Womens Empowerment in Nepal

I first heard about GVI through my daughter who attended an under 18s programme to Cape Town. I wondered if GVI offered programmes for adults so rang them and was delighted to hear that they did. In fact, they are actively seeking over 50s volunteers. I chose Women’s Empowerment as the project theme was where I felt my professional experience best lay. I chose Nepal as I had not visited that country before and wanted my GVI experience to be totally new.

Whilst I happened to be the oldest volunteer during the two weeks I was there this did not matter at all. Everyone there has chosen GVI for their volunteering experience and we all had lots in common. The GIV staff both managers of the hub and the local Nepali project co-ordinators were very welcoming and understood what volunteers needed to give them confidence before starting on projects. It was a friendly environment.

The main activities that I worked on were being paired with two local Nepali ladies who wanted to learn English. A few days a week I worked in a village in Pame, just outside Pokhara and there other days at a community centre in Male Patan with the city of Pokhara. Both of my ladies were at different stages in their learning, but you get a log book that previous volunteers had written up with gave me a good idea of what I needed to cover in our lessons. The lessons were usually 2 hours long and I used the grammar resources and reading books that were at the homestay to plan my lessons. I was a bit out of my comfort zone for the initial sessions but soon got a good idea of what would work, if all else failed I reverted to reading books with my ladies, so the English conversation and pronunciation flowed.

From the moment I first contacted GVI and the open day that I attended I felt in good hands. The staff were very helpful in helping me find the right program for me and all the pre-departure information was spot on. I was met at the other end and made welcome from the off. I would urge anyone who might be interested to pick up the phone and speak to GVI you will not regret it.