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17th April 2008 – I arrived in Kathmandu airport and looked around for a man holding a sign with my name on it. Luckily he was there and I was taken straight to a hotel where a room had been reserved for me. The next day I met Badri (the man in charge of Hands for Help), had a wondered around the city and tried to learn some of the local language.
The following day I started my four week hospital placement in A&E at Kathmandu teaching hospital. Although most of the patient do not speak English all the doctors and, when reminded, they present all the patients in English too. The department was a bit overwhelming at first but after a few days I got used to the hustle and bustle. The Nepalese medical students and the senior interns were all extremely friendly and helpful, always pointing us in the right direction.
The working week in Nepal is six days long, with Saturdays off. This  Me, Prof Prasad and Scott
I would love to have been able to spend more time in Nepal, maybe next time.
-Rose Neary I spent one month working in the emergency department of Kathmandu hospital. I very much enjoyed my experience. I found staff at the hospital friendly, inviting and keen for me to learn emergency medicine and about Nepali culture. It was particularly interesting to see how the department coped with relatively few resources when there was a mass casualty such as a bus crash.
In addition to gaining medical experience there was ample opportunity to mix with Nepali medical students and other medical students from all around the world. This made for a diverse cultural experience. We stayed with a host family who made us feel very welcome; when it was time to leave Nepal I felt part of the family. We were able to sample excellent Nepali food every night and gained experience in how to cook Nepali dishes.
I would also recommend the many activities that Nepal has to offer. There are many different trekking routes, excellent white water rafting and even the chance to go on safari. All these experiences can be found a day’s bus ride away from Kathmandu.
In summary my medical elective to Nepal was excellent. I would recommend it any medical student. The medical experience I gained was second to none. There is also plenty to do to keep you entertained in your spare time. I hope to return Nepal in the future to continue learning about a fascinating country and its people. -Scott Bradburn |
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My Volunteering Experience in Nepal |
Having been to Nepal before ,I felt I didn’t need the customary introduction to Katmandu’s most visited sites and Badri demonstrated a very tolerant and flexible attitude to my needs as a whole.
I would recommend to anyone wishing to volunteer in Nepal to follow through the Nepali language classes organized for you by HforH.as it becomes an invaluable tool for communicating and Nepali people really appreciate your effort for trying to speak it.
Hulsa Hyon means in Gurung, the local language and tribe, prosperous village.Of the little they have, everything is shared and their generosity goes beyond the customs.Needless to say I was made to feel very welcomed and my stay at the monastery a very happy one.
This was also my first experience teaching English and it did present some challenges. It was with great relief that on my first look into the “gumba”, that was to become the classroom, I noticed a white board together with a marker pen and a wiper. The main challenge for me, perhaps to be expected, was that the shared range of English knowledge of the monks (of an age between 10 and 17 years old) wasn’t evenly distributed, making the lesson’s aims and structures difficult to plan.
The monks are also used to a very old fashioned way of learning that although, possibly still of value in learning Tibetan texts and prayers to recite in ceremonies, doesn’t apply to communicative approach of modern English learning. So considerable amount of time was spent trying to establish some kind of compromise that could satisfy the learning requirement of all the class. A lot of teaching and learning on both our sides was outside the class hours (two a day), while playing and singing nursery rhymes with the smallest and sharing some of their activities. Washing at the river, playing football, complex offering ceremonies, cooking walking on the hills, all presented opportunities foe communication which I tried to maximize. It was during some of these moments that I felt meaningful end personal connection were formed.
The monastery is very small and the lack of privacy is something that one gets quickly used to, especially in the face of the monk’s curiosity and excitement at having a foreigner amongst them.
In closure I’d like to say that everybody at Hulsa Hyon has left a mark in my heart and it’s my wish to keep in touch and to help them in the future to indeed prosper.
Renato Risari (Italy) 2008 |
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 Making the decision to go to Nepal all by myself was a difficult one - including trusting an organization I had never heard about and who I had only been in contact with through email. I didn't need to worry though, since I was met by a man with a sign with my name on it the moment I walked out of the airport in Kathmandu. The taxi-drive from the airport to the hotel was an amazing one with a thousand new impressions and sights... my first visit to Asia and I felt like I had come to a different planet!
My volunteering experience was a great one! In the first part of my stay in Nepal I was placed at a monastery just outside of Kathmandu (close by the Monkey Temple) in the most beautiful surroundings. So peaceful and quiet, yet with a view of all of Kathmandu Valley. I spent the first month here teaching the children at the Ichangu gumpa (/monastery) English and teaching at their local school. I spent this month getting to know Nepali culture (eating daal bhat in the PROPER manner ;), adjusting my wake-up schedule till 5:00am in the morning, dancing with the children to hindi music, and so on), preparing lessons and teaching English, visiting places around the village with the children including different monasteries. Learning about the life of the Nepali people in the village, the monks and the nuns... I still cannot grasp all of the things I learned in such a short time.
The following month I spent all over the Kathmandu Valley. Prior to visiting Nepal I had told Badri that I would love to visit different placements and projects because it would help me with my studies at home - I went all over the place visiting schools, orphanages, health posts, etc. It was so interesting and inspiring to see how much good only a few people can do. I will never forget some of the people I met during these visits. Among these placements I went to a village in the mountains by Pokhara called Taprang - this was definitely one of the most memorable experienes during my entire stay in Nepal. The work I had to do to get there (trekking in monsoon season with leaches all over my feet and arms) was one thing, but the welcome I got once I got there I will never forget. All of the women of the village had made big flower-hangings to put around my neck and they all put a tika on my face. My face was almost completely covered in red by the end of that day. I will never forget their grateful eyes and interested minds. Overall I had a great experience in Nepal and with Hands for Help. The organization helped me in every way possible, listening to my wishes yet showing me the needs of Nepal. I have made friendships during my stay in Nepal that I am sure will never break! Mille Thorsan (2007)
Denmark |
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This small monastery is located 45 minutes up in the mountains from the town of Besashar which is approximately 6 hours north of Kathmandu. Being the first Westerner to stay at this monastery provided me with many interesting opportunities to learn about their culture. These boys are extremely pious and are either studying, cooking, cleaning or chanting at any given moment. On any given day, they partake in puja. Puja is a religious ceremony done in order to commemorate either a festive event, to cure an ailing person or to provide a family with good luck. My surroundings for these 8 days were amazingly peaceful. Both inside and outside the monastery, I was surrounded by music, prayers and traditional Buddhist instruments. In exchange for food and lodging, I taught two hours of English everyday to these aspiring monks who ranged in age from six to fifteen. They did not have any English books, so I purchased a class set from a local store and we enjoyed our time in class reading and studying together. I alternated between teaching them basic greetings, the alphabet and children’s songs. Their obedience and extremely respectful manner towards me as their teacher was quite different from my group of difficult 16 and 17 year olds back in New York! The boys were anxious to show off their myriad of Buddhist rituals. They enthusiastically put on various masks and grabbed a multitude of drums and conch shells. The combination of the rhythmic sound of the drums, the soothing tone of their chanting and the enchanting smell of the incense made for an ethereal experience. August 9th is World Indigenous Day. I had the great fortune of staying in an area where there was much celebration. These monks were the lead in a parade which allowed the multitude of ethnic groups who reside in Besashar to dress in their traditional clothing and show off their diversity. Upon leaving a monastery, it is traditional for monks to tie a white scarf around that person’s neck in order to wish them a safe journey. I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of gratitude I received from the community as I was leaving.I was presented with numerous scarves, as well as flower wreaths, a Sprite and some cookies for the long bus ride ahead. It was an intensely powerful week which left me thirsting for more knowledge of Buddhism. Their hospitality was remarkable and I hope to establish a pen pal exchange with my students in the near future. Sharon Lafer (2007)
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 I am Edoardo Nicolotti from Italy, working with hands for help, it was for me the greatest experience that I could apply for. If you would like taste yourself in Asia, enter in the culture of Nepal, sharing good feelings during working with the children of AIMS secondary school and joggling teaching juggling with the children of orphanage of Samakhusi, and others more, this is a good place. If you have finish or not your university, and you need an experience for find your real capacity of human relationship in an another culture and country, the time that you spend in Nepal, will increase your sense of adaptability and prospectives. If you research a preview experience for working in some sectors of Ngo, this could be also an occasion for having some new prospectives and orientation.
 Budry and the family they also will take care about you, with super dalbat, (nepali main dishes), and great promenade with motorbike along the crazy roads of Nepal and Kathmandu. I learn some nepali and I worked with an international staff, volunteers from
Canada, Uk, France, Italy, Japan, China . I don?t regret nothing about my experience with the Ngo, here. In conclusion, I think Nepali people are the most spontaneous peaceful people, and Tibetan too, with sharing time and funny time in Asia, and Nepal offers also others goods things that everybody could imaging. So could say only Namaste! |
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What an incredible experience! |
I arrived in Nepal four months ago to work with Hands for Help as a volunteer in a rural health post. Health workers in Nepal receive little formal training and must work with the most basic of tools to deal with the variety of illnesses they encounter from day to day. To work alongside a westerner provides new ideas and a little extra knowledge as well an additional pair of hands.
Reflecting on my time in the village makes me realize that although I have tried to give something to Nepal for its future and growth its people have given me a great deal for mine. Spending time as part of a Nepali family provides a real understanding of the everyday trials faced by the majority of the countries population. Work here is back breaking but people do it with a smile. They are ever welcoming and no matter how little they have they are always willing to share it with you.
I will never forget my time here and hope that I have done more than the average tourist who chucks a few dollars into the wind.
Helen Dewar (UK) |
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Our experiene with Hands for Help |
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 Our Experience with hands for help was like no other, it was truly amazing. We got to do things you would never normally be given the opportunity to do. Tiffany Sayers and I are 18 year old Australian girls who have just finished doing year 12 and have taken a gap year. To start we thought it would be a good idea to emerge ourselves in the culture in the form of some volunteer work. This is were "Hands for Help" came in. They were so good and organised everything, from language and culture courses to taking us to our rural placements and settling us in.
Firstly we spent 3 weeks working in the Himalayan Children's home in Pokhara which was fun. The little kids were gorgeous and just so happy to have us there. We would play with them, walk them to school eat with them, help bath them and put them to bed at night. We also tried to help in other ways by creating a brochure for the home as this would in the long run be hugely beneficial. After this we then decided to go deep into the mountains, 7 hours out of Pokhara to a little town called Puma, for our last week. Now that was incredible, seriously the experience of a lifetime. We were only there for a week but we will remember it forever. We lived in a little mud brick hut above these buffaloes with virtually no electricity and this amazing view of the Himalayas.
We lived with 3 ladies of whom looked after us so well and fed us all the time with the local dal bhatt. During the day we would teach the little children english at the local school and have the afternoons off, exploring the next towns, chatting to locals, drinking tea. It was really really out of this world. They are all so nice and loved having volunteers there. They told us they would be so happy if we could stay a year. We could have never done this without the help of hands for help.
Thank you very much
Lilli Morgan
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 "While traveling through India, I and my fiancée decided that we wanted to get a closer look at the culture that resides in this part of the world. Traveling only allowed us to glimpse at the treasure chest that this culture is and we wanted to dig in behold the gold beneath its rusty surface. The key to open the chest was, for us, doing volunteer service and the choice came upon Hands for Help Nepal as it was one of the few organizations that could assist us in such a short notice and also it was in Nepal; a country we soon discovered was the best location we could have volunteered at in this region.
After an initial introductory class like Nepali language, customs and culture we were sent off to our first placement close outside Kathmandu. This little village called Thecho is located along one big dusty road which has surprisingly much traffic, surrounded by rice, broccoli, cauliflower and corn fields. The surroundings allowed for beautiful walks in the morning before having English classes at a local school, followed by helping out at an orphanage with serving food to little children and a few hours of free time at the end of the day spent playing basket with kids.
Next placement was located upon the top of a hill in the Himalayas at 2100 meters altitude. From our living room window we could see some of the highest peaks in the world like Annapurna South and Macchapuchre, a beautiful enviroment in a village without electricity, no roads and houses isolated with a mixture of clay and cow dung. With this beautiful surrounding we tried to teach english to kids that had yet to learn how to read. A delightfully difficult and arduous task. Especially combined with a nationwide 11 days strike. As the Nepalese say, ke garne?
In short our stay in Nepal was wonderful, thanks to everybody who made our stay such a wonderful one Badri Rai with family, Pramilla with family, "I-Love-my-djippers"-man, our host families and so many more."
Jon and Bella- Sweden |
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Alexis and Charline (France) |
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I found Hands For Help by chance on internet, and this accident bring me ore than i never hope for a trip. Not a common trip, an fabulous adventure, real story of meeting, projects, which begun in an orphanage next to athmandu (1 week) and then in a remote village in Lamjung Discrict for 3eeks, in the middle of gorgeous mountains, to teach english to lovely
children, who are in lack of knowledge and even education, but always happy o go to school, always smiling! The association also give us the oportunity o go and see ohters villages in marvellous places with amazing views on nowy mountains, and the chance to meet again local people with different eligion and culture. While i was still in Nepal, i already thought about my
next mission here...! |
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 “736 After endless flights, I arrived in the busy Kathmandu Metropolitan city. Hands for Help Nepal arranged my training and we start to plan my stay in Nepal. The first week, I had my daily Nepali language class with Premilla and did sight seeing in Kathmandu (Swambunath, Postbodinath...).
The next 2 weeks I worked in an orphanage playing, helping with homework and getting dressed. There were about 17 kids between 6 and 12 and they were great! We had especially lots of fun with kites (during the Dashain festival many Nepali children buy and fly kites).
Next I spent a week training at the Chapagaon Primary Health center in Chapagaon. The health center is privately owned and has many facilities not very common in government health posts including a malnourished children program, a pregnant mother and birthing center, small pharmacy and many patients.
I then spent time in Ghaleghon (a tiny village at 2300m just inside the Annapurna conservation area) working at the health post and staying with a 'Gurung' host family who were amazingly hospitable. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Views of Annapurna and Manaslu and more than enough Daal Bhaat (rice and lentils that is the staple diet for all of Nepal). Volunteers should remember, however, that in rural Nepal, showers, phones, electricity are often non-existent. Ghaleghon was no different. Making a phone call, for example, was a 3 hour walk round-trip unless you could track down a mobile. Having said that, if your expectations of the host families houses are reasonable (by Nepali standards), the rural areas were of the most pleasant, beautiful, exciting places to stay - not to mention great places to get better at speaking Nepali (since in some areas, finding a Nepalese person who can form coherent English sentences is a challenge to say the least. It was very dependent on the area of course). I was sure thankful for my Nepali Language classes at this point!
I had a short break during Tihar festival for a few days trekking then returned west 6 hours to Kathmandu. I was a little sad to leave, Ghaleghon after 3 weeks there, but there was lots to do when I return to Chapagaon (immunizing infants for polio, visiting my sponsor child, practice English/Nepali with the young monks at the Buddhist Monastery and visiting the Anandaban Leprosy Hospital. I even tried my hand at harvesting rice by hand with my host family!
The last placement of my trip was in Togarpa, east of Kathmandu a little ways out of the Kathmandu valley. Here I stayed on another farm and volunteered the government health post. It was at this point that I most saw some of the poor state some of the health posts in Nepal are in. The one staff member had minimal training (around 1 year), lack of supplies and waste disposal facilities. Quite hard to believe really. This particular health post has had no tape (for bandaging wounds that can't wrapped) for around 5 months, and sometimes go as long as 1 month without medicines for very common ailments (gastric problem account for close to 1/3 or more of the patients that visit many of the rural health posts, yet they quickly ran out of the medicines and will have to turn patients away for possibly weeks). Even more incredible, was finding needles that had the sharp embedded into Aloe Vera type plants nearby - children play with the needles the man told me ( and removed it and put it on the pile of waste next ot the health post where they (attempt) to burn the waste. Togarpa was quite an experience, to say the least.
At the end of my stay, in Nepal I have to say it was very rewarding. I saw, experienced so much and was able to contribute my time to worthwhile causes. On top of it, I built many relationship with both other volunteers and locals. I'm looking forward to my certain return trip back to volunteer again!
Steve Roy
Alberta, Canada.”
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 I sort of stumbled across the H for H website as I was beginning to plan my trip to Nepal and I’m glad I did. I’m currently a third year medical student in Canada and was hoping to do some international health work during my summer between 2nd and 3rd year. I didn’t know much about H for H at the time so I emailed a few previous volunteers and asked Anil a tonne of questions about the organization, Nepal, etc. and decided that it sounded like something I wanted to do.
In going to Nepal I was hoping to visit a country unlike anywhere I had been before and I definitely got that wish. I’ve travelled quite a lot and been to a few third world countries in SE Asia before and so I was actually quite surprised that I was hit with culture shock in my first few days in Katmandu. But Anil and Badri, along with the two other volunteers (Kris and Edoardo), quickly made me feel right at home and in no time I adjusted to my new life in Nepal. My first week of orientation was filled with Nepali lessons, Dahl Baht, Dahl Baht, and oh did I mention D.B.?? . . . Joking aside, I actually had quite a lot of free time to explore Katmandu and to hang out with the other volunteers and Badri’s family. Although it wasn’t officially arranged as part of my volunteer work, during my orientation week I spent a few days at the Orphanage for Helpless Children and it ended up being one of the highlights of my trip. It’s really something to see the children’s’ eyes light up when you play even simple games like “Ring around the rosey” or “London bridge” with them. The hardest part is leaving the orphanage without wanting to take one of the kids back home with you.
After my orientation week I took a 2 week break from H for H to do a trek to Everest Base Camp. I highly recommend doing a trek to everyone. I feel like it really completed my trip to Nepal and I truly saw some of the most amazing views in the world. I’d be happy to tell you more about it if you’re interested.
On my return to civilization I went to my new home in Sunderijal (about a 45 minute bus ride from the H for H office/Badri’s house) where I was going to be volunteering in the Alapot health post, only a rice paddy’s walk away. I lived with Jaggat, who essentially functions as the health provider at the health post, and his family. We spent the first half of the day in the health post and then the afternoons working in Jagat’s medicine shop in Sunderijal. Luckily there were only a few times that we got really muddy walking between the two. . .it was monsoon season after all!
Working in the health post was a great learning experience for me. It was great to see what health care is like at a grass roots level in Nepal. A lot of what comes into the health post is fairly simple ie. Patients dehydrated from diarrhea, infected wounds, strep throat, childhood immunizations, etc. Anything requiring investigations has to be sent into the city since there are no x-rays, labs for blood work, etc. Although I didn’t do a lot of hands on work I did get to see a lot of patients and I hopefully improved my Nepali as time went on. I also spent a day in the Emergency room at the Tribivan Teaching Hospital.
It was quite a contrast to the health post and I was thoroughly impressed with the training that goes on there. However, being fortunate enough to have universal health care in Canada I was shocked at the fact that patients have to buy all their own supplies for their stay in the hospital, and I was really sad to see some patients have to leave the hospital because they couldn’t afford the treatment that in some cases they need to survive till the next day.
I would highly recommend volunteering with HforH and going to Nepal. The country is a beautiful blend of culture, religion (Hinduism and Tibetian Budhism), and amazing people. I really think volunteering with an NGO and living with local families is the best way to visit Nepal. Unlike some other countries where a large part of seeing the country involves visiting monuments and seeing artwork, the highlight of visiting Nepal is really getting to know the Nepali people and learning about their way of life.
Feel free to contact me with questions. |
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 I volunteered with Hands for Help in June and July of 2003. I volunteered teaching English to elementary school children in Kathmandu. I requested to live with a family while I was there and Hands for Help found a great family for me to live with. I was able to learn a lot about customs by living with a family and Igot a sense of how close families are in Nepal.
I appreciated the people who work at Hands for Help. I was able to visit regularly with the director of the program, Anil Bhusal, and ask him for advice or for information. He is a good listener and a good source of information. His co-worker, Badri Rai, also listened patiently and gave me good information.
I learned a lot about living in a humid and warm climate while there. It's important to bring rain gear such as an umbrella and a rain jacket. It is also a good idea to bring lightweight clothing and shoes for walking. These items are really necessary for getting around since it rains almost every day and one has to walk virtually everywhere.
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Cheers,
Heidi |
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Volunteer story