Nina Chapman - Norway - Dec - 2008 We planned the classes the day before. The kids were very eager to learn, especially the second class. The teaching at the primary school seemed much needed, as they lacked teachers and as the kids really benefited from having English speaking people around. They were so eager to learn! I would recommend any volunteers going to Thulakhet to consider teaching at the primary school.
Sarah Looney - England - 23rd November 2008 I arrived in Sauraha in the afternoon after a relatively uneventful bus journey – it was only about an hour late! The previous volunteer was staying with the host family till the next day so I spent the night in a 'tower' in the jungle which was great! We were woken up in the middle of the night as there was a rhino mother and baby grazing underneath the tower!
Drac Garcia Palacios - Catalonia, Spain - 28 of June So, yes, my wish is been fulfilled, I did have the opportunity to travel, go inside of the culture, meet a lot of people, and do something meaningful like teaching English, which I think is really important for them, because gives the opportunity to read more, discover new worlds, travel, get better education, better jobs, and hopefully better lives. So I have to give many, many thanks to Info-Nepal for the big opportunity that they gave me. They are doing a really good job.
Anna Drutschinin - Australia - : February 6th 2008 - I would love to go back to Nirmal Pokhari as I formed so many close relationships there and it really is a beautiful village. Now that I know what its like, I would go back more prepared so that I could make more of a difference - I feel that I spent my time there learning about the culture of Nepal and the issues it faces more than actually doing quality teaching.
Anne-Marie Parry - England - 30th June 2008 We did full medical checks at the school and at the orphanage a total of one hundred children, the local doctor at a near by health post came also to prescribe any medication the children needed. We also took some of the children from the orphanage to the dentist in Narangard.
I was very sad to leave my placement as the people there and the children were so welcoming and helpful it really felt like home. I do hope in the future I will return here and see how the school has progressed and how the children have grown up.
Danielle Soya - USA - 27 April 2008 Last year I left Gatlang at the end of winter determined to return the next year. It may be a few months later than I'd hoped, but I did return this year to spend the month of May teaching at Gatlang Library and school. I had suggested last year that INFO give Tamang language training to Gatlang volunteers since they don't speak Nepali. When I arrived, I was happy to find out that Durga (the Gatlang host father) was in Kathmandu to give me just that. It was difficult, but the even the few words I remembered helped control the kids and helped me relate better to their very curious parents.
Nina Chapman - Norway - Dec - 2008 Got up at 6.30 and had tea. First class at the RC at 7 am with the little kids, second class at 8 am with the older kids. Went back to the house for dhal bhat at 9.30. Taught at the primary school from 10am-1pm. After 1 pm: free time. Went hiking or visited the next village. 6-7 pm had dhal bhaat.
Edward Macey - England - 12th May 2008 At the library where we were given as much freedom as we wanted, we based the lessons usually around a topic such as time, weather, family etc and would then use various methods to teach it. The most popular method was drawing and some students managed to fill their books with drawings within a few weeks. Other popular methods included games such as hangman and pictionary. A methods which I tried to use only when necessary included writing on the board and they would simply copy as this is often employed at school and is not much fun or effective way of teaching for you or the students.
Tegan Burnet - Australia - 6th Dec 08
Take lots of things to do and read, as in the mountains there are less people to talk with, and if there is no school the days can be long. Be prepared to take the initiative and get involved. And be prepared with lots of ideas and resources at all sorts of levels as the children vary from no English to pretty good basics.
Simon Altman - German - Aug - 2009 And so my placement comes to an end…
It was a tough experience and to say I enjoyed it wouldn't be the right words. The isolation, freezing cold and very simple way of life definitely takes a big adjustment, and really tests your strength of character. But despite this, it's was an experience I'm glad I had. It taught me some valuable lessons, and made my understanding of the world and myself a little deeper.
Danielle Soya - USA - 27 April 2008 Gatlang is a challenging place for a volunteer. The weather can be extreme, and the lifestyle is worlds away from home, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more welcoming community. I hope the increase in volunteers willing to travel out to Gatlang continues to grow. I know they are eagerly awaiting the next set that comes through.
Edward Macey - England - 12th May 2008 The main issue was obviously the language barrier, especially when teaching in the primary school as you were trying to teach them from the books they were given and the exercises were far too hard for them. The books were also outdated and often had mistakes in them, which the teachers would never realise, and therefore the teachers would have already drilled this into them.
Shweta Parmekar - USA - July 2009 I loved the variety that volunteering in different parts of Nepal offered. It exposed us to various health conditions and circumstances which gave us a wider perspective on healthcare here. It also allowed us to practice the clinical skills we've gained thus far and allowed us to see conditions that we may not normally see in the States.
Montserrat de Villasante Fuentes and Ricardo Borges Rutz - Spain / Brazil - July 2009 Children who used to come to the library had many different ages, from 2 years old till 20 years old, so we had to deal with this. Montse used to be with the little one, and Ricardo with the olders. The activities consisted on:
Playing nature memory in english, practicing numbers and names of animals, meals and other stuff…., playing with balloons, making jungle balls with balloons, for the olders the activities were: maths, geography, playing table tennis, and all the time using english language.
Rachel Reeves - USA - Nov 2009 Another thing you should know -- the teachers' lack of motivation/organization will likely frustrate you, but don't let it affect you. You just have to get used to it. Though they don't seem to care about their students, you can care about the students for them.
Tami Nudel - Israel - Sept 2008 The Langtang area is very impressive, and waking up every morning with the view of the massive mountains was wonderful.
The local food was very spicy, and I must admit that I will not eat rice for the near future, because eating Dhal Baat for 7 days a week, 3-4 times a day was a real challenge!
To sum it up, I had one of my greater experiences in my life, and I will never forget it.
Shweta Parmekar - USA - July 2009 At our health placements we did 2-3 health camps at each location and included routine physicals, general checkups, and noting each patient's chief complaint. The physician would then provide us with insight to the diagnosis and would then prescribe appropriate medications. The biggest challenge by far was the language barrier. It made it quite difficult to communicate directly with the patients and establish any form of personal touch. Also occasionally the lack of medical equipment made it difficult to perform adequate examinations.
Sarah Looney - England - 23rd November 2008 Definitely, it was a lot of fun and very rewarding the children were lovely and very motivated and the host family was great- they made me feel really welcome in their home. In addition Sauraha is a great place to visit.
Yes, I have had a great experience and everybody at INFO is always helpful and accommodating and tries to make you experience as good as it can be. It was also really good meeting all the other volunteers. I have had a fantastic time.
"New
Happy Home" Children's Care House in Chitwan
Our
aim is provide children who have either lost their parents through death
from illness or accident, or have been abandoned or working in child labor
situations with a safe and caring environment, a "Happy Home".
Given that INFO Nepal's priorities are equality, understanding and acceptance
of people, we have, in the Happy Home, children from a broad range of religious,
tribal and caste structures. Living together, working through differences,
fostering a family atmosphere, getting a good education, and generally sharing
life together is an important part of achieving this priority.
We originally did some advertisement about Happy Home, but this was not successful,
as many people in Nepal are quite poor and are desperate to give their children
a better opportunity. Once we realized this, we stopped all advertisements.
Instead, we find the children through local connections. INFO Nepal is quite
well known within the smaller village communities in Nepal, and often, we
hear of these children when our volunteers and staff members travel through
the regions on their way to placements.
Our goals with
these children are to educate them so that they can return home and make
a difference in their village. We plan to do this by continually making efforts
to bring the children back to their home villages for visits during festivals
and holidays, so they buttons/tain a local connection, allow their family
to visit them at Happy Home, and finally, once the children are educated,
we plan to hire them as regional coordinators or teachers for their villages.
In this position, they would have facilities to house volunteers at our facilities,
educate younger members of their villages, and generally improve the education,
sanitation, and lifestyle of people in their village.
How you can help?
Sponsoring
HAPPY HOME children
Sending
clothes, toys and educational materials
Writing letters
and post cards, and sending pictures to our children in HAPPY HOME
Visiting our HAPPY HOME and sharing your love with them.
Volunteering with INFO Nepal
INFO Nepal will have a maximum of 20 children at the Happy Home. Through research
we have calculated that the monthly cost to support one child at our "Happy
Home" Children's Care House is USD$30.00. Sponsorship provides benefits
to both the child and the sponsor. These include:
Benefits
for the child
Living in a family
environment with no more than 4 children per room
Live-with overseas
volunteer(s) who assist the children with school work and learning English
Food
Clothing
Education at a local
Private school and bus
Additional tuition
mornings and evenings
Combined Study room
and Library
Celebration of festivals,
and access to Nepali cultural events
Sports & Games
Indoor playroom
Garden
Benefits
for the sponsor
Knowing that they are part of breaking the
cycle of poverty for a Nepali child through helping the children have access
to a good education and family life.
Regular photographs of the child
Regular letters from the child
A copy of the child's educational report every 4 months
Reports and photographs of extra curricular
activities e.g. sports days, singing dancing, quiz contests & drawing
The facility to visit the sponsored child
at any time with 2 nights accommodation at "Happy Home"
Regular copies of the INFO Nepal Newsletter
Happy Home Facilities
Four rooms for the Children to sleep(4 in
each room)
One room for the Kitchen and Dinning
One big room for the children's Study and Library this has a TV, DVD,
couches, and educational materials
Outdoor balcony and rooftop play areas
A big vegetable Garden
A big play ground on the backward of the home
One small room for Store
One room for the Volunteers
One room for Happy Home Mum
Profile
of the Happy Home Children:
Chiring
Tamang:
Chiring is a 5 year
girl from Tandi , Chitwan. Her
father died in Iraq while he was working there. Chiring has seen her
father only in the picture. Without husband to live in the society
it was very difficult for her mum. Either go to dally work or take
care of the Chiring, it was very difficult for Basanti (Happy home
Mum) to decide and survive
Chiring's progress:
Chiring came to Happy Home in Sept 2007 with her mum who is a mother for all
the children at Happy home. Chiring is very laughing personality and always makes
you laugh. Chiring is very happy to have many brother and sister living together.
Chiring has scored good mark in her class.
Sandesh
Sandesh is a 10 year
boy from Ratnanagar, Chitwan. His
father went to Dubai to work and it has been four years that the family
haven't heard any things from him. His mum has got other three children
to care and afford and being a land less family it was too difficult
for her.
Sandesh's progress:
Being a poor family and with out Dad, Sandesh's family were discriminated from
the society. Sandesh himself a disable person and it was very hard for him to
cope with his friends. Sandesh is now very happy to be at Happy Home as there
are all new friends and don't have to face any more discrimination.
Sarmila
Thapa Magar
Sarmila is a 8 year
girl from Krishna mandir chok, Chitwan. Her
father who has physical and intellectual disabilities and have got
five other children at home. He cannot complete a full day's work and
therefore does not earn enough to support her. He has sent her to the
Happy Home in Kathmandu in the hope of her having a better life.
Sarmila's progress:
Sarmila came to Happy Home in Sept 2007. She was very dirty, and was suffering
from a variety of skin infestations due to a lack of hygiene. She has adapted
to living in happy home very well. she is a intelligent student in her class.
Sarmila also helps at the Happy home with Kitchen work and vegetable garden as
she has learned all these work at home.
Chuppu
Jhylmo Ghale
Chuppu is a 6 year
old girl from Goljung, Rasuwa, 80 km from Kathmandu in the nearby Langtang
region. Chuppu Mum has got a small
tea shop on the way to Gatlang with which her 6 member of family have
been surviving. Chuppu is very smiling girl and cleaver as well.
Chippu's Progress:
Chippu has now been at Happy Home in Chitwan since Sept 2007. When she first
came, she was not able to speak Nepali or to communicate that well. Cippu has
faced and overcome many challenges in coming to live with us in Happy Home. She
has never had so much access to so many resources, and we were challenged with
teaching her moderation. Now, she can speak Nepali a little bit, and she has
received top marks in her class. She has become a wonderful child to have at
Happy Home and we are happy we took the opportunity to improve her life.
Sonam
Ghale
Sonam Ghale is 6 years
old, and from the Goljung village, in Langtang. His
parents are land less people in the areas and have to go to work in
the agriculture fields to survive every day. Sonam has got 3 brother
and one sister living at home. Having too many children with out any
source of income Sonam was not attending School even he was 6 years
old.
Sonam's Progress:
Sonam came to Happy Home in Sept 2007. He is a brilliant child, and has overcome
his initial homesickness. He continues to astound volunteers with his capacity
for eating! He continues to out-eat every volunteer, regardless of their age
or size. He is a very healthy boy, and is very active playing games and interacting
with the volunteers. Sonam also continues to do well with his academics, scoring
top marks in his class.
Pasang
Ghale
Pasang
is from Chilime, in Langtang. His family consists of his parents and
four brother and sister. His father
is a porter for tourists in the region. His father had tried to start
a business independently, but this failed, and the bank has seized
all of his land and family's resources. Because of this, he was unable
to care for his children properly, and agreed to send Sonam to Happy
Home in a hope that at least.
Pasang's
Progress:
Pasang came to Happy Home in Sept 2007, and we have seen a lot of growth
with him. When he first came, he was very shy and would not communicate
with anyone. Now, he enjoys playing with the children and volunteers
at Happy Home. He is very helpful and takes care to maintain the conditions
in Happy Home, but we continue to struggle with his in achieving more
academically.
Tenging
Ghale
Tenging is an 9 year
old boy from Golgung, in the Langtang Region. His
parents are alive, he also has two siblings. His father is a porter
for travelers in the Langtang Region. Due to the lack of tourism, the
porters are often out of work, and are unable to provide for their
families. They do try to get special jobs caring for tourists; however,
these are often short term. His family sent him to us because they
are not able to pay for his education or to provide for him.
When we found Tenging, he was living in very poor conditions in an orphanage
home in Kathmandu. The orphanage home was closed because the main administrator
got remarried and his sponsor was unable to continue his funding. As a result,
he had been sent back to his village, where he had even less access to education
and a hygienic environment.
Tenging's
Progress:
Tenging came to Kathmandu Happy Home in December 2005. He continues to be a very
quite and reserved child. When he first came he was a bit scared of being in
a big facilities. After being two years in Happy home of Kathmandu Now,Tenging
has became a smart boy in Ganganagar Happy Home in Chitwan. he plays and interacts
with the other children, and is a favorite of many of the volunteers.
Mingma
Ghale
Mingma is 7 years old
girl. Her family lives in Goljung, Rashuwa. She has got two brothers
and one sister dad and mum. Her family is from a lower cast, and they
are quite poor. Her father is a porter for tourists who come to Langtang.
When we found Mingma, she had been living in very poor conditions in an orphanage
home Kathmandu. The orphanage home was closed because the main administrator
got remarried and her sponsor was unable to continue their support. As a result,
she had been sent back to her village, where she had even less access to education
and a hygienic environment.
Mingma's
Progress:
Mingma has now been at Happy Home since November 2005. When she first came, she
was a little bit lost – she had never experienced living in a home like Happy
Home, with so many resources and facilities. She has overcome her reluctance
to speak Nepali, and she now knows quite a lot of English as well! Mingma is
a keen student with her academics. She also enjoys running and playing sports
with the volunteers and children at Happy Home. Now Mingma is using her knowledge
to keep clean the home in Chitwan Happy Home. Mingma also act as a older sister
for the joiner children.
Sarita
Ghale
Sarita is 6 years old.
She is from one of the lower caste families in Golgung, in Langtang.
Her mother works in the village amongst the women's group as a social
health worker. She has 3 siblings, a brother and two sisters. Her mother
was unable to provide for all the children, and also knew that the
quality of education would be much better in Kathmandu. Her mother
hopes that one day, Sarita will go back to her village and work as
a nurse.
Sarita's Progress: As the smallest child
in Happy Home, Sarita continues to charm all the new volunteers.
She is an extraordinarily happy child, and has a quick smile that
lights up a room. She is extremely talkative, and is the first
one to start singing…and once she starts, she will never stop!
Since coming in November 2005, Sarita has made the transition from
village to city life very well. She is obedient, and has quickly
and easily conformed to the rules in Happy Home.
Kabita
Kabita is a 8 year
old girl from Sauraha, Chitwan district. She
has three younger sisters and one brother. Kabita's Father is a Jungle
Guide in Chitwan National park who helps our volunteers to visit the
National park.
Kabita's Progress:
Kabita has now been at Happy Home since Sept 2007 . Although she was initially
very shy, she has integrated well in the life at Happy Home, and she is very
helpful with teaching the younger children how to take care of themselves and
each other. Kabita continues to amaze volunteers with her sunny personality,
her caring nature, and her infectious laugh. As a talent girl in Happy Home,
she has taken the responsibility to help teaching for all the younger children,
and she is constantly making a huge difference to improving the lives for everyone
who lives here, volunteers and children alike. She has also discovered the importance
of having good academics, and we look forward to having some positive news about
her performance at school!
Susan
Thapa
Susan is a 8 year boy
from Tandi, Chitwan. His Father went to Arab to find a job but it has
been 4 years that he is out of any contact. The
Family think that he has died. Susan mother need to work every day
to survive
and could not afford schooling for two of her Children.
Susan's progress:
Susan came to Happy Home in Sept 2007. He was very dirty, and was suffering from
a variety of skin infestations due to a lack of hygiene. He has adapted to living
in happy home very well, he is a dedicated student in his academics, and recently
achieved recognition as being the best student in his class. He has a very good
knowledge of English, and regularly helps other children with their homework
Sabita
Sabita is a 8 year
girl from Sauraha, Chitwan. Sabita
has three more sister and one younger brother. Because of the wiliness
to have a Son , her parents have got now four daughter and one son.
Sabita's progress:
Sabita came to Happy Home in Sept 2007. She was very dirty, and was suffering
from a variety of skin infestations due to a lack of hygiene. She has adapted
to living in Happy Home very well, she is a dedicated student in her academics,
and recently achieved recognition as being the best student in her grade level.
She has a very good knowledge of English, and regularly helps other children
with their homework.
Sanjaya
Thapa Magar
Sanjay is a
10 year boy from Tikauli, Chitwan. Sanjaya's family are land less family
living in the bank of the Rapti river. Being
with seven children at the family Sanjaya was not getting attention
from his parents as he is very talent and embassies person. It was
very difficult for his parent to send all of their seven children at
the school as they
Sanjaya's progress:
Sanjaya came to Happy Home in Sept 2007. He was very dirty, and was suffering
from a variety of skin infestations due to a lack of hygiene. Sanjay is a big
boy at Happy Home so he act as a defender for any problem of Happy Home. Sanjaya
is very good in playing football.
Basanti
Tamang
Basanti
is a widow mum for 13 children at Happy Home in Chitwan. Her Husband
went to Iraq to work and he was killed there. To be a widow women and
live in the tradition village Basanti had faced a lot of Social discrimination
and was very hard life to be there. Basanti was looking for a safe
shelter where she can live with a lot of love and respect with her
daughter. Basanti is very lovely women and is happy to be in Happy
Home with thirteen children. Basanti is very good cook as most of the
volunteers liked her cooking. Basanti take care of the hygiene. Basanti
is very good
With
our volunteer who placed there to assist her. Basanti is very good
care giver for our children.
Any one can donate directly
to our Bank
Bank
Information of INFO Nepal
Bank Name : Standard
Chartered Bank Nepal LTD,
Address : Kathmandu Nepal swift code :SCBLNPKA
Account Name : Inside Nepal Friendship Organization
Account Number: 01
1059742 01
Corresponding Bank : Standard Chartered
Bank, New York, USA
swift code : scblus33
Kate and Llynlly Langdon - Australia Oct 2009 We made posters, cards, poems, art, we did dictation, spelling and played games such as hangman etc. They loved to colour in and also did dictation, spelling and reading with those who were willing. The older children were great and had very good English already to it was easy to teach them more.
Tami Nudel - Israel - Sept 2008 Working with the children was great, because they were truly enthusiastic about me- the western girl… Walking through the village made me fill like a celebrity- everyone shouts "Namaste!", and all the children run towards me and jump on me.
Living up in the mountains, working in the fields, cleaning with the local women was a real adventure. This is something that I would never to back in Israel, and I am very glad that I got the opportunity to do so.
Sarah Looney - England - 23rd November 2008 Over the next few weeks the routine continues teaching from 6-8.30 am and then having the days to prepare and free time and then in the afternoons teaching from 4.30 – 6 pm. One of the challenges we faced was the fact that their was no electricity so we had to teach by candlelight at the beginning and end of the day which was an experience! The teaching was great fun, the children were very motivated to learn and loved playing games – they also often wanted to stay even after their class had finished and sometimes a few of the older ones stayed to help out with the younger ones, who at times could be very hard work.
Nina Chapman - Norway - Dec - 2008 Another challenge was at the primary school, where they wanted us to teach the kids for as long as 1 ½ hours at the time. This is too long to try to keep little children's attention, but as long as we were clear about what we were doing, it worked out fine. We ended up taking two 45 min classes each per day. They primary school also had exams in the time that we were there, so for these days, we couldn’t teach them.
We planned the classes the day before. The kids were very eager to learn, especially the second class. The teaching at the primary school seemed much needed, as they lacked teachers and as the kids really benefited from having English speaking people around. They were so eager to learn! I would recommend any volunteers going to Thulakhet to consider teaching at the primary school. 
I arrived in Sauraha in the afternoon after a relatively uneventful bus journey – it was only about an hour late! The previous volunteer was staying with the host family till the next day so I spent the night in a 'tower' in the jungle which was great! We were woken up in the middle of the night as there was a rhino mother and baby grazing underneath the tower! 
So, yes, my wish is been fulfilled, I did have the opportunity to travel, go inside of the culture, meet a lot of people, and do something meaningful like teaching English, which I think is really important for them, because gives the opportunity to read more, discover new worlds, travel, get better education, better jobs, and hopefully better lives. So I have to give many, many thanks to Info-Nepal for the big opportunity that they gave me. They are doing a really good job. 
- I would love to go back to Nirmal Pokhari as I formed so many close relationships there and it really is a beautiful village. Now that I know what its like, I would go back more prepared so that I could make more of a difference - I feel that I spent my time there learning about the culture of Nepal and the issues it faces more than actually doing quality teaching.
We did full medical checks at the school and at the orphanage a total of one hundred children, the local doctor at a near by health post came also to prescribe any medication the children needed. We also took some of the children from the orphanage to the dentist in Narangard.
Last year I left Gatlang at the end of winter determined to return the next year. It may be a few months later than I'd hoped, but I did return this year to spend the month of May teaching at Gatlang Library and school. I had suggested last year that INFO give Tamang language training to Gatlang volunteers since they don't speak Nepali. When I arrived, I was happy to find out that Durga (the Gatlang host father) was in Kathmandu to give me just that. It was difficult, but the even the few words I remembered helped control the kids and helped me relate better to their very curious parents. 
At the library where we were given as much freedom as we wanted, we based the lessons usually around a topic such as time, weather, family etc and would then use various methods to teach it. The most popular method was drawing and some students managed to fill their books with drawings within a few weeks. Other popular methods included games such as hangman and pictionary. A methods which I tried to use only when necessary included writing on the board and they would simply copy as this is often employed at school and is not much fun or effective way of teaching for you or the students.
Take lots of things to do and read, as in the mountains there are less people to talk with, and if there is no school the days can be long. Be prepared to take the initiative and get involved. And be prepared with lots of ideas and resources at all sorts of levels as the children vary from no English to pretty good basics.
And so my placement comes to an end…
I loved the variety that volunteering in different parts of Nepal offered. It exposed us to various health conditions and circumstances which gave us a wider perspective on healthcare here. It also allowed us to practice the clinical skills we've gained thus far and allowed us to see conditions that we may not normally see in the States. 
Children who used to come to the library had many different ages, from 2 years old till 20 years old, so we had to deal with this. Montse used to be with the little one, and Ricardo with the olders. The activities consisted on:
Another thing you should know -- the teachers' lack of motivation/organization will likely frustrate you, but don't let it affect you. You just have to get used to it. Though they don't seem to care about their students, you can care about the students for them.
The Langtang area is very impressive, and waking up every morning with the view of the massive mountains was wonderful.
We made posters, cards, poems, art, we did dictation, spelling and played games such as hangman etc. They loved to colour in and also did dictation, spelling and reading with those who were willing. The older children were great and had very good English already to it was easy to teach them more.