Nepal

Last week we ran our biggest briefing course of the year. In total we had 31 volunteers all off to a variety of countries to work on a variety of projects in January.

We had people set to go to Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia for between 3 and 6 months. I am extremely jealous and reminds me of my Pre Departure Course back in 2003 when I was nervously getting ready to head to Tanzania!

The two days are always great fun, go very quickly and are pretty tiring for all involved (especially those that had travelled to us from afar!)

For those readers that attended the course: I would like to extend a thank you to all of you that worked hard on giving some great talks about the various aspects of your countries and also for participating so well in all of the sessions.

If you are considering taking a Gap Year, then please do consider going with an organisation that briefs you thoroughly before departure. Personally, I think it is so important to be fully prepared and understand the health, safety and cultural issues relevant to the country you are travelling to.

Finally a big thanks to Leah and Lucy – our returned volunteer helpers and also Dick Glynne Jones.

I was teaching and living with a family in Tokha, a small and very traditional Newari village on the outskirts of Nepal.

Every morning we were woken by the turkeys. At 5am this was hard to get used to, though it soon became routine! We’d eventually roll out of bed around 7am and all the family would be up and ready; Baba (our Nepali father) would already have left for work. Our sister would have a lovely cup of sweet chiya prepared for us and we would sit in the kitchen and talk with her about school or family life. After getting dressed in our teaching kurtas, we would be back downstairs helping to prepare the Dal Bhat. Dal Bhat consists quite literally of rice and lentils, usually with vegetable curry and pickle on the side. At 9am this would be eaten as lunch (sounds like hard work at this time of the morning, but it quickly becomes addictive!).

After ‘lunch’ it was off to school in time for the 9.40am assembly. This part of the school day was taken very seriously with the children all in lines singing the National Anthem and doing exercises; it was remarkable to see when compared to English schools here students simply ramble in at any time chatting away!

First lesson started at 10am and I would usually take this period, teaching English to 9 – 15 year olds. During the day I took three periods, using breaks to mark work and write up those last minute lesson plans. The children loved to be read to; simply the sound of our voices was a novelty to them. Older children were soon able to write poetry and letters to other schools, though it was a challenge to provoke their imaginations, which they weren’t used to using. Read the rest of this entry »

Due to recent media coverage the awareness about Tibet has grown. Zoe Barnett (2008) was there and she writes: To hear first hand from children the things they have experienced is quite shocking.

A typical day for me would start at 9.30am waiting for a micro bus alongside locals surrounded by the smells of spices and rubbish. I would arrive at the Tibetan Reception Centre. Once in the compound I would be greeted by shouts of ‘tashi delek’ and my hands would by grabbed by lots of little hands, dragging me nearly running up the stairs to the classroom. Read the rest of this entry »

Nepal and Tanzania
The projects are based upon our current placements which we have been running for seven years but they are specifically for shorter time slots; such as painting classrooms, school holiday programmes and community work. The summer placements will last for 5 weeks and fit nicely into the academic summer holiday period making it ideal for students, teachers or those people that want to have a holiday with a difference. Included is a 4 week project and a week of other trips and activities. In Nepal we are including a 3 day Himalayan trek, 2 day rafting trip and 2 day Chitwan safari. In Tanzania the volunteers will go on a 4 day safari in the Serengeti which will be a real highlight to the summer.

For further details of the Nepal Summer to Remember placement please click here.

For further details of the Tanzania Summer to Remember placement please click here.

Canada
This brand new summer opportunity in Whistler will enable you to live and earn a wage in this world famous resort for 10 weeks. Whistler is famous internationally for being an international class ski resort. During the summer, the resort becomes popular with holiday makers looking for outdoor and adventure activities. The work in Whistler is designed to be challenging but fun, the pay is good and the social life is amazing!
You could be serving customers in a bistro or shop, maintaining mountain bikes as a bike technician, or be as ski lift operator for access to biking and hiking trails.

Whistler has very popular golf courses and most people choose to spend their time off outdoors enjoying the spectacular scenery and trying out some of the many activities on offer.

For more information about the Summer to Remember opportunities in Canada, please click here.

Teej: Around August/September time all the Hindu married women wear beautiful, glittery red saris with gorgeous patterns on and pray from early dawn to Lord Shiva to celebrate their husbands and families. There is a lot of singing and dancing, as the women celebrate themselves as well.
Tihar: Around October time, Tihar, the festival of light, is celebrated. It lasts 5 days just after Dashain. The people worship Laxmi- the Goddess of wealth. Every single house in the village was painted and decorated. One house had painted a massive, brightly coloured flower on one wall and a picture of a huge yellow and orange sun on the other! They believe that Goddess Laxmi will only come to the cleanest and most bright houses so the Nepalis light candles and oil lamps to attract her. Every house looked so cosy and welcoming. Each day they celebrate a different animal, for example, the crow- the messenger, the dog- the guardian, the cow-the symbol of wealth. Sarah and I went out with the children at night and sang at people’s doorsteps.
Sarah and I went over to Jenny’s for Tihar as there had been a death in the family and they don’t celebrate Tihar when such an event has occurred. Jenny’s family were Newari who also celebrate the Newari New Year at this time. They observe Mha puja, which is the ritual of worshipping one’s own body and life. We had many different colours of Tikha, each colour meaning something different. The elders had to Tikha first, the youngest last. They would put a divide of water and oil between the males and females of the family to keep evil spirits away.
Dashain: Celebrated by everyone for 15 days in the Nepalese month of Kartik (late September), Dashain is the biggest festival in Nepal. They worship Goddess Durga who defeated the demon Mahisasur, which symbolises the triumph of good over evil. Each home is cleaned and decorated, while the people buy new clothes for each other. It is a family time and it’s traditional for many relatives to reunite during this holiday. I will always remember the night of the eighth day, ‘Kal Ratri’, the dark night. This is when they sacrifice goats, sheep and buffaloes. Our family sacrificed two goats, as we had rather a large family. Duncan’s family had planned to sacrifice the buffalo but she never gave birth so they had to sacrifice the chicken instead!! The god Vishwa Karma, the God of Creativity is also worshipped. All the taxi drivers had worshipped their cars with garlands of flowers and ribbons and Jenny’s Nepali brother had worshipped his motorbike. All families Tikha each other and feast on the meat. It is a very colourful and joyous time in Nepal.

Written by Roisin O’Neil

Click here to visit our Nepal homepage.

Nepal is a country of early risers so, living in a Nepali village, you usually wake up around 6.30am, when the cow (who lives downstairs) starts to moo. At 9am you have lunch, consisting of the traditional Nepali dish ‘Dal Baht’ (rice, lentils and curry). This sounds awful at 9am but it’s actually quite addictive! After washing the dishes it’s off to school in time for assembly. Nepali kids are extremely polite and obedient and each morning they stand in perfectly straight lines in the school yard to do ‘exercises’ to the blasts of a whistle. This ‘assembly’ is concluded by a speech (in English) from a child on a current topic and then rounded off by the national anthem bellowed by all 400 students. It’s a rather bizarre spectacle from our point of view but they take it extremely seriously and do this every morning.

Teaching generally involves three or four classes a day for us volunteers and you can teach anything you want: from poetry, grammar, drama and creative writing to drawing and making cards. Our job is to get the children to use their imaginations and they are so inquisitive about our culture and language that each lesson tends to end in laughter. Its so rewarding when you walk into a classroom to find the children happy to see you and eager to learn and it makes our job incredibly easy.

After school we inevitably end up playing with some of our assorted family members, chatting, helping to cook the evening dal baht in the dark and doing all of the other tiny things that make living with a Nepali family so fun. It’s certainly a far cry from what we’re used to in England; each night granny walks around the house ringing a bell to keep the spirits away and before you eat, someone must read from the ‘God book.’ Yet despite this, they make you feel so welcome and you actually become a part of their family. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Written by Alice Foren and Kate Griffiths (Nepal January 2008)

“Now I’ll let our volunteers from the UK say a few words…”

250 eyes turn expectantly towards me. I haven’t prepared to address the entire senior school in assembly, but as a British volunteer I am an object of great interest to those I’m working with at my school in Nepal. They love to ask me to speak about myself and the UK without many further instructions. Whether it is the spontaneous speech or presiding over a class with limited English ability in a lesson that has taken on an unexpected direction, working as a volunteer teacher it can be a daunting prospect. However, I believe that it is one of the most exciting, mind-expanding and valuable things you can do during a gap year.

Once you have become familiar with your students and the school, it is surprisingly easy to conduct lessons and get involved with school life. Students tend to be enthusiastic and receptive to learning in a way English students are not and the fact that you are from a different country will make you an instant celebrity! Furthermore, if in Nepal, you will probably be working in a relaxed atmosphere where people are more likely to respond with amusement than disapproval if things don’t go quite according to plan. One afternoon I was in full flow in a class when it began to snow outside. Most of the kids had never seen snow before. There was an excited rush towards the door. I closed it to prevent the students running out, only to turn around and realise that the entire class had scurried out of the other door (oops, outwitted by a bunch of 8-year-olds). After a moment of mild panic, I noticed that the playground was packed with pupils and teachers running, jumping and celebrating in the snow.

Learning about a different country and the inhabitants’ approach to life is easy when you are immersed in the culture through being part of a school. Nepal is rich in festivals and Nepalis tend to be incredibly hospitable and friendly so there were plenty of opportunities to go to weddings, people’s houses and local festivals. My local friends enjoyed putting me in saris, slapping massive tikas on my forehead, presenting me with plate after plate of traditional food and educating me about their rituals and ceremonies. One festival I will never forget is ‘Holi’; the feast of colours. It is celebrated as people throw coloured paste at anyone in range and the streets descend into an en masse water fight between all those willing (and unwilling!) to participate. Another volunteer and I innocently popped out in the morning of the festival to do laundry. We were immediately attacked with colour by fellow pedestrians and people whizzing past on motorbikes, water balloons and buckets of coloured liquid crashed down from all directions and paint was smeared on our faces and in our hair. We raced back to the safe haven of our guest house, soaked and extravagantly adorned with a messy selection of colours. There was no option of a shower as the manager and his family had exhausted the guest house’s entire water supply drenching unsuspecting passers by, so we decided to join in the fun and launch a few of our own attacks at the water balloon wielding Nepalis on the opposite balcony.

My experience in Nepal was rich, illuminating, sometimes challenging, often bizarre, and never boring. I thoroughly recommend volunteering in a foreign country and experiencing a completely new culture as part of a gap year.

Written by Lucy Brims