ELI Abroad

That is such a difficult question to answer!

I remember walking home for dinner one afternoon and we came across a massive festival in Durbar Square – colours, lights, decorations, dancing... it was huge! There were people everywhere and we just walked straight into a minefield of noise and crowds. And this was Kathmandu, all the time! You’d be wandering along and suddenly you’d come across an area filled with flowers and flags and people.

I think there’s a saying about there being more festivals in Nepal than there are days of the year... there’s always something else to celebrate! It makes for such fun – learning about the cultural significance of each festival, taking part in the celebrations at the orphanage, trying the delicacies and dancing to the music.

That being said... between excursions to the zoo with the orphanage, trekking through the mountains, festival dancing and dinners with the orphanage, shopping in the markets, bus rides to the mountains, cocktails by the lake, herds of goats, baby elephants, soaking in natural hot springs in the mountains... how can I choose just one moment!

Yes! Sometimes it really was!

This didn’t hit me quite as much while I was living at the volunteer house – we always had people around to help us with directions, and where to buy certain things, and how to communicate. However, for two weeks we went trekking and stayed in a town called Pokhara (a beautiful lakeside town with views of the mountains) and we realised how hard it could be when we didn’t have our wonderful volunteer-house support crew!

I’d recommend learning about the language and the culture before going to Nepal – not only is it useful, the people appreciate you knowing a few words and taking the effort to have some knowledge. It’s polite, but also interesting and fun!

It’s hard to describe how many ways this experience has impacted my future.

I guess most significantly, my time in Nepal helped me work out my own approach to aid and development. There are so many ways we can help out disadvantaged communities in developing countries – but we can’t expect to be able to interact with everybody, all the time, and assist in every aspect of life.

As someone who wants to work in aid and development, I needed to work out how I could participate to the best of my ability. I’ve decided to study nursing and midwifery – as, I saw so many health issues getting in the way of people leading full lives in Nepal. The rate of morbidity and mortality from preventable disease, unhygienic practice, contaminated water and food sources... it’s simply astronomical in much of the world.

Others may see potential in teaching, or policy development, human rights advocacy, economic development... no field is better than any other! You just need to find where you fit, what you feel passionate about, what you’d love to learn about, and go for it! Once you’ve got skills – any skills at all – you can use them in a positive way.

Two key factors make ELI unique. First, it’s a nonprofit, so automatically, its goals are different and the company is run differently. We’re very small, we keep our overhead very low and we pass our savings to our participants in the form of very low prices. We’re pretty passionate about our programs, and fundraise for some of them, supporting an orphanage in Uganda and earthquake reconstruction efforts in Nepal, for example. Second, our staff may be small, but we’re all super experienced. We’ve traveled to the countries we represent and we know our placements -- which in turn means we can really advise our participants or create an individualized placement to fit their specific goals and skills.

I’ll be honest, I was overwhelmed when I started at ELI. I know a lot about Latin America, but ELI works in 28 countries around the globe, and there was so much to absorb! Our programs run the gamut: from working in women’s empowerment in Peru and a hospital operating room in Uganda, to internships at the National Museum in Ireland, or with an engineering firm in South Africa. So instantly, my focus of the world had to expand. I’ve loved developing personal working relationships with our international in-country coordinators. I’ve heard amazing stories from our participants. There’s no doubt that I have a much broader point of view now, and a deeper understanding of the human experience around the world.

There’s a wealth of international experience at ELI, and it has extensive connections in the countries it represents. That means we’re uniquely positioned to help prospective interns and volunteers find just the right placement, in just the right country. Whether you’re a college student who’s a novice to international travel, or a seasoned professional who’s been everywhere, ELI can advise you of the options that best fit your needs - or create a custom experience just for you. We like being creative. We once sent a young woman to work for a newspaper in India and then to an elephant camp in Thailand. We’ve sent groups of physical therapy students to Ecuador, nursing students to Vietnam, retired teachers to Poland. I can’t think of anybody we can’t place… well, maybe an agoraphobic.

In April 2015, a huge and deadly earthquake struck Nepal. Luckily, none of the ELI volunteers, coordinators or their families were hurt. Still, we had no choice but to suspend the program, one of ELI’s most popular: with much of Kathmandu in ruins, aftershocks rocking the city, and a severely compromised infrastructure, Nepal was simply too dangerous. The ELI staff revved into action, working nights and weekends to find alternative programs for the dozens of participants slated to travel to Nepal all throughout that summer. We secured new placements and housing for them in Cambodia, India and Thailand. We also began fundraising for the people of Nepal, and organized volunteer rebuilding crews ready to fly into Nepal as soon as it was safe. I can honestly say, our office and our volunteers made a difference in Nepal then, and continue to do so today.

You can’t help but grin when someone tells you “I’m so glad I took the risk and put myself out there!” or “I met the love of my life at my placement!” (Yup, we’ve heard some good love stories.) We’ve had returning volunteers launch new careers based on their ELI experience. One bought a generator for an orphanage in India where she was volunteering. Another made three separate trips to intern at a hospital in Uganda: when she was a pre-med undergrad, when she was in medical school, and in the last year of her medical residency. Others used their experience to get into grad schools, or got their dream job because of their international background. I can’t say I have a “best story,” but I do have a lot of really good ones.