Field report on my volunteer work at the paper mill in Nepal

My time as RGV Volunteer in Asia
I made my decision to travel to Nepal at the beginning of my studies, when I was thinking about what I could do during my first semester break. I wanted to travel, but I also wanted to do something meaningful and get to know a foreign culture better. I chose Nepal because I was excited to discover a new continent and the project at the elephant dung paper mill sounded very interesting.

My journey to Nepal
Hot, colorful, crowded and impressive. That's how I would describe my first impressions of the capital, Kathmandu. After going through the visa process and also picking up my suitcase after a long time of waiting, I met a RGV employee outside the airport holding up a sign with my name on it. It went directly off, into the city traffic of Katmandu. The streets were crowded, everyone was honking incessantly, and as I looked out the window I could see monkeys, cows, and countless mopeds.

My work in the project in Chitwan
At the beginning, the other volunteers showed me the surroundings and the hotel, so I quickly found my way around by myself. The next day I started working in the "Elephantdung Paper Shop & Museum". We worked from Sunday to Friday, since Saturday is the only weekend. Our main task was to paint the different paper products. There are books in different sizes, pen cups, postcards and picture frames - which are then all sold to tourists. After a few weeks, we were given the task to go out in the mornings and evenings with a vendor's tray and sell at the bus stop and at Sunset Point (a popular point for tourists) to increase the income. We attracted a lot of attention, were partly photographed, often approached and constantly looked at.
At work, we could get a good impression of the mentality of the Nepali people, who see everything much more relaxed and laid back. We volunteers opened the store in the morning and started to work, the other employees appeared only 1-2 hours later and sometimes not at all. I could not see a duty roster or structure of work distribution.

Festivals and holidays in Nepal
During my 5 weeks in Sauraha I had the chance to experience many festivities. There are altogether much more holidays than in Germany, almost every week something is celebrated. On my first day there was a food festival where I ate a Nepalese veggie burger and saw elephants for the first time: 5 at once! Later there was a holiday in honor of the goddess Shiva, International Women's Day and the Holi Festival. The latter was especially nice to experience. Over two days, festivities took place. A water and color battle was held at the hotel with loud music, with staff, volunteers, guests and anyone else who wanted to join in. Also in town everyone wished you "Happy Holi" and everyone danced in the streets and celebrated.
On another weekend, we were allowed to go to a wedding. This was a very interesting experience. We were served tons of food and then danced outside all evening to loud music. It was a lot of fun because everyone was very open and we just all danced together.

Everyday life and my free time
After a few days of settling in, everyday life quickly returned. In the mornings, the volunteers had breakfast together in the hotel, where we could make our own toast and sometimes, when there were many guests, we were lucky enough to eat buffet breakfast. During our lunch break, we usually ate Dal Bhat. Some days we would go to our "regular" place, a small food stall whose nice owner knew us all. There we had samosas, chow mein (fried noodles with vegetables) and momos (steamed dumplings with vegetable filling and sauce).
In the afternoons we often went for walks, away from the tourist center and towards the smaller villages where there was a lot to see. We often did small errands, bought fruit or strolled through the small stores in Sauraha.
On the weekends, we volunteers usually did something together. I did a jeep safari into the jungle and a jungle walk. You could see rhinos, deer, crocodiles, wild boars, peacocks and many other birds. Also a canoe trip on the river which is the border to the national park was very interesting and a relaxing nature experience.

My conclusion about my time in Nepal
All in all, I was very enthusiastic about the country Nepal with its culture, its landscape and its people. The mentality is hospitable, open, relaxed, helpful and you always feel welcome. In general, I had the feeling that the Nepali people are always happy and friendly and infect you with it. The joy of life and living in the moment is something that greatly enriched the stay in Nepal. The time in Nepal was never boring, because there was always something to do and there were many different opportunities to do something and get to know the country.