Having
found out about Insight Nepal from a
book of overseas volunteer
organizations, we thought that it
would offer a unique experience of
an amazing country. I was a bit
anxious when we were each asked to
send $20 US through the post for an
application form, then pay the rest
of the fee by Western Union
transfer. So, having paid, it was a
relief that we were met on our
arrival Kathmandu airport by the
extremely amiable project co-ordinator
Naresh Shrestha, and introduced to
our fellow volunteers at a hotel in
town.
We were from a number of different
backgrounds, a retired Canadian
school teacher in her 50s, a hostel
worker from Australia in her 40s, an
American in his 20s and four of us
in our 20s and 30s from Britain. We
all wanted to have something more
than just a tourist experience, but
at the same time we wanted to be
organized and given a certain amount
of structure for our stay. The
three-month programmes run by
Insight Nepal allow participants to
work for charitable groups,
Non-government Organizations (NGOs)
or Schools. The placements could be
in Urban, semi-rural or rural
locations, depending on the
participants' wishes.
A professor from a local University
gave us an informal lecture on the
history of Nepal. This was extremely
interesting and gave us a huge
amount of background on a country,
which has only been open to tourists
since 1989.
On our first night in Kathmandu, we
were taken to an evening concert of
traditional Nepali music in a local
venue. Then for a meal featuring the
national dish Dahl Baht, a
combination of rice, vegetable
curry, hot chilli with lentil soup
poured on top and eaten with the
hands. If you stay in Nepal, do not
expect to avoid this dish. By and
large we got the hang of it and even
enjoyed it (I lost more than 25
excess pounds during my 3 months in
Nepal). The Nepalese like Dahl Baht
so much that they might have it 4
times a day.
We were then taken for a 2-day stay
in Chitwan National Park, which is
situated in the very un-Himalayan
low land of southern Nepal. An
astonishing, unspoilt area,
preserved because it was considered
to be excellent hunting territory.
We were given an elephant ride into
the forest and saw rhinos at very
close quarters. The park's tigers
are elusive, but are seen
occasionally. We stayed in a very
nice hotel and got to know each
other over a cold beer or two.
We were then taken to Nepal's second
city, Pokhara, and placed with
temporary host families, who in all
cases were very welcoming and
interested in us. Most of them took
our visits as an opportunity to
practice their English. During the
next week an experienced teacher
gave us Nepali lessons at Naresh's
Home. The atmosphere in the lessons
was light-hearted, but by the end of
the week we were all able to impress
and amuse the locals with our
ability in the language.
As part of the programme we then
took a 7 day guided trek on the
Anapurna trail. This was an
incredible experience. We walked
several miles a day into the
mountains, through isolated
villages, stopping off for an
occasional coke (yes even here) and
bedding down every night in a local
guest house. Each morning, before
clouds formed, we were given an
amazing view of the vast snow-capped
mountains around us. The facilities
on the trek were extremely basic,
but this added to the fun of the
experience. Everywhere we went there
were friendly faces and warm
hospitality. The local firewater 'Raksi'
was available very cheaply
everywhere we went, although, at the
end of a day's trekking, most of us
just wanted to sleep.
On our arrival back in Pokhara, we
were given accommodation in one of
the many lakeside tourist hotels.
Having hot water and clean towels
was a great bonus. In fact, during
our time in Pokhara we would escape
to these havens of luxury on a few
occasions.
After this we went to our final
placement locations which would last
for 2 1/2 months, four of us in
Pokhara, (three of us teaching, one
working for a children's charity)
and two in Kathmandu (working for
women's health and HIV awareness
groups). Only one of us, the
American, Chris, was brave enough to
take the rural option. This meant
teaching in a village several hours
walk
from the nearest road. As about 80%
of Nepalis live in the countryside
this probably gave the most
authentic experience of Nepal. Of
course this meant living in an area
where English was barely spoken, so
Chris had to pay very close
attention to our Nepali lessons. It
also meant being without
electricity or anything near to what
we might call a toilet.
My wife Ruth and myself were
traveling together, and our host,
the principal of the school we were
working in, gave us a great deal of
privacy. However Nepalis are a very
open people, and single participants
were often expected to share rooms
with one or more members of the
family. We had a
room to ourselves in a large hostel
building with about 30 students,
some domestic workers, and several
members of the Principal's family.
There was a very relaxed atmosphere
and we felt able to come and go as
we wished.
Although a group of students from
the University of Michigan lived
nearby, foreigners still aroused a
huge amount of curiosity from the
locals. Everywhere we went children
would run up and say 'Hello' or
'Namaste'. Children only very rarely
bothered us for gifts or money.
Our placement was in an English
medium school, with students aged
from 4 to 18. Each subject on the
syllabus had course books, which
meant that everything was clearly
laid out for us. Class sizes varied
from 20 or so, to over 50 students,
and the larger classes were often
quite difficult to control. Nepali
teachers will often impose physical
discipline on their students, but we
chose to send troublemakers out of
the room. However, the students were
generally very nice and extremely
polite, always standing up when a
teacher entered or left the room.
The standard of spoken English
varied quite widely. Some students
were absolutely outstanding whereas
others seemed to be left behind. It
was sometimes a difficult balancing
act to keep the whole class
involved.
During our stay in Pokhara, there
were a number of general strikes
imposed by opposition political
parties, where businesses and
schools were expected to close for
the day. People were fearful of
breaking these strikes in case their
premises were attacked, and the
streets emptied of cars and cycles
because using them was considered to
be breaking the strike. Several days
of school were interrupted because
of these strikes, although they only
tend to happen during one month in
the year.
Two classes adopted Ruth and me for
their free lessons. They taught us
traditional Nepali dancing, and made
us perform a very poor tango (the
only traditional European dance we
could think of) in front of them. We
taught them a very silly London song
called 'Any Old Iron' which they
learnt
beautifully. These lessons were
quite exhausting, but huge fun.
On our departure, we were given a
huge send-off by the school, with
speeches, songs and dances and
masses of flowers, notes and gifts.
Ruth had painstakingly learnt a full
Nepali dance for three weeks, and
had to perform it, whilst I
performed the very male act of
giving a speech, which I made up on
the spot. One of our adopted classes
sang a wonderfully choreographed
version of 'Any Old Iron', much to
our amusement.
After completing the bone-shaking
bus journey back to Kathmandu, we
met up with the other volunteers as
tourists and swapped experiences.
Every single one of us had had an
amazing and involving stay that we
would never forget. Our expectations
had been exceeded in every way, and
we had all been glad of having the
support of Insight Nepal throughout...
Having
found out about Insight Nepal from a
book of overseas volunteer
organizations, we thought that it
would offer a unique experience of
an amazing country. I was a bit
anxious when we were each asked to
send $20 US through the post for an
application form, then pay the rest
of the fee by Western Union
transfer. So, having paid, it was a
relief that we were met on our
arrival Kathmandu airport by the
extremely amiable project co-ordinator
Naresh Shrestha, and introduced to
our fellow volunteers at a hotel in
town.