Volunteers

The Nepalaya Children Welfare Centre is always happy to welcome volunteers in Pokhara. There has been a number of volunteers staying with us over the years and have made an impact at the orphanage. Volunteers and the NCWC alike have found that voluntary service has been a positive and rewarding experience. We are always looking forward to sharing our lives with new and entheusiastic people.

“The people in the NCWC are some of the most generous people, I have ever met. They have next to nothing, and at the same time are so rich in their generosity.” (Andrea semon , Peter )

If you want to volunteer, you should…

• Be willing to live under simple conditions in the orphanage amongst the children. That means there is going to be a lot of dal bhat, the traditional Nepali rice dish with lentilsoup. You probably will not have any variation between meals. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be the same.
• You will probably experience periods of time without running water, frequent power-outages, and no washing machine to do your laundry. Keep that in mind if you considering taking on a volunteer position. The living standards in your own country will probably differ considerably from what is available here.
• Be a fluent English speaker, so that you can communicate with other non-native speakers.
• Be willing to help out around the house cleaning, cooking or tidying.
• Have a great interest in Nepali culture, since you’ll find that you are completely immersed even after day 1.
• Limit drinking and smoking to moderate amounts only outside of the orphanage.
• Be willing to spend time with kids playing with them, doing crafts, sports, etc.
• Be able to teach the kids something, e.g. basic computer skills, a musical instrument, a new sport/game, English, etc.
• Be willing to humble yourself, and put someone else’s needs before your own.
• Be flexible and pro-active. We are a small organization and do not have volunteers permanently. Therefore there are many possibilities to get involved, but you must be aware that the experience is what you make it. Often you have to find your own little projects within the orphanage to complete, and not wait to be asked to do something.
• Nobody is going to tell you at all times what to do. Nepali culture is very undemanding, and the staff here will probably never ask you to do very much.
  That can offer you a lot of freedom, but it also means that you, must be pro-active and outgoing. There may be plenty of things that need to be done, but the staff are not comfortable inconveniencing you and asking you to do it. There are always plenty of opportunities to help, you just have to grasp them.
• Be easy-going and able to adjust to different situations without complaint. Life in Nepal is considerably less structured than you are probably used to, and one needs to accept the fact that many things just take longer or are more difficult to achieve here.

Life in Nepal can be crazy sometimes. Nothing goes the way you expect it to, and you learn to accept the unpredictable.

If you volunteer with us, you get…

• a truly Nepali experience living with us, taking part in our festivities and learning daily about our culture and lifestyle.
• the chance to pick up some Nepali language skills.
• gratitude and smiles from the staff and children.
• the opportunity to get involved in aid work with your own little projects.
• a family atmosphere. We work and live together with our volunteers and they become a part of our big family.
• a great learning experience, getting to know another culture and yourself better. Over 30 kids are automatically going to train you in flexibility, patience and stamina. No further skill training required.
• over 30 adorable children. The kids in the orphanage are easy-going and truly well-behaved. There are rarely any fights or disturbances happening, and none of the teenage drama one witnesses on TV. The kids are not used to having any personal possessions and therefore do not fight over toys, etc. They’ll embrace you as their sister/brother and will make you feel welcome right from the start.

Finances:

The NCWC is a non-profit organization. Accommodating and educating the children is sustained through sponsorships and donations from abroad. Since we are non-commercial, our aim is not to make profit with our volunteers. Nevertheless, there are certain expenses associated with your stay at our orphanage (food, accomodation, water, etc.). We don’t feel it is right to use part of the donations we receive to finance a volunteer. Therefore we do ask our volunteers to take over their own living expanses.

At the moment, expanses are approximately 100 Euro a month, which can change due to changes of address, etc. Living costs in Nepal are generally low, so it should not be much more than that quoted above. Additionally, volunteers need to pay for their flight, personal expenses and any other costs related to travel (insurance, equipment, etc.). If you should choose to donate any of the exorbant funds necessary for a commercial volunteer program to this orphanage directly, you can be sure that your money genuinely arrives where it is needed most.