Posts Tagged ‘volunteer society nepal’

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:

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

Edited: January 30th, 2010

Helping overcome disability boundaries as a volunteer in Nepal; Irene’s story

At Volunteer Society Nepal we always try to ensure we get the most from our volunteers. We believe everyone has unique skills they can bring to help when they volunteer in Nepal. Few people bring as unique a skill as one of our most recent volunteers from France, Irene. As a trained sign language teacher she has come to volunteer in a deaf school in the ancient city of Bhaktapur.

Having been here for only a week she has already settled into life with her new host family and her new posting. We went to see how she was getting on and found her in front of a classroom of 7 highly focused deaf children signing back and forth to one another. The challenges of this for Irene are significant. She has had to learn to speak Nepali, sign Nepali and also help to teach the children to communicate correctly in English sign language. However, she seemed to be excelling in her new volunteering position. The children also seemed very grateful and were eager to engage with their new teacher.

The opportunity for the deaf children to see someone who has the same hearing difficulties as them, but is able to travel the world, be highly independent and respected is an inspiration. All too often, people with disability issues are not given any opportunity to learn in Nepal. Having a volunteer in Nepal like Irene is of huge importance as it gives these youngsters an idea of what they can achieve and brings them a huge step closer to them achieving their dreams.

Find out more about volunteering at Deaf and Disabled schools throughout Nepal

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.

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.

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

$5k needed for landless community Health Clinic

We are looking to raise $5000 dollars to improve the Manohara Landless Community health clinic. If you are able to help by volunteering or fundraising, please get in touch as soon as possible

Background to health care in Nepal:

Nepal is located between China and India. Its mountains, lack of infrastructure, and land-locked status pose extreme barriers to development. Its per capita income is just USD $218 and the vast majority of people are subsistence farmers. Nepal’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 539/100,000 births ranks among the highest in the world. (In comparison, Sri Lanka’s MMR is 94, while the United States’ is just 8). Life expectancy is 55 years. Diseases of pregnant women, children, infections, and malnutrition account for two thirds of Nepal’s illnesses.

There is a gaping disparity in the quality of health care access offered in urban and rural areas. While Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, has 98 doctors for every 100,000 people, rural Nepal averages just 2.5 per 100,000 – and in many of its 75 districts, there is no doctor. Many approved government posts of all levels of health care workers are unfilled. For example, For example, for the whole of Nepal, 13% of all baby deliveries are conducted by trained personnel; and for the poorest fifth of the population (mainly rural) the number is just 3%.

VSN has been focusing its health programs to meet a small number of that need in urban and rural areas of Nepal. With this program hundreds of local people have been already benefited. While Nepali underprivileged people are receiving health services from health experts, overseas medical professionals, medical students, and other volunteers also receive the opportunity to work side-by-side with other foreigners and Nepali health professionals in a Third World setting. Overseas volunteers will work alongside their Nepali counterparts to organize overall health camps, examine patients, distribute medicine and consult with communities about sanitation and health care.

VSN Health Clinic at the landless community

On the banks of the Manohara River near a place called Jadibuti, there is a community of internally displaced Nepalese citizens. The Manohara Landless Community (MLC) consists of over 5,000 people (3,800 under the age of 18). These people come from a variety of circumstances. Some were driven from their homes due to Maoist rebels and associated violence. Others came because floods and landslides destroyed their villages, and more still are sharecroppers who have never owned their own property.

Despite the fact that they are squatting on public land, these people have built “camps” on this river bank and in the past 3 years have established their own community. It is unlikely that they will be removed. The conditions here are the likes of which most people in the world cannot even imagine. The homes are makeshift sheds, some held together by little more than discarded rice bags. Because it is on the bank of a river, they have no clean water or waste management system. Raw sewage runs down the middle of the “streets”. Sadly, every day hundreds of children play in these filthy conditions, and the residents use the same river water for urinating, defecating, bathing, and sometimes, drinking.

Despite their hardships, the residents of this community have established their own government. VSN contacted its leaders, or ‘elders,’ about the needs of the community. Although VSN does not have a regular donor-base for its projects and has always depended on volunteers’ fees, VSN decided to establish a small health clinic for the community, including health awareness and income generation activities. Now this community has a health clinic with an experienced health worker, as well as one other staff member who provides treatment and medicines for a minimal fee. Until overall sanitation improves, however, the sad truth is that all of this hard work will be futile in the event of a major epidemic. The objectives of establishing health clinic are as follows:

• To provide quality health care facilities for internally displaced people with either no cost or low cost
• To provide quality health care facilities to local disadvantaged women and children.
• To provide health care facilities at local level so that patients do not have to go far and expensive hospitals
• As this health clinic is located near to the orphanages run by VSN, we aim to provide free health services for the locally run orphanages
• Making a center for overseas medical doctors, nurses, paramedics and medical students where they can serve underprivileged women and children and learn about Nepali medications system.
• Organize health awareness program on a regular basis

What we need to develop the clinic:

Currently this health clinic has one junior doctor with a small pharmacy, who provides general health checks for local people. This clinic provides healthcare facilities to around 300 patients a month. As this clinic does not have sufficient medical equipments and human resources, these landless and local patients either get no treatment or they have to go to private hospitals, which is extremely expensive. VSN has a plan to expand its services to local people with more equipment and qualified medical personnel. If we have more equipment and human resources, we will be able to provide healthcare facilities up to 750 patients a month. We have three rooms. Two rooms have been used for patient examining and one has been used for pharmacy. To provide quality healthcare facilities we would be needing following equipments and human resources.

1. An X ray machine and Laboratory

For ordinary diagnosis patients have to pay lots of money or they have to go far away. If our clinic owns an X- ray machine and laboratory, people from this area will benefit hugely from this clinic. It costs approximately $3,300

2. Medicines

As we do not have sufficient medicines, we have not been able to provide health care facilities.

Helpful medical supplies that may be provided to our health clinic

• Gloves
• Cotton balls
• Bandaids
• Penlights
• Metronidazole syrup
• Amoxil 500 mg. caplets
• Acetaminophen
• Pregnancy tests
• Amoxicillin suspension
• Ciprofloxacin 400mg
• Alcohol swales
• Cold/ Cough syrup
• Oral rehydration solution
• Ranitidine 15 mg tablets
• Omeprazole capsules
• Permethain cream/ scabies lotion
• Rit
• Nurofen
• Neosporin/ Bacitracin
• Clatrimanzole/ Antifungal cream
• Tongue depressors
• Antibiotic Eye and Ear Drops
• Nasal saline
• Saline eye drops
• Batteries (C, D, A ,A)
• Alcohol foam/Gel

Optional

• Fatal Doppler
• Glucometer
• E.N.T. set
• Otoscope /ophthalmoscope
• Blade handles
• SM. needles

3. Doctor and nurses

As we have a junior doctor working for our clinic, he is looking after overall management of the clinic. But, once, we have more medical equipments; we will need more physicians, specialist doctors for part time in a regular base. Moreover, if we have more overseas volunteer specialists, physician doctors, nurses, paramedics, medical and premedical students, they will give great helping hands to serve local communities. They can be involved in three different activities.

If you are interested in helping raise funds for the health clinic, please contact VSN immediately and we will give you extra information, fundraising support and anything else you would require. Or, if you are looking to volunteer in a medical placement in Nepal, get in touch and we will discuss options for supporting the clinic

Edited: December 9th, 2009

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

New women’s group established in Kathmandu

Jason Carney from Canada has been with VSN in Pepsi Cola, Kathmandu for the last 3 months. He came to us as an expert in grant and proposal writing and has been very helpful in sourcing fund raising possibilities in Nepal. Jason has also established a new women’s group here in Pepsi-Cola. After discussions with the women and other organisers he has set up skills training, legal training and English lessons for over 20 women in the area. The women are delighted to have this opportunity to gain some independence. If you would be interested in continuing Jason’s good work when he leaves us in Jan 2010 then please get in touch!

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

Edited: November 15th, 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

Current affairs in Nepal

Nepalnews.com provides you with up to date news from Nepal so you can read about life here from the comfort of your own home.

Edited: November 15th, 2009