Rural Community Project, Nepal

Volunteers are needed to participate in several community projects in the Chitwan region of Nepal and around Kathmandu. These projects are aimed at promoting social upliftment through teaching, cultural exchange and tackling health issues.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers are needed to help on the following projects:

1. Teaching English in a Rural School

Volunteers are needed to teach English in a school in the Rural village of Gerkhu, in the foothills of the Himalayas, North of Kathmandu. The school provides basic education for the children from the poorer families of the area. As in most schools in Nepal, there is a lack of experienced English teachers, and your help as a volunteer English teacher will be invaluable in helping improve the childrens' English reading and writing abilities, which is a vital skill in the Nepalese job market or further education.

You do not need any previous teaching experience, simply talking with the children, reading stories, encouraging them to develop their English skills, and even singing, will make a huge difference. As a volunteer English teacher, you will find all students are very happy to engage you in conversation to practice their skills, so you will be busy most of the time. It is also encouraged for volunteers to bring your own ideas to the placement, and all new ideas are always welcome.

2. Traditional Farming Project

This is a placement for people who want to experience the hard life of rural Nepal, where the majority of people still farm using traditional methods.

You will live alongside a family and help them work in the rice fields of Chitwan in Southern Nepal. By becoming a part of the family you will truly experience the real life of Nepal and its people. Depending on the season you will do many different jobs, from milking the buffalo, to planting rice, or cutting grown rice and carrying to the house where it’s beaten by hand. There is always something to do on the farm, but you will have plenty of time to relax and chat to the locals, and have the chance to experience the local community.

This project is located in a village set deep in the region of Chitwan, near the Indian border. Set near the Chitwan National Park, it also gives ample opportunity to explore the wilds of the Jungle where nature and Man live hand in hand.

This project is hard work and not for the faint hearted, but it shows the reality of life in rural Nepal.

3. Working in a Day Care Centre

This project involves working in the Sahura Daycare centre in the Chitwan region. Children under the age of 4 are invited from the poor villages around Chitwan to attend a preschool. Here they are taught basic reading & writing and good health & life skills to prepare them for their future school life, and hopefully provide a route out of poverty. As a volunteer, you will work in the centre, helping the children by teaching them to read & write, basic health skills involving teeth brushing and regular hygiene and the ability to mix with other children in a constructive manner. 

But the project is not all work! As the day-care centre is next to the Chitwan National park, you will have the chance to experience this jungle region; safari on the back of elephants, watch the famous one horn rhinos and photograph crocodiles along the banks of the Rapti river.

4. Baghmati River Project

Last year, over 7900 children died in Nepal from Diarrhoeal related disease. Across Nepal, water supplies are being contaminated by factory and human waste, pesticides, insecticides and livestock waste, meaning in many areas water is unfit to drink. One method of providing clean drinking water to families is through lifestraws (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LifeStraw). This project aims to provide Lifestraws to families around the Baghmati River in Kathmandu and also in the Himalayan mountain regions.

As a volunteer, you will join the Lifestraws project in Kathmandu, helping to advertise the project, monitoring the use of lifestraws in the community and also placing new lifestraws with families. Part of your volunteer fee will be used towards lifestraws, which you will help install with families who need them. Typical tasks include visiting families to check that their lifestraws are being correctly maintained, working in the project office to advertise the project online and allocate lifestraws to families, and helping to develop charity events such as trekking and other projects to raise funding.

5. Working in a Health Centre

This project is located in the Rural village of Gerkhu, in the foothills of the Himalayas, North of Kathmandu. In 2011 a medical centre was built in the village which serves several thousand people in Gerkhu and the surrounding area. It was then arranged for the Nepali government to staff and fund the centre on a daily basis. This is a region where without basic medical care, people die from the most basic of ailments. As such, the centre is vital in providing the basic care needed for local people, and to organise transportation to the larger hospital at Trisuli.

As a volunteer you will be working alongside the Nepali staff at the centre, talking with patients and experiencing rural life in Nepal. No day will be the same, so be prepared to test your first aid knowledge. Ideally this placement is for medical students who want the experience of working in basic conditions in a very remote location.
On all projects, you will receive full training and support from our Volunteer Coordinator and local staff.

Below is an interactive map showing the locations of the projects:

Dates
You can join for 2 week, 1 month, 2 month, 3 month and 4 month durations on the 1st and 15th of each month, year round. We are however flexible with dates and can accommodate as well. Please email volunteer@workingabroad.com if you have specific questions about dates.

2012 Dates:

1st May to 15th May
15th May to 31st May
1st June to 15th June
15th June to 30th June 
1st July to 15th July
15th July to 31st July
1st August to 15th August
15th August to 31st August
1st September to 15th September
15th September to 30th September
1st October to 15th October
15th October to 31st October
1st November to 15th November
15th November to 30th November
1st December to 15th December
15th December to 31st December

Food and Accommodation
Upon arrival in Kathmandu, volunteers are taken to a guest house in Thamel for several days, for some some sightseeing and to acclimatise to Nepalese life. You will then be transferred to the placement of your choice. Here you will stay with a carefully selected host family, who speak English. This will give you the opportunity to experience the real life of a Nepalese family and the local community. All meals will be provided by your host family.

Type of Volunteers needed
Volunteers should be aged 18 years upwards and speak English. All nationalities are welcome. Volunteers do not need any specific skills or qualifications, but any skills you do have will be useful for the projects. Volunteers should be self motivated, adaptable and flexible and willing to live and work in rustic conditions, particularly for the Traditional Farming Project. Projects are often located in rural, isolated villages and volunteers should be independent and mature, and able to manage with basic amenities, and limited access to modern facilities.

Costs
The costs for the project are as follows: 2 weeks is £370, 1 month is £510, 2 months is £780, 3 months is £990 and 4 months is £1180. This cost includes airport pick up and departure, taxis around Kathmandu, hotel stays for 3 nights in Kathmandu, guided sightseeing, bus transfers to and from the placement, placement and support from partner organisation in Nepal and WorkingAbroad Projects, and all food and accommodation. What is not included is your flights and travel to and from Nepal, visa costs, personal expenses, and your own health and travel insurance.

Flights/Travel
The quickest and simplest route is to fly to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. It is also possible to enter Nepal via India, though this takes longer. The main Airlines arriving in Kathmandu are Thai Airlines, Qatar, Etihad and Jet Airways, which is usually the cheapest option. Upon arrival at the airport, you can easily obtain a standard tourist Visa with no restrictions, which will take around 15 minutes. Visa costs are $25 for 15 Days, $40 for 30 Days, $100 for 90 Days and $2 per day thereafter. Indian nationals do not require a Visa.