Staff Spotlight: Bijaya Basnet

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Volunteer Manager
Bijaya is a charming and pleasant lady with a big command in her responsibility and a quick decision maker. She has been in the volunteer management sector for the last 7 years.

What is your favorite travel memory?

GAPNepal Volunteers

I have lots of travel memories but to recall my favorite is from China in 2014. It was a group tour and in China there is plenty of rice. As our group wanted to cook Nepali rice, popularly called Daal Bhat, we couldn’t do it, as we had a big language problem.

Finally we were able to make the cook of the hotel understand what we wanted. It was very interesting moment to talk with the cook about the Nepali way of cooking rice.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I was initially a participant of the women's empowerment program at GAPNepal and later due to my interest in working together with the volunteers, I joined the organization as an office assistant. Right now I am working as a Volunteer manager and also responsible for the allocation of project funds.

I have found a big change in myself, and a big shift in my personality development. In the Initial days, I didn’t know how to speak English, now I'm fluent. I used to hesitate to speak in public and I can now speak without any hesitation. I am really satisfied with how I have grown.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

Every student story is unique in nature, but I like what Melissa XoXo said about her program in Nepal:

"Time and again this trip has tried and tested me. It made me push harder than I‘ve ever done before. It helped me to realize things i've been putting off in my own life and given me confidence to chase those dreams."

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

My company believes in the delegation of the authority and personal independence in decision making. It doesn’t mean that we can make any decisions. The company always wants me to be outgoing, work in the field, and take the higher responsibility.

I have lots of moments to explain about the problems in the team. In the third world countries, we encounter several cultural shock issues. There are so many cases we encounter with a young volunteer, like wanting to return back the second day.

As a volunteer manager, I am responsible for counseling the volunteers. But in these times we don’t go after the exact responsibilities in the job description, rather every employee works together to overcome such issues and we come forward with a solution.

I really get wonderful support from all the team members every time, which makes work a fun and brings us away from work related pressure and stress. This makes me feel that I am in on the best team in the world.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Success doesn’t come overnight. My company has designed a wide variety of sustainable projects, which are really important and suitable in the context of Nepal, we have a very strong support from our communities.

The array of programs, strong base of the community, and a team that works with a clear vision are essential to the success of any company.