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

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.

International volunteering in Nepal is not a new idea. People have been coming here for decades to offer their help and support in any way they can. However, as is often the way when opportunities like this develop, there are lots of people who tend to take a cut of the money involved. What makes Volunteer Society Nepal different is that we are a local Nepali company and so you can be 100% confident that when you volunteer in Nepal your money is going to the country itself, not to pay for advertising and office space abroad.

International vs. local agencies

There are many placement agencies located throughout the developed world. You will see large adverts in magazines and newspapers from companies in the US, UK and Australasia offering volunteer packages throughout Nepal and the rest of the world. However, what a lot of people don’t realize is that these large agencies then use local agencies like VSN to manage the placements in Nepal. Despite the difference in cost, the experience you have on the ground is no different, and in fact they are often a lot less flexible than if you arrange to volunteer direct.

International fees are often 2 to 3 times more expensive:

To give you an idea of the huge range in volunteer fees, here is a list of some of the leading organizations worldwide and what they charge for a 6 week program:

All of these programs offer very similar inclusions. None of them include flights. Volunteer Society Nepal is far better value at between half and a third of the cost.

Affordable volunteer fees do not mean less contribution to local projects:

?Looking at global volunteer agency websites, you read about funding for multiple offices around the world and the ever increasing costs of getting listed high up on search engines. However, you very rarely read clear information about what % of your fee goes to the project. The simple reason being… it’s very little. Once they have paid for all their running costs only a minimal amount goes to the organization you are working with. However, we know if you volunteer in Nepal you want to know exactly where your money is going. That is why we give you a clear breakdown on our website according to your length of stay.  Click here. On average it is over 30% of your total fee, far higher than international agencies.

But how do I trust the quality of VSN?

Talk to our previous volunteers. We have placed hundreds of people since we started work in 2004. On our site you can find email addresses of past volunteers who are happy to answer any questions, or you can contact people through our Facebook community group. There is no better recommendation than those people who have come before you. Volunteer Community

We hope you can come and join us to volunteer in Nepal and make sure every bit of your hard earned volunteer fee goes to the right place.

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

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.