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.

One of the common misconceptions about volunteering abroad is that you will be in a group of very young people. It is true that many of the large volunteering organizations target the ‘GAP year’ pool of school and university leavers. However, at Volunteer Society Nepal we have placed volunteers from the age of 17 to 76!

Make the most of your time after the kids have left home

We often find that when people retire or their children leave home they are suddenly left with lots of time to spare. This is the ideal time to come volunteering in Nepal. We find that the varied experiences some of our older volunteers bring with them not only helps hugely with their interactions with Nepalis, but also allows them to share it with our younger volunteers.

Older volunteers bring valuable life experience

Many of our more senior volunteers bring with them real world business experience, first hand child care experience, teaching expertise and often top medical knowledge as well. In the past we have also had parents coming with their adult or young families. By all accounts the bonding of working in a different environment such as Nepal is a memorable bonding experience.

Read about Michelle’s experience below:

Volunteering in an orphanage as carer and gardener

My name is Michelle. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I’m 60 and retired from teaching 3 years ago. Every year or so, I have a special volunteer project. 2009 brought me to volunteer inn Nepal. I arrived Oct. 1st and stayed for 2 months.

First I was welcomed by Sughanda Bai at the airport and found my new home in Kathmandu. I then had a crash course in Nepali in the mornings and visited Kathmandu in the afternoon. I had asked for manual work and enjoyed painting at the orphanage and school with another volunteer. My short stay with Sughanda Bai and his family was reassuring, convivial, (the best dhal bat ever!!!) and rewarding. Tej Bai was also of great help with communications between the Orphanage in Pokhara and Kathmandu. They always knew where I was and made my security their priority. Although I didn’t feel insecure in this new environment, their supervision showed the professionalism of VSN.

After 10 days in Kathmandu, I went to volunteer in Pokhara in another orphanage and worked for a month starting a vegetable garden from scratch. I also took care of the children when it was too hot to dig!!!!. I enjoyed every minute of this posting. Great scenery,charming people, great trekking, and my hosts were as thoughfull as the Shresta family!!! Simple living, but grandiose people!!!

I returned to Kathmandu a week before leaving, and indulged myself in a last trekking to Langtang with Gelu Sherpa. He works for Volunteer Society Nepal as a language teacher but is also a trekking guide. It was the ultimate trekking!!!

To sum up my stay is almost impossible. No words can express my learning, my sensations, my gratitude to these people and their land.

I can only recommend Volunteer Society Nepal if you want to volunteer in Nepal. It is a very good option! Please be free to ask any questions on this Email

So why not Volunteer in Nepal?

Whether you are a grandparent, have just retired, or want to do something special with your family, you will be warmly welcomed in by Volunteer Society Nepal. If you would like to speak to some of our older volunteers then you can contact them through the volunteer community:

• Michelle – Volunteering at an orphanage in Pokhara and building a new vegetable garden
  
• Maureen – Fundraising support in Kathmandu
• Mark – His family volunteered on a construction project in Kathmandu