INFO Nepal - Monthly Newsletter
August 2007

New Happy Home in Kathmandu

Due to the daily rain, the work at the new Happy Home in Kathmandu is going slowly. The stairs and plastering outside will soon be finished. The compound around the home is finished and the water supply and electricity also finished. The door and windows are waiting for the glass to be fixed in.

Happy Home in Chitwan

Dear all,

We have very happy news for this month - we are heading to Chitwan with 10 Orphanage children very soon to accommodate them at our Happy Home in Chitwan, Ganganagar. In my last visit there, I found a good school where all of our children can go and this is just 15 minutes walking distance from Happy Home. I have found a woman who can provide care for our children and we are looking for another woman who can help with the cooking and cleaning. We will be hiring a girl from the village who can teach the children in the morning and evening and make sure that they are well dressed for school with all the right books and homework completed. The girl will also help the children with morning exercise, teaching songs, dance and making them more sociable.

We are also looking for long term volunteers (a couple would be good), to look after all the administration and act as parents for these children. We would like to give a big thanks to those who have donated money towards this project. There is an attachment on this newsletter with all the details of expenses for the new Happy Home at Ganganagar, Chitwan.

Thanks to Jim ji and Jenny Frink from UK, Alan from USA, and Nicky, John, Antja, Merly and Affica from Ireland who have contributed to this project.

Thanks to Nick and Brian

All the INFO Nepal staff would like to thank Nick and Brian, the volunteers who have just finished with us. They have helped us manage our accounts, our incoming volunteers, the host families and the placements. Nick ji we will miss your support at the office and Brian ji we will miss your friendliness and your help taking volunteers out to show them the Nepali way. It was really a great help from Nick and Brian in July as we had 40 new volunteers coming at that time.

London reunion

To celebrate INFO Nepal's  7th Anniversary, some of our past volunteers from the UK are going to organise an INFO Nepal Reunion Day on the 22nd September in London. We are looking at meeting in Oxford to take advantage of the inexpensive housing during summer break. Ryan Betters, who has come to join INFO Nepal 7 times, is going to lead this event. If you are interested in attending this event then please contact Ryan at  rdb2114@columbia.edu. If you want to buy something from Nepal (pashmina, etc)  then please write us an email at infonepal@mail.com.np so that we can send the stuff from here - the profit of these sales will go towards our Happy Home children's recreation activities in Chitwan.

New Projects - Pokhara Street Children

From this July, we are starting a new project in Pokhara that is "Street Children Education support" . So far we now have four projects in Pokhara where we can place 8 volunteers and group volunteers will be the best way forward for these placements. We have placed volunteers at the Street Children Shelter home in Pokhara and they have supported children with their homework and given extra teaching. Last week we donated blankets and beds for the children. Soon we are heading there with bunk beds and to set up a classroom inside the home. There are 27 children aged 7 to 13 years old. We need volunteers who can teach extra activities, songs, dance and some physical activities.

Tracy Gaertner, Canada

Placements in:

Sauraha, Chitwan 1 month

Ganganagar, Chitwan 10 days

Devi's Falls, Pokhara 10 days

I had the chance to work with many different children during my 2 months volunteering with INFO Nepal, and stayed with three different families.  My first placement in Sauraha, Chitwan, I stayed for 1 month and was received with true warmth and welcome.  My host family was absolutely amazing, spoiling me with attention and kindness.  It was there that I was fortunate enough to witness firsthand the generosity of the local people.  I worked in the resource centre there 6 days a week, teaching English and playing games. In all three of my placements, I was met with groups of amazing children who were eager to learn, play, sing, dance, and share their knowledge.  My experience here was vastly memorable and full of many surprises and hardships, and I am already looking forward to my return in the future. INFO Nepal is a wonderful organization that allows volunteers to really be a part of a community and family while providing many important services throughout Nepal to those most in need.  The staff offer various level of support and guidance throughout your visit, and were an amazing group to be a part of for a short while.  I wish them all the best, and am ever grateful to my family in Magartole who let me be a part of their life.

Arthur - Hong Kong  - Ganganagar Health and Sanitation program.

I was born in Hong Kong and have been living there for 19 years, brought up in a traditional Chinese family, breathing the air of Chinese culture. It was not until two years ago when I decided to go to the UK to study medicine that I had my first glimpse of the world outside. There are so many things to learn from other countries that I started to switch my mind to focus more on international issues. In medical school, there are a lot of volunteering opportunities to offer help to people in the third world countries by offering medical services. Most of my colleagues have done quite a lot of volunteer work before but I did not have any experience in this field and because of the heavy workload in medical school, I could not spare extra time doing those services. To do something to make this world a better place has always been the reason why I chose medicine as my career. However, I felt that I lack the skills and the experience to do this.

Finally in this summer 2007, I decided to come to Nepal to do some volunteering work, gain some new skills and learn more about my weakness. I went to Ganganagar in Chitwan to work for a local health post in Patihani VDC. The health post is sort of like primary health care clinic, mainly dealing with some general health problems such as cut wounds, eye irritation, fever, inflammation etc. It also deals with specific diseases such as eczema, fungal infection, TB etc. You may find the place a bit empty on your first impression as it only has basic medical equipments in place, and the interior setting of the clinic is a bit disorganized. However, the health post plays a crucial role in taking care of the health of the people in the village. During my two weeks' stay there, I learnt a lot of things from there, including getting to know how the health care system works in the area, the public health data of the area, the local health knowledge and health believes of the people, and the treatment approaches used by the local health care workers. It was a good opportunity to compare the local health care system with that of the western world. My observation skills and my critical thinking skills were strengthened when I thought of the changes and improvements that could be done to the clinic. The people working in the clinic are nice and friendly, I felt to be welcomed and I had a memorable time working with them. The Sitamai area, which is 15 minutes away from my host family by bike, is a poor area of the village. The hygiene condition is not appreciating in the area, with people having lots of health problems; however, they do not have money to go to see the doctor. I offered help to them by taking some of the children to the health post to get treatment and medication.   

In my spare time, I spent most of my time with my host family and the people living nearby. I helped out with rice grain planting and harvesting, corn harvesting etc. That was my first time being in a village and I had a good taste of the village life and was totally immersed into the culture by doing daily routine activities with the people. The village life of Nepal is simple yet happening. The village people there were very close with each other and it was fascinating to see heaps of things happening in a small place in two weeks' time. I love the kids most, they are very free-spirited and it was fulfilling to spend time with them.

Volunteering is absolutely fulfilling and rewarding. All you need to do is to open up your hearts to everyone and allow yourself to interact with people freely and openly. It was a great experience that I would never ever forget. demonstrate.

Post Placement Report- Devi's Falls Resource Center, July 5th – July 20th 2007

By:  Hans Swenson and Elise Chalmers

Hello INFO Nepal,

            We spent several weeks in Devi's Falls working at the resource centre. We taught English lessons mixed with a little geography and social studies and we tried to make it fun as much as possible by incorporating games into the lessons. The kids were great and very enthusiastic about learning but some very firm discipline was necessary to maintain order. If given the opportunity, some of the kids would quarrel, steal and be dishonest so we had to keep a sharp eye on their behavior. The majority of the kids however, were a pleasure to work with and once the rules were understood there was productive learning for everyone there.

            The classes were broken up by age group and in the morning at 6:45 we began with kids aged 11-13 of which about ten kids usually showed up. At 7:30, the 8-10 year old group came in which was about the same amount. We taught almost identical lessons to these two groups because many of the younger kids were more capable in English than the kids in the older group. Over the course of our time there we taught lessons on the use of plurals, apostrophes, contractions and basic world geography. We had them practise writing sentences in their copy books using the things they had learned from the English lessons. The geography was limited to continents, oceans, a few key countries in Asia and where volunteers came from since the kids were always curious about our homes. If everyone cooperated and finished their assignments quickly we would often finish with a short game. They absolutely loved the games. Every game we played was enjoyed by the kids.

In the evening at 5:30, we had 5-7 year olds come in for half an hour. This group was usually less than half a dozen kids and they spoke almost no English. We tried to get them to speak as much as possible with lessons on basic greetings, how to ask for things, and some vocabulary like foods, animals and common objects. The lessons were brief and we always rewarded their efforts with games, songs or coloring.

At 6 pm we let all ages of kids come in for a fun activity. Sometimes as many as fifty kids would show up and it was always chaotic. We would organize trivia games, charades, and bingo. Sometimes we handed out crossword puzzles or word searches with concepts from the morning lessons. These were great because the kids would all be fairly quiet and focused for the whole time instead. Bingo was one of the most chaotic but also the game most requested by the kids.

The lessons seemed to be pretty successful for the most part but there were always a few kids who had not learned as much English as the others and they struggled to follow the activities. We felt that it would be better if we could have developed a routine way of evaluating each child's English level and then placing them in groups according these results instead of grouping them by age. However this would require more time than we had so we just did our best to give extra attention to the kids who needed it in order for them to understand what was going on.

As for ourselves, our accommodations were quite comfortable and the dahl baat was excellent. Since we only spent about 3 hours a day working with the kids, we had plenty of free time to explore the local area which was beautiful. It was about a ten minute walk down to the river where we could swim and go hiking in the country. In 20 minutes we could take the local bus into Lakeside and swim in the lake or go shopping for whatever we wanted. It was really a great place to be and the overall experience was wonderful. We would do it again and we recommend it to others.

Thank you INFO Nepal for a great time. 

Hans Swenson and Elise Chalmers

Namaste! from Aurielle

My time in Nepal has been absolutely amazing. Every day has been unpredictable, new and exciting and a big adventure. I taught English at a resource centre near Pokhara. The kids were so full of energy, and so much fun to teach, I fell in in love with every one of them! There was a river in the village where we went swimming, the kids eagerly showing us the best diving spots! We played a massive game of red rover in the village, with all of the kids; Nepali kids are so much more violent and tough than kids back home; it made for a very interesting game!

            It takes a while to get used to the constant staring from the Nepali locals, but they are so welcoming and warm and don’t mean anything by it, it's all just good banter! Haggling in Thamel can actually be a lot of fun; I spent a very nice 30 minutes haggling over a pashmina with a cup of tea and friendly, though false, chit-chat! 

            My highlight would have to be doing the bungee jump with the last resort. I still can't believe I did it, but it was so much fun, definitely worth doing! We went trekking but saw very little of the views due to the clouds. Still it was good fun being so high that we were actually walking in clouds! I'd say don’t come in monsoon season, I will definitely be back in spring one of these days to see Nepal at its best.

            Pokhara is my favorite place that I've been to. The views across the lake are beautiful and it's so much more peaceful than Kathmandu.

Sharing my room with cockroaches, spiders and rats was… an experience, and eating only dhal baat everyday for 2 weeks a challenge. These are probably the only 2 things I will be happy to leave behind.

In all other respects I will miss Nepal and the friends I made here very much.

Thank you INFO!

Placement Report

Name:  Argentina Hung

Country:  United Kingdom

Location:  Parbatipur, Chitwan

Program:  Teach English

Placement:  Resource Centre (Library/Community Centre)

Duration:  4 weeks (July 2007)

I arrived in Nepal at the beginning of July 2007.  The first week in Nepal consisted of mainly training and sightseeing.  All volunteers had to undergo Nepal language lessons to assist in the language barrier and culture difference.  This also included spending two days in a village called Dhulikhel, which is located just outside Kathmandu (also known as the "training village").  I stayed with a local "host family" in Dhulikhel and was treated with the greatest kindness.  The time I spent in Dhulikhel (although it was only two days) was memorable by the kindness of all the people that lived in the village.  I was welcomed with open arms and made part of the village community as soon as I arrived.  The children in the village were adorable.

The second week in Nepal was spent on two different activities.  The first activity was a visit to Chitwan Jungle Safari for three days.  This meant a long 5-hour bus ride from Kathmandu to Chitwan.  The second activity was four days trekking in Pokhara, again, a long 5-hour bus journey from Chitwan to Pokhara.  Both activities were worthwhile.

In terms of placement, I did not have a preference in location.  As a result, I was placed at a Resource Centre (alternatively known as a Library/Community Centre) in Parbatipur, Chitwan.  This is where I spent the remainder of my time in Nepal.  I stayed with a host family located right next door to the Resource Centre!  The host family were very kind and welcoming.  I spent a considerable amount of time playing cards with the children at the host family and managed to teach them a few new games to remember! 

The Resource Centre is simply a place where the children can go before and after school as they wish.  It is not compulsory and extremely laid back!  I was able to teach them more or less anything I wanted!  This is because the Resource Centre is not a school, hence there was no need to follow a rigid curriculum.

The Resource Centre was open from 7-9am and 4-6pm everyday (except Saturday).  Since my placement was in July, the majority of the children were off on school holidays, hence the Resource Centre was open longer each day.  I also wanted to teach English at a local school, but due to the school holidays, this was not possible.  The children that attended the Resource Centre aged from as little as 3 years old to 13 years old.  Some children even came twice each day!  Activities in the Resource Centre included reading, drawing, coloring, playing number and word games, singing and playing outside.

Overall, the placement in Parbatipur was a great experience.  In addition, the two days spent in Dhulikhel was a memorable experience.  I am very grateful for the warm welcome I received from both host families and will always remember the people I met.