Volunteer's journal

In 2008 I decided to do something challenging in my life.  I had spent most of my life raising children and working long hours in an office.  I needed to experience a new culture, a new way of life. I had read about volunteering and had always wanted to visit Nepal and I believed that by volunteering was a way I could really experience a new culture and not just a brief visit and do something worthwhile for the Nepali community.

At the beginning of January 2009 I travelled to Nepal with the intention of only spending 3 months there and returning to Australia at the completion of my assignment.  When I first arrived into Kathmandu it was at 9pm on a cold winter evening.  The streets leading from the airport to my hotel were in almost total darkness because of the constant problem of power shortage.  Arriving at my hotel I was surprised to see the reception desk was lit only by candles. At first I felt a little apprehensive as it all seemed so strange and a little frightening but in the light of day everything I saw looked new and exciting.

My first volunteering experience took me to a village just north of Kathmandu where I stayed with a host family for 3 months.  I learnt to share my living space with the entire household consisting of grandparents, immediate family and 3 children, 3 cows and many mice that lived in the room above my own that stored the family’s crop of wheat.

I taught English at a nearby government school and assisted when needed at the children’s home playing games and helping them with their school homework. The school had very little teaching resources and almost no equipment and I found the discipline a little difficult, totally different from the education system in Australia.

At the end of my 3 month assignment I felt very sad at leaving this family and especially the students that I had come to know and knew that one day I would return to this beautiful country.

In November 2009 I returned to Nepal with the intention of looking again for a volunteering position.  I was fortunate enough to meet Surendra, a Nepali citizen who told me about his brother Mahesh, the school principal in Mirge VDC, a remote area north-east of Kathmandu and a 10 hour bus trip from the capital city.  Mahesh was looking for a volunteer to teach English at his school.

I agreed to take on this position and was the first volunteer at the school.  This was a new experience and totally different from my first volunteering assignment.  I was totally accepted by Mahesh, his family and all the teaching staff.  I taught grades from kindergarten to grade 5 and was given the freedom to teach the students in a way that I felt comfortable - I took a TESOL course prior to leaving Australia so that I was confident in my ability to teach English but I also followed the school’s curriculum.

I remained teaching at the school until my visa for Nepal had expired and I no longer had any more time available to me otherwise I would have liked to have spent more time there.  The students were always a delight to teach, no discipline problems and always eager to learn, I looked forward to being with them every day.  This was the most rewarding and fulfilling experience - I’ll never forget this special time.