cricket bat and balls also, ping pong sets. The sporting equipment is generally bought out in the afternoon at either the basketball court or the field. Another work colleague also gave me AUD$20.00 to spend on the children. This purchased even more pieces of sporting equipment which included: shuttlecocks and basketballs. Which have bought much joy (and lessons on sharing). Judging by the number of children who join us in games, I think our children are the best equipped kids on the block.
- Socks: Two of the orphan boys from the Bhaktapur region, who are sponsored to go to this school, came to pick up the left-over larger clothes. Their socks were tattered so we were able to purchase a supply of socks all children who are sponsored to go to the school. AUD$7.50 purchased 20 pairs of socks.
- A photo album of memories: Another memento that I am leaving behind is a photo album. I have taken many photos during this stay and am collating them and putting them into a photo album so that the children have some documentation of their lives.
CBIA school:
The school in Australia where I work also fund-raised and this money is going to be spent refurbishing the four new school rooms. We will be buying items such as carpet, whiteboards, educational materials, baby gym equipment and we have already purchased the basketball poles and hoops for the courtyard. VSN sponsors this school that the twelve children attend. Altogether, forty under-privileged children are sponsored to attend this school.
The farewell from the children was the greatest message of thanks that Volunteer Society Nepal could give, but we thankyou again Jan and Misty for all you did during your time here. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
If you would like to ask anything about her experiences in Nepal with VSN then please feel free to Contact Jan
Edited: January 22nd, 2010
A musical momo feast for volunteers and children alike at VSN’s orphanage
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.
F
inally 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.
Edited: January 21st, 2010
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
Launch of Volunteer Community
We have always felt that the best recommendation we can give to you about VSN is from the people who have already been here and experienced it for themselves. This is why we have launched our community pages.
On these pages you can find email addresses to contact people from all around the world who have worked on a variety of our projects. And if you have a Facebook account you can also join our Facebook group – ‘Volunteer Society Nepal: Official Facebook Group’. This is an easy way for people to upload photos, share stories and post questions they may have about VSN.
We hope you enjoy having a look round and it gives you an ever better feel of what VSN is like for our volunteers.
Edited: November 23rd, 2009
Experience in fundraising?
Volunteer Society Nepal is always on the look out for experienced fund raisers, grant writers and NGO developers to help us improve the good works of our two organisations: Volunteer Society Nepal and The Everest Foundation, a charity focusing on providing for disadvantaged women and children in Nepal. In Kathmandu we have a small office with a computer and internet access for volunteers to use if they want to look into improving our fund raising platforms.
If you would like to know more about these opportunities then please feel free to contact the organisation directly or some of our past fund raising volunteers, Jason Carney, Holly Gee or Nick Tuppen through the Community Page.
If you are interested please get in touch!
Edited: November 15th, 2009
