Volunteering with Insight Nepal

As a couple in our early 50's, we volunteered with Insight Nepal from January to April, 2002. Our placement was with a school in Pokhara. We did not have previous teaching experience, but we were greeted warmly by both teachers and students. We found that we enjoyed working with grades 3 - 5 best; the children had enough English to understand us, but were still young enough that we were able to design suitable classes without difficulty.
The Insight Nepal program is well designed, including some basic language lessons and cultural orientation, as well as a very enjoyable trek in the mountains and trip to Chitwan National Park. During our orientation week, we stayed with a local family, and then moved in with the family of one of the school's teachers while we were doing our teaching placement.
Although the English of most members of our host family was limited, we found that we were able to communicate quite well. We spent some time working on our Nepali, using a book originally written for members of the Peace Corps. It was very satisfying to be able to speak to people in their own language, even though our knowledge of the language was quite basic. Both our host families were very welcoming, and we still keep in contact with them.
In 2008, we returned to Nepal and visited with Naresh and his wife, the families we had lived with, and the school where we had volunteered. It was a wonderful reunion.
Naresh and his staff are warm, supportive and knowledgeable, and we recommend the Insight Nepal program to anyone who is interested in a educational and enjoyable volunteer experience in Nepal.