Exciting start to 2012 for PoD Nepal

We are very excited here getting ready to meet our first volunteers of 2012 and to welcome back Susan Skene, a PoD Volunteer from last year who is returning for a second tour of duty at Annurpurna Primary. Alongside preparations for the coming year, we have also been busy with our ongoing work at our placements in Pokhara and with projects a little further afield...Looks like it's time for an update!

Handing over donations to the Head at Shree Kalika

Firstly, PoD has been venturing out into rural Nepal.  We stocked up on teaching resources in Pokhara, took them on a rickety old plane to a rickety old airport on the top of a hill and then carried them for 7 hours along narrow, steep footpaths until we reached our destination, a small village called Chindeswara.  The local school there, Shree Kalika Lower Secondary School, was delighted to receive our donations of wall charts, pencils, vocab books, stickers, number boards and ABC games.  Above all else, staff were excited at the potential that our involvement has for raising the profile of the school in the community.  It is hoped that this will increase attendance levels by emphasising the importance of education to local families, encouraging them to prioritise the long term benefits of education over the short term gains of having children working.  Staff were so grateful for our support that they insisted I give a speech, receive flowers and tika and then dance for them.  Yes, dance.  It was all rather awkward as they gathered in a circle and started clapping and singing whilst waiting for me to get up.  Eventually, I stood up quickly, waved my arms about a bit and sat right back down.  All in the name of PoD!

'Dancing' at Shree Kalika

Back in Pokhara, we were pleased to hear of a donation to Shree Dipya Jyoti school via PoD volunteers Amber Souter and Liz Riches.  These lovely ladies went on a trek before Christmas, and upon their return, Basanta, the businessman who introduced us to the school, arranged for all profits from their trek to be donated to the school.  This resulted in a cheque for 10,000 Nepalese Rupees being handed over (approximately £100). 

We also received a lovely parcel from Reta Butterworth, a volunteer from back in September who just couldn’t get the children and staff from her placement at Ward 6 Day Care Centre out of her mind.  She sent pencils, sharpeners, chocolates, clothes, wool and all sorts of other goodies that were gratefully received.  Perhaps more touching than the donations themselves was how happy the staff were when they realised that their centre had made such an impression on Reta that she still remembered them and had gone to the effort to collect and send gifts.

Children at Ward 6 tucking into Reta's Christmas chocolates 

We’re also very excited on behalf of the Street Kids’ Centre as they plan to move into a new home.  Their current building is in a dilapidated condition and located on a busy main road.  Their new building is brand new, in a quiet location close to school and – most importantly in the kids’ eyes – overlooking some beautiful open fields, perfect for playing football!  Stay tuned for more updates and photos here.

Finally, we are looking to the year ahead, planning how our time and resources are best spent and identifying needs in the community.  None of this would be possible, however, without your help.  So please, get involved with PoD Nepal this year and find out how you can contribute to our life changing work.

For more information on our work in Nepal and how to join our our team, look at our website or contact Becky in the UK on 01242 250 901.  If you would like to help, but don't have the time to come in person right now, you can always make a donation to the PoD Charity and help fund our work here.

Happy New Year!

So, the festive period is officially over for another year.  I hope you all had a sufficiently fun-filled, stomach bursting festive season and are now feeling suitably refreshed and ready to get planning your year ahead.  I also hope that your New Year plans include a visit – or for some of you, a return – to Pokhara.  If f they don’t, we really are a bit stuck as we can’t continue to supply our community with the support, resources and smiles they so desperately need without you.  Your help is the key to the real changes we bring about here.  Returning volunteers bring extra benefits.  A second visit tells the community that you saw something special in your time here, that you really value the bonds you made and want to continue to support them in their work.  Anyways, as if that isn’t enough motivation to get you booking flights right now, I’ve come up with the ‘Top Ten Reasons to Volunteer with PoD Nepal in 2012’ list to persuade you.

1.       Make a real difference

Volunteering with PoD Nepal is not just about what you will achieve as an individual; it’s about how you will contribute to our wider programme of work.  Our team members are ever changing, but PoD Nepal has a consistent presence in the community, supporting and improving the lives of those most in need.  So, whether you have a 12 month Gap Year or a 3 week holiday to fill, your contribution is sure to make a real, long term difference in the lives of those you work with.

2.       Give something back

Lots of people take time out to ‘see the world’.  They meet new people, learn a new language, taste new foods...All great stuff, but a fairly one sided relationship.  By sharing your skills with your hosts, both sides will benefit enormously.  You could give an English course for Street Kids, art classes to Women at Risk, a smile to anyone who needs it.  Whatever you do, volunteering abroad gives you the chance to give something back to the people who have opened up their community to welcome you.  

3.       Reap real rewards

Pryagha getting tika and flowers as thanks for her time at APS

Volunteering overseas is not only about giving, you will also reap many rewards yourself.  You may receive tangible rewards; a thank you card, a flower garland, a gift.  But the real rewards are more often intangible – the giggle you elicit from the scared newcomer at the Children’s Home or finally seeing the shy kid in Class 5 getting involved – each one giving you an unmatchable high.  The rewards are endless, you just have to get here to find out what yours will be!

4.       Enjoy an amazing location

As a PoD Nepal volunteer, you will be based in the stunningly beautiful Himalayan town of Pokhara.  The town sits on the shores of Phewa Lake with the snowy peaks of the Himalayas dominating the skyline.  It is the starting point for treks, whitewater rafting trips, mountain biking, rock climbing, canyoning and paragliding, but, if you’re not into all of that, there are plenty of opportunities to simply relax and recharge your batteries in spas, ashrams, retreats and lakeside bars.

5.       Become part of the community

Volunteering abroad is pretty much an ‘access all areas’ pass into the local community.  You aren’t just passing through, ticking off ‘things to do’ from your guidebook, you are dedicating your time and skills to improving the lives of others.  The people here understand and value that and will demonstrate their appreciation by opening up their homes and lives to welcome you.  In doing so, they present you with a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in a totally new and exciting culture.

 6.       Gain new skills

Michael discovering his talents as a super maths teacher

As an overseas volunteer you are bound to face some situations and challenges you have never even dreamt about, and we know just how overwhelming this can feel.  With this in mind, our local staff run a weekly team meeting to celebrate your successes and offer guidance and support in overcoming any difficulties.  Because of this, daunting situations become suddenly less so and instead become a fantastic opportunity to gain and develop a whole host of new skills.

7.       Surprise yourself

Being a volunteer abroad not only opens up doors into others’ lives, but will introduce you to qualities in yourself that you never even knew you had.  Who knew you could communicate so effectively in sign language? that you could learn to read Nepali script? that you could deal with a mutant cockroach on your own?  So come and find out what you can do, you may even surprise yourself!

8.       Enhance your CV

Te skills you will gain as PoD volunteer have their uses back home too, show them off by including them on your CV.  Prospective employers and universities LOVE applicants with experience of volunteering overseas.  It indicates a whole host of desirable skills and experiences; motivation, resourcefulness, adaptability, independence, confidence...all great for boosting your CV and your chances of success.

9.       Have fun!

Ovia and Alice enjoying lunch whilst rafting the Kaligandaki River

Above all else, you will enjoy every minute of your time volunteering with PoD.  You will make friends for life and build amazing memories.  You and the rest of the team will share experiences that genuinely make you smile, and probably some that make you laugh in spite of yourself.   But whatever’s going on, it’s sure to be ridiculously good fun!

10.   It's a once in a lifetime experience

All of the above combines into a trip of a lifetime.  Where else could you build an experience that makes a difference in the lives of some of the world’s most disadvantaged people, gives something back to your host community, provides you with untold rewards, takes place in one of the most amazing locations on the planet, allows you become part of the local community, builds and develops your existing skills, boosts your CV and, above all, is just really great fun?  Not many places.  And that’s exactly why you need to make volunteering in Nepal part of your plans for 2012.

If you would like more information on our work in Nepal and how to get involved, look at our website or contact Becky in the UK on 01242 250 901.  We hope to see you soon!

Happy Christmas! End of year update from PoD

Hello everyone and Happy Christmas!

2011 has been a busy and interesting old year for us at PoD Nepal.  We’ve seen many volunteers come and go – we’ve even had a couple returning for a second run!  Our programme has expanded to support three new wonderfully worthwhile projects and our PoD Charity is now running fantastically well.  So, I thought that it would be nice to round off the year with a summary of all we have achieved and to acknowledge those who made it happen. 

This year saw the launch of our PoD Charity, a channel through which volunteers’ donations are managed, distributed and tracked.   All donations are collected up into one big ‘pot’ and allocated across projects on a need by need basis.  We are now in the fantastic position of being able to offer all of our projects an equal opportunity to access funds and resources.  Suggestions on where money should be spent are collected from PoD staff, volunteers and placement staff, with the final decision being made by our Board of Trustees in the UK.  So far, we have raised £2,694.34 and distributed approximately £2,154.94 across 6 projects.  The rest will remain in the ‘pot’ until such time as it is needed.  You can see exactly where this money has been spent in the individual placement summaries below, photos here and you can find out more about PoD Charity here. 

Annurpurna Primary School

Kids at APS enjoying their picnic

Annurpurna Primary School is one of our longest standing placements.  It is a small, government school in Lakeside with a warm and welcoming atmosphere, but very little in the way of resources or organisation.  Our volunteers have contributed significantly to establishing a more structured routine at the school and have introduced various new teaching methods and resources to lessons. Perhaps our most notable contribution would be the introduction of free school meals for every child.  This practice developed after Susan Skene, our volunteer back in November 2010, started to bring healthy snacks for the children every day.  The school ran with this idea and now has a fully functioning kitchen that provides hot meals for the children every day.

PoD Charity contributes towards the cost of daily meals and has bought a new cushioned carpet for the nursery class, whiteboards for each classroom, chairs for the staffroom and partially sponsored a full school picnic.

Shree Krishna School 

Another long standing placement, Shree Krishna School is a large, wonderfully chaotic government school in Lakeside.  Our volunteers have made a vast range of contributions here, running a summer school, providing extra tuition and generally offering their time, ideas and suggestions.   A real highlight here was the introduction of practical science lessons by Marilyn Watts in September.  Marilyn blew the minds of students and staff alike by closing the textbook and shunning theory and diagrams in favour of real life examples of acids and alkalines and examining various objects under her mini-microscope.  Staff have since picked up on her methods and are now often found giving practical lessons of their own, hurrah!

PoD Charity has funded a new drinking water tank, money towards furnishing three new classrooms and whiteboards for every class.  

Street Kids’ Centre

Handing over donations to Street Kids

Yet another well established PoD placement is the Street Kids’ Centre.  This centre offers housing and support to abandoned or orphaned children, and does a fantastic job at it!  The whole PoD team visits the centre on a weekly basis, running arts, crafts and play sessions, but we have also had a few full time volunteers at the centre who given extra tuition and support to new arrivals who are waiting for school places.  Our volunteers also ran a highly popular summer school at the centre, giving the children a chance to catch up on key concepts that they may have missed because of previously disrupted schooling.

PoD Charity has given every child a brand new top, jeans, belts and shoes, funded food for the centre for one month, sponsored their Dashain meal (Dashain is the major festival here, celebrated on the scale of Christmas back home), provided toothbrushes and toothpaste for every child and new linen for every bed.

The Asha Foundation

Suroj receiving a guitar on behalf of the Asha Foundation

The introduction of weekly sessions at the Asha Foundationhas to be one of the more notable changes in PoD Nepal’s work this year.  We all head out together to the orphanage on a Friday afternoon running arts, crafts, music and play sessions with the children.  This has not only been great for our own team building, but gives the children the chance to get much needed one-to-one interaction with adults.

The Asha Foundation recently moved into a new, custom built home, but unfortunately the move was made way before the building was completed.  Consequently, the children have been sleeping in bedrooms with no windows or doors, leaving them very cold at night.  PoD Charity has funded the making and installation of windows and doors in all 4 bedrooms, meaning everyone gets a warm and secure night’s sleep.  We also provided a guitar to be used by all of the children.

Ward 6 Day Care Centre

Kids receiving their toy box

This centre provides childcare for around 40 pre-school children from low income families. Our volunteers play a crucial role in supporting staff in their day to day activities and generally helping to control and pacify the hoards of tots in their care!  Our biggest impact here this year has to be the hygiene drive initiated by Alice Seale back in May.  Alice set about encouraging staff to make sure that they and the children washed their hands after using the toilet and before every meal.  This ran well for the time that Alice was at the centre and when subsequent volunteers have arrived brandishing a bar of Dettol soap everyone certainly seemed to know what to do.  We aren’t quite at the stage whereby staff are doing this of their own accord, but we’re getting there! 

PoD Charity have donated a new toy box to the centre crammed full of interactive books, etch-a-sketches, big Lego blocks, balls, alphabet jigsaws and many more goodies that went down very, very well.  The idea is that these toys will give them the stimulation they need to develop motor and cognitive skills and some fun in the process!

Spinal Cord Injury Association Nepal (SCIAN)

Anju, ready to restart her studies

SCIAN, the first of our new placements this year, is a well established organisation working to promote the independence and wellbeing of people with disabilities in Nepal.  Our volunteers mainly provide social support for SCIAN’s clients, visiting them at home and accompanying them on trips out.  This service is of real benefit to people who are often find themselves stigmatised and ostracised from mainstream society.  SCIAN clients also benefited from Aine and Sam, two qualified Occupational Therapists who spent three weeks visiting and assessing clients, then funding, designing and building equipment to help them in their day to lives.  

PoD Charity sponsored Anju, one of SCIAN’s younger clients, back into full time education.  The money we gave her covered the cost of registration, books and uniform.  

Shree Bhalam Primary School

Louise with students at staff at Bhalam

Another of our new placements this year, Shree Bhalam Primary School is a small government school in Bhalam village, just outside of Pokhara.  We have had just one volunteer at the school so far, but Louise made such a fantastic impression there that the village and school are desperately waiting for the next one - so sign up and join us!  Louise not only taught the children, but also mentored teachers and ran a great teacher training session emphasising the importance of interactive classes and using teaching resources.  We donated a whole stack of teaching resources to the school and left them with the ideas and materials necessary for them to make their 

own.  

SOS Bahini

We have also just started to work with SOS Bahini, a local organisation serving women and girls at risk (Bahini means ‘little sister’ in Nepali).  The organisation is well established and receives international funding, so our input here is minimal but significant.  We provide weekly conversational English classes for the girls supporting them in learning, using and developing English skills.  We were also able to provide the girls with some fun dance classes, courtesy of Nishma.  After putting in long hours at school all day, Nishma would head off to SOS Bahini and spend much time and energy teaching the girls various dances and having lots of fun!

Shree Dipya Jyoti Primary School

Liz teaching kids at Dipya Jyoti

The newest of all of our placements, Shree Dipya Jyoti is a small, local government school on the outskirts of Pokhara.  So far, we have had three volunteers at the school who have made a great impression, leaving staff desperate for more PoD folk to join them!  Volunteers here are well supported by the school’s English teacher, Dev Laxmi, who accompanies their classes, take notes on their teaching methods and relays these back to other teachers in the staff room.

Unfortunately, Shree Dipya Jyoti entered our programme too late for our latest round of donations, but they did benefit from a new school library shelf, kindly donated by Liz and Abby.  They bought the shelf and books and then taught the children how to use a library, signing books in and out and taking care of them.  

 

And that’s about it as far as placement updates are concerned.  Many thanks to Abby Holder, Gemma Lay, Marilyn Watts, Thomas Kneen, Kate Hughes and Rachel Savage who have fundraised for PoD Charity and made it possible for us to distribute funds and resources to those in need.

PoD Band playing at the Silk Road

Finally, a HUGE thank you to all of our hardworking volunteers this year.  Our community has benefited from the skills, knowledge and time of 32 volunteers, including our youngest ever volunteer, our first health volunteers, our own PoD Band and even our first PoD romance (hats on standby for a PoD wedding...)!  Our volunteers have given their time to street kids, disabled people, orphaned children, underprivileged schools, village schools, women and girls at risk and deprived pre-school tots.  Their achievements have been many and varied; running teacher training sessions in the village, securing a disabled, housebound gentleman a place on a rehabilitation programme, getting the withdrawn newcomer at the Street Kids’ Centre to join in and enjoy the group activity, getting the shy child at the back of the class to put their hand up and answer a question.  They have worked so hard to improve the lives of those around them and, in return they got to experience and become a part of a wonderful community.  They learned about Nepali culture through all manner of firsthand experiences, celebrated many festivals, explored the mountains, jungles and towns on foot, on elephants, by river and in the air and made lots of new friends on the way.  The highlights of each individual are just too many to list, but the one thing they have in common is that they have all, without exception, been brilliant ambassadors for PoD and international volunteers in general.    We have enjoyed each and every one of our super volunteers.  We, and those we serve, have truly valued and appreciated the contribution they have made, so THANK YOU!

Winter in Nepal

Hello, Namaste, from a very wintery Pokhara.  There has been a sudden change in seasons since I last wrote.  We are now all bundled up in silly hats, blankets and fleece socks, huddling around fires and drinking tea and hot chocolate by the gallon.  There have been a few crisp and clear days where we have had great mountain views, but we have had more than our fair share of cloudy, rainy days too.  We are blaming our new arrivals Mandy and Amber for bringing this from the UK but we don’t really mind because they are working hard and making a great contribution to our projects and our team.  

Aine and Sam with Didi and her new, custom made splint

So, to work.  We have had to say goodbye to Aine and Sam which was hard for us but even harder for their clients.  These two have made SUCH a difference to the lives of those they have been working with.  After distributing all of their equipment to their clients they successfully referred a gentleman to a rehabilitation clinic when he had been previously written off as having no rehab potential.  Massively life changing stuff.  Despite being an overall success story, things didn’t always run smoothly for them.  We particularly enjoyed their story of their client who wasn’t home when they arrived for their appointment to fit her into the arm splint that they had custom made for her.  Their client’s sister gestured for them to sit down to wait for her to return, so they did.  They waited and waited and waited and then finally asked the sister when their client was expected back; ‘two years’ came the reply.   Needless to say, our volunteers opted out of the long wait and left the splint with her family...A wonderfully Nepali experience!

Connor and Niroj all painted and ready to limbo!

Mel and Connor have been having fun at the Street Kids’ Centre.  There have been a few new arrivals there which has been a little challenging for everyone, but they seem to be getting on well enough.  Mel raised a huge smile from one little boy simply by helping him to make a paper spider.  We had a great evening there during our team visit.  Abby and Liz revealed their artistic sides by face painting all of the children and before we knew it we were surrounded by ghouls, pirates and butterflies.  The excitement of this did set the children a little wild so we tried to reign them in with some super active high jumping, limbo games and skipping.  Luckily we didn’t have the task of getting them to bed later on!

Annupurna Primary School have had some big changes this week.  A Dutch donor arrived and set up a kitchen at the school and gave some money towards funding school lunches.  Following this visit the teachers seem to have been kick started into action and have been really pro-active in running classes throughout the day.  We aren’t sure if the two events are connected, but either way they are both positive and we are hopeful that they continue!

 

Class 5 learning how to run their new library

We had another goodbye with Abby this week which made us a little sad.  Her placement, Shree Dipya Jyoti Primary School had a wonderful leaving party for her.  All of the staff, management committee and local donors were invited to a ceremony in which she was decorated with tika and flower garlands and given a lovely Buddha statue in a glass case.  The school has really appreciated the input of our volunteers there, teachers are sitting in on their classes and taking notes to try to learn and implement their methods.  Our volunteers have also started a library at the school.  They arranged for a bookshelf to be made, stocked it with books and appointed library monitors from Class 5.  Staff have already added to the library and the kids are enjoying the benefits of having access to books and the responsibility of being in charge of their own resources.

Ward 6 have had a change in volunteers.  Jacqui left us for a trek through the Himalayas just as Mandy arrived so we had a nice and seamless transition there.  Mandy has used her first few days to find her feet and work out how she can enhance the hard work done by staff at the centre.  She took in some wool to teach the children to hand crochet which went down very well, the staff even joined in too!

Aside from our teaching our volunteers have been having lots of adventures in and around Lakeside.  Sarah finally got her paragliding flight after 3 failed attempts, Liz, Sam, Abby and Jacqui enjoyed the hilltop town of Bandipur, Mel fulfilled a lifelong dream of bathing and elephant at Chitwan and Mandy has been soaking up the atmosphere of the higgledy piggledy streets of Old Pokhara.  Good times indeed!