Feedback from Nepal
Below you can read what former EXIS volunteers in Nepal says about their stays there.
During my journalism-internship, I was in kirat festival, I visited a shaman who lives in Kathmandu. I have done some interviews, took photos of human rights manifestations. I worked with Ram, freelance journalist; He was really helpful; he enabled me to see many things which I could not have seen without him. He helped me to find some contacts and guide me. It was a great opportunity for me, thank you for all! I spent one month in Nardev and Shila’s house; they hosedt me during my journalism internship. They are really kind and friendly. Shila cooks the best dhaal bat in the world and children are really nice. Their house is really a peaceful place for living. It was a great enrichment to share quotidian with them, don’t change anything you are really a great familly!
– Gaëlle, France
I had a good time when I arrived at Airport and they received me and transferred to hostel. Hostel was clean and well-managed. They introduced me to whole staff of cultural youth exchange.
Day after arrival, teacher informed me about my project, schedule, host family, situation of Nepal and other issues. They were very nice and looking so happy and they always asked me about my problem and something like that.
It was good to have a slow introduction to Nepal the first week and learn some words and phrases in Nepali though I’m not using them so much now, because they are so good in English here at Children Home. I really liked the village stay, to get out of the city and to have short look in what life is outside the city and the family was really friendly and hospital. And Chitwan was nice to see some tourist stuff before going to the children home. But I must say that the best time I have had here is here at the children home.
I recommend Exis-Nepal’s two weeks program for other volunteers. I would suggest them without any contact person\organization we can’t get achievement. I hope so; cultural youth exchange helps you during the time of Volunteering. I haven’t had a host family, stayed at orphanage but that was perfect, because the Children Home is such a nice place, so I rather want to spend 24 hours here than only 6 hours. What I can say other than I will strongly recommend other volunteers to come and work here.
The food is good , and I am definitely never hungry, though it took a little time to get used to the spices and the house is fine, and I really like that there is a western kind of toilet.
I would recommend it for the whole program because every one is really nice and they had good hospitality.
It has tryly been a great experience volunteering in Nepal.
Something I will never regret nor forget. It has been wonderful establishing friendships both with other volunteers and within the host family, where I stayed for 1 month.
The project, teaching English at a government school, has given me stuff to think about and I have learned a lot about myself. I also think that this time of my life has made me more independant.
Thank you!
– Andre
I was well received and transferred to the hostel, and I was satisfied with my orientations and first week program. Hom is a very good teacher and he was good at explaining us about the historical background and the situation right now. I enjoyed the class and the sightseeing very much! The accommodation was fine. Tyson’s foods were great! To the upcoming volunteers I recommend them to be open-minded, it will benefit them much more lately. I also recommend playing cricket, it is a funny game and it helps you to learn the verbs, numbers, days of the week and so on, faster. I really liked the language class and the information about Nepali culture.
The best thing was the volunteer the work at the orphanage you could feel that you made a difference and the kids were so happy. The staffs here are wonderful as the kids. When it is the day off of kids from school, they made difference games they do not know, they really like that. Just be there for them and be affectionate. My stay in Meg’s Children home has been fantastic. I love the staffs and the kids here. I really liked that I was allowed to use my time with the kids as I liked. Give the kids a hug and show love, the rest comes naturally.
– Camilla
I enjoyed my stay very much. I have followed the 2 weeks language and culture program when I was in Nepal. I really liked it because in those 2 weeks I learned to speak some Nepali so that I could interact with the local people. This was very nice. It even helped me to get a good discount when I was shopping in Thamel. The lessons from our Nepali teacher were very good. He explained how sentences are made in Nepali and how you can make some easy sentences. On the end of the 2 weeks we also had a test to see how much Nepali we learned in those 2 weeks. And luckily everybody passed the test!!
We also did a sightseeing tour through Kathmandu. We visited temples and other cultural buildings this was a good way to see more of Kathmandu. The thing I liked the most was the Boudhnath. This is an beautiful Buddhist stupa where people walk the Kora. This is an very religious place where also a lot of Tibetan people come.
Then in the second week we stayed a few days in an little village called Laamaatar. We stayed with a family with a very nice host father who took is on a hike in the mountains. This was a great experience. From the top of the mountain we could see the Mount Everest! The host father told us everything about his life in Nepal and was also interested in how life is in Europe. It was nice to share stories and learn more about live in Nepal. The last night in Laamaatar they arranged a culture program for us. There were girls who came and sung and danced on Nepali music for us. We also tried to dance on the Nepali music but it was harder than it seemed!
I very much liked my stay in Nepal. The people in the hostel were the best. They helped me when I was ill and they tried to make my stay the best they could. The food was very nice. Michael the cook surprised us every time with his cooking talent. And now that I’m back in the Netherlands I miss little babu the little boy who lives in the hostel very much. He really stole my hart!
I also celebrated the Losar festival. I was on the roof with another volunteer and Michael our cook. And we trough water balloons and colouring powder at everybody and also got hit very often. This was the best day of my stay in Nepal! Everybody was laughing and teasing each other and on the end of the day I was all wet and coloured!
– Frederika
