Village Book Builders

Make sure you prepare before you go; you make such a huge impact, I wish I would have prepared more with my lessons and art projects. Also, bring tums; even though you will try amazing food, not everything is easy on the stomach.

Lastly, make sure to bring good walking shoes. We did a lot of walking as we went to every home.

When we arrive, we take the day pretty easy, as it is a long trip. Then the first Sunday we do more service, then we head to the village.

On the first day of service, we go to school and have breakfast made by local cooks. Then the kids start to arrive at which point we separate them into groups and start a series of classes.

After lunch, we head out and do home visits until it is time to go back home. I spent most of the day painting but was able to go out and teach an art class to the kids and do some home visits.

I have traveled abroad before, so I didn't have a lot of fears. I guess you hear a lot about the crime that happens abroad, but you find that people abroad have the same fears when they travel to the US which honestly they are more justified in their fears with all the mass shootings we have.

I felt safe the entire time.

So an important thing to me was that I would be able to use my skill. Now it was kind of obvious that they could use my art skills with the libraries, but I noticed that nursing students were able to share with kids about the medical field, and photographers taught the kids about photography. Village Book tries really hard to maximize the impact, but using all the skills present.

One of the volunteers shared that she loved staying with a host family. She shared that as she spent time with them and ate with them, she was able to understand their culture better. She was so grateful for the opportunity to become a family with the Nepali people. To her, it was one of the most eye-opening experience.

I would want to go on one of the literacy expeditions. These are some of the coolest immersion programs. You come to know the village and feel like family. There is a great sense of accomplishment as you work with the villages to build a library and teach the community how to be lifetime learners. You also get to see some of the local sites and come to love the place you serve in.

One of the things that made our experience different is the cultural immersion experience. We don’t sugar coat experiences. Sometimes this can be hard, but you come out with a stronger love of the people and a feeling of accomplishment. We stay with host families and eat what they eat; we work alongside the village so that they feel like the village accomplishes something as well.

Accomplishment. At the end of the trip, the volunteers should feel accomplished. The villages we work with should feel accomplished. If that comes to fruition, it has been a success.

Our goal is to create reading cultures. If the village feels accomplished, they take ownership and work to gain education through books.