Volunteer Stories

Nepal is a beautiful country, full of steep snowy mountains, terraced green hillsides and dramatic river gorges.  The people are friendly, hard-working and very tolerant of any problems.  Many strikes bring the country to a standstill due to political instability but the people accept this well.

Ghachok is a beautiful village.  The Annapurna mountain range towers above it and the Gandaki River carves a deep gorge below.

Janajagaran Model Community School is a forward-thinking school which started just 6 months ago.  The Janajagaran Development Center (JDC) is an enthusiastic and committed group of people who have given their time and money to build the school for local children.

At this school, every subject is taught in English medium.  Most schools in Nepal are government-run and taught in Nepali medium.  The others are fee-paying boarding English-medium schools which are well beyond the reach of the average family.  However, this school is different because all local children can study here without paying a fee.

Many of the teachers are themselves volunteers and are still studying and taking exams in Pokhara alongside teaching - they are very committed and hard working.

Myself and 2 other volunteers arrived in Ghachok late one Saturday evening to an overwhelming welcome.  Flowers were put around our neck and red powder on our foreheads amidst loud applause.  Then we were treated to the first of many many amazing, tasty, feast-like meals that we enjoyed during our stay.

Then the welcome programme continued in the village hall.  After we were introduced, we each said a little about ourselves and the entertainment began.  Traditional Nepali singing and dancing involves 1 or 2 people at a time standing up and entertaining everyone - great to watch but I found taking part a little daunting!

Then we were shown our comfortable room at another family’s house that was to be our home for the month.  We were warmly welcomed here.

We were very well looked after during our stay - with regular hearty meals, tasty snacks and never-ending ‘kalo chiya’.  We even learnt a little Nepali with the encouragement of the families we stayed and ate with.

We felt able to help at the school in several ways.  We taught lessons alongside the Nepali teachers, pronouncing the English words for the children to copy while the Nepali teachers ensured that they understood the meaning.  We wrote model answers to some questions in the school books to help the teachers and found ways to further improve the excellent books that are used at the school.  We also taught some lessons alone when the teachers were absent due to exams.  As time went on, we got used to the students and they got used to us and the teaching became easier.  Their enthusiasm to learn was amazing - they were always very keen.

There were several strikes and holidays when the school was closed.  We had a constant stream of people coming to introduce themselves and welcome us and we went on several trips to interesting places.  The hot springs at Tatopani were a relaxing place to bathe and the neighbouring village of Lhachok had an interesting cave at Partikola.  We were often welcomed into people’s houses for cups of tea and we also went to Pokhara a few times during our stay.

The vision of the JDC does not stop here.  Already a grant has been found to build the next classroom so that the current class 5 can continue to class 6 next year and there are plans to extend the school every year.  The school also hopes to build a library, science lab and to buy more benches and desks for the classrooms.

I have really enjoyed spending time with a very inspiring group of people with a fantastic vision for a successful future for their children, full of opportunities.  I also enjoyed a warm and friendly stay with the people of Ghachok village.

I wish the school and village every continuing success in the future.

Yours sincerely
Becky
Volunteer Stay in Ghachok

I came to Nepal for 4 months as a career break to do some trekking, take part in a Buddhist course, experience the culture and volunteer in some way. Nepal is a dramatic beautiful country. The highest mountains in the world dominate every skyline, deep river gorges run in to beautiful lakes and the rich religious culture is a feast for the eyes. The villages in the mountains are particularly stunning, mostly without roads, they still have a very natural feel with small paths and birds singing rather than roads and the roar of cars.

Nepal has its problems though; it’s one of the poorest countries in the world. The majority of the population are subsistence farmers with little chance to do anything else but work the fields for enough money to survive. Added to this problem is the fact that the government is unable to act properly due to political instability and corruption. This means nationwide strikes are common and government services fail to work properly. This should not put you off though; the Nepalese people on the whole are a relaxed, kind and friendly bunch. Even with all of the countries frustrations you rarely see them get worked up by it. The Nepalese seem to have a happy acceptance of life as it is. The people I met where always welcoming and keen to practice any English they had on me. Many live a simple yet wholesome life. At some point you will no doubt come across local singing and dancing, quite an experience and a culture the Nepalese are proud of.

As I said earlier as part of my trip to Nepal I wanted to give what I could to people who are in a less fortunate position than myself. The obvious option was to teach English my national language in a newly opened school. Below is an account of my stay in Ghachok village.

I came to stay as a voluntary English teacher at Ghachok village on the 19th December 2009. Volunteer Aid Nepal, a charity in Kathmandu told us about the community programme in Garchok village, we decided to come and help for a month. After a days bus journey to Pokahra then a 30min taxi ride we were guided to the village by local people in the dark. Upon arriving we were welcomed to the village by a large crowd of villagers outside the school. Garlands were placed over our heads and we where introduced to the school principal, general secretary of the programme and other prominent villagers who would influence our stay such as Shivalal and Kaji who kindly fed us and gave us a room to stay in. Soon after arriving we had a filling Dhal baht at Udbir and Sitas house (the other couple that fed us well throughout our stay). The welcome to the village concluded in the school with some speeches and local singing with dancing – quite an evening and an overwhelmingly kind start to our stay.

Everyone involved with the Janjagara community project which includes the school was friendly and interested in our stay. Many villages enjoyed practicing speaking English with us and teaching us some Nepali. One of my favorite words is chinni (sugar) allways said with a shake of my chin. I defiantly feel more able to understand and converse with people in Nepali now. During our stay we were fed well! Two fantastic rice curries with dhal, spinach and chutney a day as well as local milk, butter, omelettes, tea and wine. Snacks were offered on some days including fried soya beans, pop corn and susi (a maize mix). I got the chance to make some ghee (butter) one morning by churning milk a totally new experience!

The local hospitality did not end there. At nearly every house we visited we where offered tea or wine, on one occasion we accepted an invitation to see a local holy offering and sacrifice at the temple followed by more wine! The religious and cultural openness of the village was very impressive. Soon after we arrived it was Christmas day, with some help we created a Christmas tree out of bamboo, shrubs, poinsettias and marigolds. The villagers helped us bake some cakes and then joined us for some Christmas songs and dancing. The Christmas tree (decorated with sweets) was scattered at the end of the evening by the local children looking for a present. A fantastic day.

During most of my days in the village I taught in the school. It had opened 5 months previously and is all taught in English. The school is primary school age with classes 1 to 5. The resources are spartan in the classrooms with just a few benches and a blackboard. The school uses Nepal made workbooks written in English made by united press. Having a look through one gives a good idea of how the lessons are taught. The students read trough the first section with the teacher and then answer questions on it in their books or on the board. During the time when there where no lessons because of exams I helped by writing the answers in teacher copies of the workbooks.

The village itself is set on a clifftop plateau above a river with the Annapurna mountain range on the skyline above. It not being by a road and separated from the lower valley by cliffs gives it a remote feeling and spectacular setting. This setting provided fantastic exploration potential and we went on several walks including bathing in local hot springs and visiting a natural cave.

An inspirational contribution from each family in the community helped set up the Janjagara development centre. The project seems to bind these people together in a massively positive way. Every villager is willing to help another in need regardless of their social standing or wealth. If one person is sick other villages will come to their aid. The fact that the school is run mostly by volunteer students from the village is testament to the selflessness involved in the project. The villagers want to better themselves and are willing to put time and money into making sure this happens. The development committee plans to build an extra classroom on to the school each year to cater for the current class 5 who will have nowhere to learn next year otherwise. I toughly enjoyed my stay in this village of honest, hard working people. They deserve praise for setting up such a sound education, community and support infrastructure. I hope this pioneering project has continued success in the future and gains more support.

Robin Stones