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Mick and Shannon write...

...about their experiences while volunteering in Nepal.

In mid March 2003, we touched down in Kathmandu for the first time in our lives! Outside the airport we were surrounded by hordes of touts and taxi drivers and were relieved to spot our names on a sign. After brief introductions the men took us to our hotel which was to be our temporary home in Kathmandu. After settling into our room we met Emma (volunteer coordinator) and the other volunteers who would be training with us. There was one Canadian, one Brit and three Australians (including us). The next day we were introduced to our Nepali language teachers and began our training. For five days we learnt Nepali language and many aspects of Nepalese and Hindu culture while taking our classes on the front porch of the office as the weather was beautiful. Some days afternoon sightseeing was also on the agenda! All the volunteers got along well with each other and we enjoyed practicing what we’d learnt that day over dinner.

We learnt many cultural ways that were so foreign to us and seemed worlds apart from anything we’d ever known – our minds were broadened and our eyes opened! One which was pertinent to our situation as a couple volunteering was the importance of marriage in the Hindu culture. As we are not married we made the decision, upon advice from Emma, to tell people we were.

After our theoretical training, we were plunged into the practical and taken to a training village in the Kathmandu valley for a week. When we were introduced to our host family we were pleased to find we were given our own room and a double bed!! Each day our language and cultural lessons continued, only now they were on a grass mat in front of one of the houses with a herd of goats next to us. We also had some hands-on teacher training in the classroom.

Communication with the family was initially difficult but eased as the week wore on. They were eager to please us with copious amounts of tasty dal bhat (lentils, vegetables and rice) - “pugyo” (enough!) and “mitho chha” (it is tasty!) became much used words in our new vocabulary. We also had to field questions about our “marriage” – is it an arranged marriage or a love marriage? The experiences of the volunteers were all very different as even within this small village the families varied quite a lot. For example our family had a private tap for bathing and a dining table, whereas others used a public tap and sat on the floor. Overall the training prepared us very well for our placements!

Before going to our placement we went trekking with the other volunteers. This was optional and proved to be an incredible experience which gave us a chance to see more of Nepal and its people.

Two and a half weeks after training we were taken to our placement, approximately one hour from Pokhara. The village was situated at the foothills of a valley surrounded by paddy fields, grazing buffalo and close to a river. We were introduced to our new family who we immediately took a liking to as they were very warm and friendly. Once again we were given our own room and they went to great lengths to make us comfortable. They provided tables, chairs, a double bed, floor mats, a clothes rack- more than we ever expected! We were soon visited by many curious locals who would stand at our door and speak in Nepali (assuming that we understood because we could speak a few basic words and sentences). The family made us very welcome and we enjoyed being included in their day to day activities, such as watching TV (with many locals crowded in one room!), sharing photographs, visiting people, going for walks and sitting in the courtyard while they were preparing meals or weaving. We had basic communication with them as they knew little English and we knew little Nepali. The international language of charades became a useful method of communicating. There was often much laughter!

The school was perched on top of a hill with a fantastic view of the valley. We were instructed to teach classes four and five, however many other children (and a few adults) came along to sit in on our classes! As there was teacher training at the time, there were no teachers present and we were given a key to the school. We weren’t given a curriculum and therefore needed to use guide books, our imagination and initiative during and when preparing lessons. The children were extremely enthusiastic to learn and were often over-excited as we were such a novelty! We soon realized that their knowledge of the English language was built on ‘parrot – style learning’ and we had quite a job on our hands to teach them how to think for themselves and creatively. Our decision to teach the English lessons in the classroom and then join classes for an outdoor Environmental Awareness lesson proved to be an effective and enjoyable way of teaching. Each day we were greeted with children yelling “Hello Miss!”, “Hello Sir!”, “How are you?” and they would run down the hill all wanting to carry our bags. Sometimes the children would even come to our house early so they could walk to school with us. Teaching the children, although challenging at times, was a very rewarding experience!!

Each day time was spent bathing in the river as our other washing option was a very public tap. It soon became one of the highlights of our day, even with an occasional audience of curious children! Much of our time in the village was in the company of other people as the culture is very social. The villagers often asked what seemed to us to be very personal questions and we sometimes found this difficult. This meant we appreciated those rare moments when we could have some private time together. We left the village earlier than anticipated as the father in our family contracted typhoid. Although we were vaccinated, it is never 100% effective and as he had prepared most of our meals we felt the health risk was too high. This made us grateful for getting our vaccinations prior to coming to a developing country such as Nepal.

This opportunity really took us out of our comfort zone and taught us so much about life and humanity. Overall, as a couple volunteering, it was great to have the support of a partner during challenging times, to have someone there to laugh with and to share this amazing experience!