Women’s empowerment volunteering in Nepal
Price from: £2195
It’s easy to see why so many volunteers fall in love with this wonderful country, its stunning landscapes and welcoming people are just part of the story. Join an inspiring project to help reduce the employment gap between men and women in Nepal. Teach local women English and practical skills to improve their career prospects and self-esteem.
Duration: 2-12 weeks
Dates: Arrivals throughout the year
Arrival day: Friday (ready to start at 10am on Saturday)
Return day: Saturday
Eligibility: Good English speakers
Age: 18+
Highlights
- Contributing to this amazing project, working with other passionate volunteers
- Meeting the enthusiastic Nepali women who are dedicated to their self-improvement
- Improving your teaching skills Living in Pokhara, a popular destination in Nepal
- Getting to know the Nepali host family and experiencing authentic food
Description
This project, based in Pokhara – the second largest city in Nepal – is a worthwhile volunteering project which aims to empower women through education. Live with other volunteers in a host family’s home and experience warm Nepali hospitality. On arrival, you run through a 2-3 day orientation, which includes a boat trip, temple visit, Nepali language class and cooking class.
This project allows volunteers to identify the needs of the community to help provide women with essential skills and workshops to improve their prospects. English is a skill that many prioritise, as it helps them to expand their career options. Due to gender inequality, many women do not have access to a good education. This volunteering project offers written and spoken English classes, healthcare and career advice, all of which are highly valuable skills for them to learn.
What will I be doing?
The women you will be teaching are a range of ages and abilities. The role of our volunteers is quite varied. At the start of each week, you will receive a timetable outlining which projects you will be working on. Most teaching days start around 8am, Monday to Friday, working until mid-afternoon. Some of the possible tasks are as follows:
- Tutoring women in rural areas who have no access to education. This could be working with a group, or 1-to-1 sessions, focussing on conversational English or basic maths.
- Supporting an organisation which works to support female survivors of human trafficking.
- Helping to run workshops focusing on sports, craft, art or health. These engage the women and encourage creativity, often a chance for them to develop conversational English knowledge and manual skills.
- Sessions held on a Friday that focus on problem solving and creative thinking, skills which can be applied in daily life.
Although you will not receive the full qualification, you will receive some TEFL training and lesson planning support. The teaching mentor will support your sessions, for which you have access to resources and notes from previous volunteers.
Accommodation
- You will stay with other volunteers at a host family’s house. The host family live on the top floor and volunteers have access to the three floors below.
- The shared dormitory style bedrooms are single sex and have en-suite bathrooms.
- There are plenty of communal areas to relax in and unwind after a day of volunteering.
- A project coordinator also lives at the accommodation and is on hand if there are any issues.
- Living with a host family is an amazing way to gain an incredible insight into Nepali culture.
Food
You will be cooked two delicious meals a day (breakfast and dinner) by the host family. Lunch is also provided on the project site, a chance to sample traditional snacks such as momos or fried rice. Meals often include lentils, vegetables and rice.
Travel arrangements
Airport: Pokhara Airport (PKR). You will need to fly from Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM) in Kathmandu.
Arrival day: Saturday at 10am – you will need to book pre-project accommodation and we advise on this.
Departure day: Saturday – we advise you book a night in Kathmandu, before flying home. This is because internal flights can often be delayed.
Included
- Access to your own personal ‘My Oyster’ account – our online portal where you can find out much more about the program and manage your booking
- Dedicated contact time with an experienced destination manager to discuss the project, answer any of your questions and for us to find out more about you
- Help and advice from our UK office before arrival and whilst you are away
- In-country support
- Pre-departure information covering medical, safety and project advice
- Gold level, 24/7 Pharos crisis management and incident support cover
- Financial protection: ATOL (if we book your flights); IPP (if we don’t book your flights)
- Thorough orientation on arrival
- Accommodation (see the ‘accommodation’ section above for details)
- Advice on visa requirements
- Oyster plants a tree in Africa with TreeAid to help reduce the impact of global carbon emissions
- Airport pick up
- 3 meals a day, while on the project
- Boat trip, Nepali class and cooking class
- Oyster Worldwide volunteer t-shirt
- Oyster luggage tag
- Welcome home pack
- Certificate of Recognition (on request)
- References (on request)
Not Included
- Flights – as an ATOL bonded company, Oyster can book flights for you
- You need a valid passport that meets the requirements of the country you will be travelling to
- Insurance (covering your time with Oyster and any planned independent travel)
- Any costs associated with changing your return flight date if you need to
- Independent travel costs
- Home country travel costs
- Spending money for additional trips, food and entertainment
- Provide a recent police certificate/DBS check – we can organize DBS for £10.40
More Information
Women empowerment volunteers enjoy traveling to Nepal because so much of the scenery is untouched. The jagged mountains and the pristine lakes draw travelers to this incredible country each year. This project is an amazing opportunity to give back to the local community and to get to know incredible Nepal women, living in rural locations. Each project that you will be working on is tailored specifically to the needs of the women you will work with, which means that you can make a real impact while in Nepal.
When volunteering in Nepal, you will receive a timetable at the start of each week.
Each day is varied, depending on the project that you are involved in. You will have breakfast at 8:15am. Typically, you will have 3-4 hours of teaching a day and plenty of time to plan.
On certain days, you will also meet up with the project coordinator to discuss how the project is going and receive training on lesson planning, women’s empowerment and TEFL skills.
You can take part in this project all year round. There are set dates that start on a Saturday. Book early for the summer.
Nepal has five seasons:
Winter (mid December to mid February) – the mornings can be cold. Bring plenty of layers
Spring (mid February to early April) – the weather is mostly warm and sunny with a few short showers
Summer (early April to mid June) – it can get very hot at this time with temperatures as hot as 35 degrees Celsius
Monsoon (mid June to mid September) – often referred to as the green season. It is a bit cooler with lots of short and heavy downpours
Autumn (mid September to mid December) – the skies are clear and it is very green. This is a popular time to travel so it may be busier
Our recommended budget is £20/$25 a week for snacks, food at the weekend and drinks.
ATMs can be found all over Nepal. You can also find exchange bureaus. You cannot order Nepali rupees before you travel. It is recommended that you bring USD to change at the airport.
Cash cards are a safe and convenient way to take your money traveling with you – they act just like debit cards, but do not have the same fees as you might have to pay on your bank cards from home. We recommend the Caxton card. Check out our blog for details on how the card works here.
You will need to ensure that you have the correct visa before departure. It needs to be organized before travel.
You will need a tourist visa for the first 90 days.You can extend this for a further 30 days in Nepal. If you want to stay longer, you can extend for approximately $2 a day for up to 5 months.
We will advise you on how to obtain your visa.
Most of our volunteers in Pokhara are independent travelers. When you arrive in Nepal, you will meet plenty of other volunteers.
If you want to travel with a friend or group, let us know – the more the merrier.
You should visit your doctor or travel nurse to find out what vaccinations you will need. Your routine vaccinations will need to be up to date, it is likely you will need Hepatitis A and Typhoid, and possibly Hepatitis B. Please follow your doctor’s advice.
For any more information, including entry requirements related to Covid-19, please see the Fit for Travel website or the UK government’s travel advice page for Nepal.
There are medical facilities in both Kathmandu and Pokhara. You will never be more than a few hours away and both facilities are of high standard.
Nepal is a safe country to travel to. Pokhara is a safe tourist city. You will be given a full orientation and briefing on arrival and the project staff will advice on how to stay safe. Common sense rules apply.
If you are doing a trek, please make sure that your travel insurance covers you for trekking at high altitude.
When volunteering in Pokhara, you will be staying with other volunteers and a project coordinator at a host family’s home.
The maximum capacity in the house is 18.
The family live on the top floor. The rest of the house is space for volunteers. The rooms are dormitories and have en-suite. There will be a western shower, that has cold water only, and a western toilet.
Nepalese food is delicious. The traditional dish is ‘Dal Baht’ which is a dish made of lentils. Momos are also incredibly popular and are dumplings filled with vegetables or meat. There are lots of different types of momos to choose from. You will have plenty of curry options to choose from.
Supervision will be fairly intensive during the first few days, when you will receive a thorough induction and work-related training. Once you are comfortable with things, you might not always have a supervisor working alongside you, but there will always be staff and other volunteers around to help, and you will always be accompanied for any high risk activities.
Staff at Oyster’s head office and in-country will be responsible for your safety and welfare while you are at the project. This will start from the moment you arrive at the meet up point at 10am on Saturday morning until the time you finish your project. Before and after these times, you will be outside Oyster’s responsibility and should make sure that you act safely and avoid risk. This is also true if you choose to leave the project during your time off. We will give you plenty of guidance and advice about this.
You will be volunteering Monday to Friday. Your evenings and weekends are free.
When you are in-country, there will be plenty of options to sign up to treks and tours. The project staff will be able to advise you on this.
As Pokhara is surrounded by lakes, there are also plenty of water activities you can take part in.
There are plenty of cafes with WiFi near the accommodation. The accommodation does not have WiFi.
SIM cards are affordable and accessible. It is recommended that you unlock your phone if you want to use a Nepali SIM card in your own phone. You will need to bring passport photos with you as they are required when buying a SIM.
Nepal is just under 6 hours ahead of GMT (GMT +5:45)
An international adapter is recommended in Nepal. A mixture of 3 round pin (small or large) and 2 round pin sockets exist.The supply is 220/230V.
Got a question or want to chat to Project Manager Kate who has first-hand experience of the project? Call +44 (0) 1892 771 973or email: – [email protected].
