Projects Abroad Volunteer Programs in Nepal
Nepal is a beautiful country with many fantastic opportunities to volunteer and intern within its borders. Nepal is a tiny, stunning land of snow-capped mountains, majestic old temples and the colorful city of Kathmandu. The home of Mount Everest, draped along the backbone of the Himalayas, Nepal entices all kinds of people and they don't go home disappointed.
Nepal has historically been a shrewd trader with both India to the South and China to the North. It is also in a transitional stage from royal autocracy to a form of democracy.
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100%Overall
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90%Overall
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I had an amazing time in Kathmandu and Chitwan for the medical 2-week special. We got to observe surgeries, which is an experience I would not have been allowed in America, as well as see the reality of the hospital. My favorite ward was maternity, where we saw dozens of adorable Nepali babies!
Outside of the hospital, we had fun riding elephants and seeing wildlife at the Chitwan National Park. We stayed at hotels throughout our 2 weeks, but we didn't miss out on interactions with the locals; the hotel staff were friendly and there were people everywhere!
What really made the trip special were the people; the Nepali people and the super supportive Projects Abroad staff and my fellow volunteers brought Nepal to life for me. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone interested in exploring a different culture!
100%Overall
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For my final senior project at my school in Annapolis Maryland, I decided to focus on the medical care in Nepal. This trip really helped me open my eyes to developing countries and how much we can really help them. By being placed in a hospital or in my case a physical therapy center, I was able to see the differences right away. The program did an excellent job of balances service work with entertainment and fun activities. Riding an elephant in the river was one of the most fun things I've ever done in my entire life. I was also able to meet people from all over the world. From China to Dubai and Europe; I now have friends in almost every continent all because of this trip. Although the work was hard and sometimes even emotional, I would not trade those 2 weeks in Nepal for anything in this world.
30%Overall
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Nepal is an amazing country and I absolutely fell in love with the kids I worked with, but the local staff in Nepal was so horrible, that I regretted many times that I had chosen to travel with this organisation. This is based on the fact that they showed no interest or care for either us or our placement, that we caught them lying straight to our face and that the best way to get in contact with them would be to go to their favourite bar..
100%Overall
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Whilst in Nepal I had the opportunity to work in an orphanage with children aged from 4 - 16. This was such an eye-opening experience, and also very rewarding to know that what I was doing would be helping people who were less fortunate than me. We spent time with the children and also helped improve the orphanage by building a basketball court and painting murals. Nepali people are very kind natured and friendly. The culture is a complete contrast with what it is like back at home.
The Projects Abroad staff are fantastic and will go out of their way to ensure you feel comfortable. You will also meet lots of like-minded people and the social aspect is great, we rarely spent a night in. The programme also caters for the fact that you are there to see the country also. We had a weekend trip to Chitwan where we went on a boat trip, an Elephant safari and got to bathe Elephants. As well as seeing some of Nepal's fantastic wildlife.
If you choose to visit then make sure you try some traditional Nepalese Momos, have a visit to Buddha Bar Kathmandu and get a glace of the Himalayas. Volunteering in Nepal is one of the best things I have ever done, the lessons you learn about how other people live and about yourself are invaluable. You will also meet some fantastic people, and take away memories you will never forget.
100%Overall
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I worked in a small school for children with physical and mental disabilities. The care I provided was usually physical therapy related, but much of the time was just spent interacting with the children. Although the language barrier was tough, it was an amazing experience! The kids were all so loving and I could tell that I made a difference in their lives as much as they made a difference in mine. The Projects Abroad staff was very easy-going and easy to contact. They set up many different trips with other volunteers and locals that were a ton of fun. Great experience!
100%Overall
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From my first encounter with the program they were professional, organized and helpful. All my questions were answered in a timely manner and I departed for my trip to Nepal feeling safe and without much anxiety. The staff in Kathmandu, Nepal make you feel welcome and introduce you to the other volunteers and locals for additional support. Anytime I needed something - getting medications, bus tickets, SIM card for my cell phone, etc - the staff helped me get it taken care of quickly and efficiently. Although my trip was in 2008, I have recommended this organization to at least 20 different people and will continue to do so. I believe in Projects Abroad, what they stand for, their goals and hope others can have as enjoyable, meaningful and memorable an experience as I had. Thanks to PA, I am able to look back on my 3.5 months in Nepal with fondness, a desire to return, and a greater appreciation for cultures abroad.
90%Overall
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I was able to volunteer in a pediatric hospital in Kathmandu Nepal. This was a great experience. We would work with the staff at the hospital from 8am-3pm. We were able to shadow in all areas of the hospital - I was only there for a short time so it was mostly watching but I did see many different types of illnesses and disease processes as well as new procedures. The rest of the day was free to do as you pleased. I stayed with a host family with another volunteer- which was great. Then on weekends, we would go to Thamel and there would be some type of group activity to participate in. This was a lot of fun and a great way to get to know different people from all over the world. I would go back in a heartbeat.
100%Overall
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It was an experience like no other. Getting lost in a foreign country, watching a taxi driver hot-wiring a car, buying things for a bad deal, first chess game in at least five years and WINNING it. The possibilities were limitless, yet very unforgettable.
The trip was socially interactive. Meeting new people from all around the world was surely delightful and of course, fun. We were so close up to the point where we all shared the same room for a night. Just two short weeks and our friendship was comparable to years worth of companionship.
The work in the hospital was nonetheless different from where I came from. The hospital facilities were generally not as advanced as the more developed hospitals in my country, allowing us to have a very different experience from the norm. The hospital staff were friendly and informative. As it is a teaching hospital, there were also other students and interns trying to gain experience in the medical field.
I went to this trip without regret, but of course it was everyone there who made it unregrettable for me. I would recommend this trip to people who wouldn't mind eating yak cheese..or potatoes... or people who talk about "accents" for two whole weeks.
Tips for being last to leave: You can pick up some loot from people who left first! (Like.. a pack of cards) :)
100%Overall
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The experience itself in Nepal was amazing! The country is so interesting, and the people are so wonderful! I fell in love with the kids at my placement, and I would do it again, but not with Projects Abroad. The organization was so unorganized, we showed up and were left at the airport with no one to pick us up, and the workers in the country for PA gave us absolutely no direction or help what so ever. We found and did everything on our own with no help from the organization, the money we paid was not worth it. We could have gone on our own accord without using Projects Abroad and been in the same situation.
100%Overall
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I volunteered in Nepal in physical therapy (physiotherapy) for 2 weeks in June through Projects Abroad. It was a really great experience for me - I met some great locals and other volunteers, learned a lot, and expanded my horizons. I worked around 7 hours a day at a care home, which had a canteen onsite for lunch. The program had an allowance for lunch, which was refunded at the end of my stay. I stayed with a great family and had a large bedroom to myself for most of my stay. The staff of Projects Abroad were really wonderful - they were always available by phone. When there were strikes, they were constantly in communication to make sure all the volunteers were safe. They put together some really great weekend events and encouraged group dinners and socialization outside of our volunteer work and time with the host family.
90%Overall
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I had an amazing time meeting people all of the world. The work and leisure was perfectly balanced and I learnt a lot.
The food was suprisingly good. I thought it would be hard to adapt but by the end, I even brought some spices home with me!
I would definitely go again, although only with the same people I went with because the memories were so great, it wouldn't feel right to share them with anyone else.
The staff were so amazing, I never had any problems.
I would definitely recommend projects abroad to my friends because I've discovered more about myself and built so much confidence.
I feel like Nepal is a home away from home because the attitude and atmosphere of everything around you is so relaxed.
The schools and hospitals were very welcoming and informative. We weren't discarded or left to learn passively.
The social scene was very relaxed and chilled out. We were given a lot of freedom in our spare time and I loved every minute of it. There was never a time where I was bored and I always wanted to be awake to do the next thing!
Alumni Interviews
Meet Lauren, Projects Abroad - Nepal alum
Lauren Tebbetts is an eighteen year old from New Jersey and currently attends Towson University in Maryland. She is undecided in her major as of now, but she is looking towards something in the social sciences/social work area. She loves to travel, read, make new friends, and spend a lot of time outside.
GO: Why did you decide to volunteer with Projects Abroad in Nepal?
Lauren: I was originally going to go with my friend to either India or Nepal because we were in club that worked towards raising money and awareness for children in poverty, especially in third world countries. My friend searched for programs to travel through and stumbled upon Projects Abroad. Although she soon found out she could no longer make the trip, I was undeterred. I explored the Projects Abroad website and went through the hundreds of reviews, FAQs, pictures, and videos and found it to be a reliable, fun, and affordable program to use. I found a two week special for Care and Community for teens to Nepal-- a country that I was very drawn to, despite not knowing much about it. Once I found out that Projects Abroad offered an escort (one of their adult staff members) at the airport I would be leaving from to Nepal, I was completely on board.
GO: Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.
Lauren: I lived in a hotel in Thamel, Kathmandu with other teen volunteers and three other project leaders during my two weeks. Every morning we would have breakfast at the hotel, then take a van to our placement (a school for kids mostly around the ages of 5-13, although there were younger and older students). I worked with eight other volunteers around my age, plus our program leader. During the morning and early afternoon, we worked to clean up and repaint some of the classrooms to make them brighter and more kid-friendly.
We would also play, dance, and even paint with the kids, many of whom actually knew a surprising amount of english, and all of whom had such bright, friendly spirits. After our work at the placement we would eat lunch at a place nearby, then head back to our hotel. Then, we would either get some free time to nap, relax, or explore the city, or we would go on little excursions to places like temples, an orphanage, and a center for kids with HIV/AIDS. We even had the opportunity to make authentic Nepali food! For dinner we would either eat at the hotel or go out to a restaurant nearby. After that we were free to do whatever we wanted. There was no specific time we needed to be back in our rooms; we just needed to be up by a certain time in the morning to be ready to work.
On the weekend in between our two weeks, we traveled to Chitwan National Park and stayed in a hotel there. Instead of volunteering, we did a lot of adventuring and exploring. We went to cultural shows, went on nature walks, canoeing, and rode elephants. The entire weekend was such a blast. Both hotels (in Thamel and Chitwan) always offered huge (purified) water bottles, as it was hot and the tap water was not safe to drink.
GO: What made this experience unique and special?
Lauren: My trip to Nepal was such a huge learning experience in so many ways. It's not glamorous; you are surrounded by poverty and the struggle of a small country, stuck between two bigger and more developed countries, trying to make it. There's pollution, homelessness, and other injustices, yet through it all, the Nepali people managed to keep positive attitudes, falling back on their rich culture to carry them through. Despite the many broken-down buildings and hustle and bustle of the city, Nepal held this certain beauty, this wonderful acceptance of the flow of life, and the carefree abandonment of the confines of "time." Nepal was gorgeous: the Himalayas constantly painted into the background of any scene, and outside of the city, everything was so green and alive.
One of the biggest lessons I learned while staying in Nepal was that there are so many people worse off than yourself. There is a lot of poverty and struggling, and plenty of unfairness, and the innocent people caught in it are absolutely worth helping. However, it also showed me that even through hard times and the destruction of anything, there is always some sort of beauty, if you're willing to see it. No matter how hard life gets, it's ultimately your mindset that makes your life an overall positive or negative experience. On a different note, the relationships I made in Nepal are so valuable. It's been almost two years since I went when I was sixteen, and I am still good friends with some of the people I volunteered with. No matter how long the relationships lasted though, every one I made made my experience in Nepal that much better.
GO: How has this experience impacted your future?
Lauren: After volunteering in Nepal I realized that volunteering and traveling are extremely important to me, and am now working towards incorporating it into my current life and future life as much as possible. Not only does my time in Nepal give me a great background and experience for future jobs, it was also the catalyst for me discovering what I wanted to do in life. It was one of the reasons I decided to focus more of my studies on people and to open up my heart even more towards those in need.
Further Info
About Projects Abroad
Projects Abroad is a global organization formed around the need for gap year programs abroad designed for students taking a break from studying. Since its inception, Projects Abroad has expanded to offer high school volunteer programs, and a vast variety of programs geared towards those taking a gap year or a career break. Visit the Projects Abroad website for more details on volunteer, teach, study and internship programs abroad.
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I went on the 2 week special trip (Care and Community) for teens to Nepal over the summer, and not knowing anyone to begin with was a bit scary. However, I quickly began to feel at ease once I met my flight escort (from Projects Abroad) and the four other (teen) volunteers at the airport going to Nepal.
Once we arrived in Nepal we were greeted by more Projects Abroad staff (based in the country) who were very friendly, informative, and ready to help.
Every morning, the care and community group (filled with people from different countries) would eat breakfast then head over to our placement-- a school for kids around 5-18. Every day we were greeted with such love and positivity by both the kids and the teachers, who were always eager to talk, play, and help however they could.
For our volunteer work, we helped repaint many of the classrooms with fun colors and designs to brighten up the rooms. We also spent a lot of time playing with the kids and getting to know them. Once we were done at our placement, we would either have some down time back at our hotel, free to nap or explore the city, or we would go on exciting day trips to places like different temples and homes for abandoned children or children with HIV/AIDS. On the weekend in between the two weeks we went to Chitwan, where we went on nature hikes, rode elephants, and saw cultural shows.
Although it was a little hard to adjust to such a different culture at first, I always felt comfortable and safe with the fantastic staff, and had so much fun with all of the friends I made. What I loved about the Nepali culture was that it wasn't so consumed with time; everything ran on its own--relaxed--schedule and it was so easy to settle in to the culture. Food was always taken care of everywhere you went, although you were free to buy more at all the local shops.
There was never a time when I felt bored during this trip. I always felt like I was learning something new, whether it was about how to interact with different people, or even how to view life in a different way. Everyone that was a part of this trip-- the volunteers, the staff, the students at the placement--was so great to interact with and every single relationship made held value.
Overall, this trip was one of the best experiences in my life and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone.
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