Beauty of Volunteering in Nepal
Hello everyone! I am Manon from Belgium, and I will share my experience volunteering with VIN (Volunteering Initiative Nepal). I finished my studies last June, and I faced some personal problems last year. I did not see myself starting a job in this situation. That is why I discovered the beauty of volunteering outside of Belgium. It was a way to reconnect with myself again and to give my energy to people who need it. (10.12.2024-30.01.2025)
A day with the permaculture project in Nishankhe, Okhaldhunga District
6 am. The sun rises over Nishankhe, CLC Naratika Community Learning Center. Movement and noise in the Kitchen wake me up from my peaceful sleep. I usually wake up immediately, surrounded by the view of the mountains outside. I get dressed and go to the Kitchen to say Good Morning to Didi (as we call older women here). I take some tea and hurry up to the top of the building. The view is fantastic with the hills, the nature around us, and especially the mountains in the distance from us. I sit down on a bench and start to write down in my notebook the thoughts appearing in my mind. This morning routine happened almost every day.
8.30 am. “Breakfast is ready”. Usually, it is a Dal Bhat (boiled rice, lentil soup, and vegetables) or a roti with eggs and vegetables. I was not used to this kind of breakfast in Belgium, but I can say that it kept me full until lunch.
The beauty of this breakfast was eating with all the other volunteers, sharing our moods, our nights, and what we would do during the day. You can learn how to live in a community.
Around 9.30am, we start walking to our work site with the Permaculture Team. We have to go to Bhadaure, another small village in the Okhaldhunga district. We walked for an hour and a half to get on the field. But the way was easier because we just went down and down. The landscape around me amazed me the first day I worked. The view was so beautiful and new that I could not stop looking at it.
11 am. We arrived at our place of work. It seems to be a long walk, but it is fast. The view, meeting local people along the way, or the kids trying to speak in English with us… It made the walk memorable and enjoyable. But also thanks to the fantastic other volunteers with whom I worked. We were never the same team because of the volatility of volunteers returning. It was a way to learn how to work more efficiently as a team.
So, now that you have seen what the morning was like, what was the volunteering work about?
The aim of the Permaculture project is to help families with special needs identified by VIN build what we call beds in their gardens or paint water tanks. The objective was to help families (but with their investment in this help) to increase their independence for sustainable food consumption. Initially, we worked in family gardens, where we made these beds. These beds had to be made with different layers of leaves, compost, dry, and soil, according to the guidelines given by VIN.
In the field, I began to realize how I could learn a lot from the local people. And that, actually, they can teach me more than what I can do for them. I remember the first family we helped. The woman helped us a lot and offered us some tea. At the same time, one day, she saw me using the pick-mattock and laughed. Without understanding what she was saying, I understood from her gesture that she wanted to show me how to use the tool not to destroy my back and keep my energy for the rest of the day. The moment was funny and magic at the same time. It was true that I was not trained for this physical work. My background is in law and political science, which is the opposite of what I did in the field. And I had never done farming like that before. It is also true that no skills were required to do this voluntary work.
However, I did the best thing: I learned in the field with the local people. And that is the best thing I can do, a moment of sharing, even if we do not understand each other’s language.
Another moment that I will never forget was when we went to the field to paint a water tank. I met this woman we helped who showed me her knees, and I could see the pain she had on her face. At this moment, I realized the impact of our work. The beauty of volunteering was to see the concrete impact, the concrete help we gave people, to see their smiles, and to share a moment with them.
Around 2 pm. It’s time to go back to the CLC. The way back is more difficult because it goes up and up for two hours. On the way, you can stop for a mango juice break or a tea break in a local shop. You will meet children returning from school who speak with you in English. You will admire the landscape. Even if the way back can seem long and difficult, it was a physical experience for my inexperienced body. But also a good view for the eyes at the same time.
On arrival at the CLC, if the day is sunny, you will have a hot shower. If not, you will be used to cold showers. The evenings at CLC are relaxed. You can help Didi in the Kitchen by cutting or making Momos. There is space downstairs to meditate and find some peace. Or you can watch a film with the other volunteers. Sometimes, there are birthdays to celebrate or other parties, and it is great to join in. There is always something to do at CLC and in Nishankhe.
More than Volunteering: Meeting, Sharing and Understanding
I had to stay for my voluntary work for only two weeks. I arrived on the 2nd of December 2024 in Kathmandu. I first visited Kathmandu and Pokhara. Then, I started my voluntary work in Okhaldhunga on the 10th of December. I had to return on the 23rd of December for Christmas in Belgium. One week before returning, and after one week of work, I realized how short two weeks were to have a real impact. I just did a few days of work. I attended an event in a Nepali dress and enjoyed discovering the Nepali culture. I did not want to come back at that time. I knew I had to do more than that and more to discover.
Nishankhe is the best place to volunteer and be immersed in the Nepali culture. I decided to stay longer after spending the weekend in Rumjatar, another little village in Okhaldhunga. I went there with my Nepali friend Aadi and two other volunteers of my Team. Aadi is known as being a Rumjatar guide, because he likes this village so much. I understood why. We walked to get there, and it took us around 5 hours. Not because it takes 5 hours, but because we took so many steps. To look at the beautiful nature and landscape. Basically, this walk was a moment of sharing between people from so many different countries, with so many different backgrounds but with so much to share together.
So, I decided to stay longer, until the 30th of January. It means two months in total in Nishankhe. (Now, you can imagine the faces of my family members when 3 weeks became 2 months). One friend told me before I came to Nepal that I should say yes to everything that was offered to me to experience something that I had never done before. I followed this advice and gave it to you also because it is essential. When volunteering in a country, you should open your eyes without any judgment and discover everything that can be discovered about that country.
Discovering my limits
There is one experience I would like to explain to you because it taught me a lot.
On my way to meet some friends staying in the community, I fell pretty badly on a slippery path. I cannot say if I was not careful enough or if it was just bad luck. But it happened. Hopefully, I just had a sprain on my right foot.
Well, you must think that doing farming, walking, and digging with a sprain on my right foot is a bit (just a bit?) complicated. Especially when the doctor (and not only the doctor…) told me to rest and not move for two weeks. For those who read this and know who I am also know that I cannot stay without doing something (And also, I was not in Nepal for holidays but for helping). But I was “forced” to do so for almost ten days (maybe more for a person more reasonable than me). I could not participate in the voluntary project I started, as it is mostly physical work, and my physical condition did not allow me to move like before. Then, the question was: what to Do you, with a sprain, do voluntary work in Nishankhe? I could not have stayed without doing anything or returning to Belgium then.
Of course, at CLC, many volunteers work hard on different projects related to youth empowerment, child protection, Disaster Risk Reduction, and women empowerment. I offered my help, and I started to be busy again. I helped the youth empowerment team digitalize the data they collected on the field and gave English classes to young people for two weeks.
It was another experience. Less moving my body, but still helpful in another way. This is not because my body condition changed but because I gave up my voluntary work. I do think that when this kind of event happens, I just have to look around me and ask myself:
what is possible now? It happened, and I had to move on. I had to accept the help of the others in the beginning because I was unable to move, and it was a huge step in my personal accomplishment. I call it the “Nepali effect” because I am sure that this experience in Nepal and my volunteer work with VIN
changed me a lot. It shaped how I see life, work, the world, relationships, etc. I say that because I am sure I would not have reacted like that before.
If you are still reading, I succeeded in catching you until now. I hope you enjoyed reading about my wonderful experience in Nepal. I do think that voluntary work is not just about work and help. Of course, it is, and I was happy to give my energy to it in Nepal, Nishankhe. However, volunteering also involves spending time with the local people, even if we do not understand each other. This is meeting international volunteers and creating relationships. This is living in a community and learning how to do so. This is to open your eyes to what you do not know and try to understand why things are the way they are. This is to learn not to judge what you do not know or are not used to. This is improving yourself and discovering who you are.
Permaculture Portrait: Bibek, organic farming, and his inspiring experience
I would like to return to the Permaculture Project itself and present one person I had the opportunity to meet thanks to that: Bibek. I chose to participate in the Permaculture Project because I was interested in Permaculture in Belgium (or at least, I started), and I wanted to discover how it is in Nepal. I had fundamental knowledge about farming but was not skilled enough to push my help more than the physical work I did. I realized that when I met Bibek, who organized permaculture training for local farmers at CLC. Unfortunately, the training was in Nepali, and I could not understand everything.
However, I had the opportunity to discuss his experience with Bibek based on his background in agriculture and his family farm, HASERA Permaculture Learning Center. He explained to me that his parents had been farming for a long time when someone arrived at the farm and told them that what they were doing was permaculture. They started to research the farm about the following question: how can we make the farm in Nepal stronger and more resilient without using chemicals and pesticides? The idea is to be able to help farmers depending on their own context, issues, soil, and production.
I felt inspired by Bibek’s motivation and life. He is motivated by helping local farmers to share his knowledge and also, helps farmers depending on the context of their local farm. For example, he adapted the training based on the farmers’ questions and the diversity of background and knowledge. He likes to help farmers understand that organic farms are not tricky and how chemicals and pesticides impact their soil, production, and health. His training was based on this idea to raise awareness about how farming can be done more organically. It implies speaking about nutrition diversity in farms, the problem of pests and how to become more independent from chemicals and pesticides, how to design the garden in a certain way to protect the production from pests, and how to understand the quality of their soil. But he does that by focusing on the local issues the farmers face.
For Bibek, there is a link between having a happy life and farming, based on the principle of permaculture. According to him, we can connect permaculture to our day-to-day life, how the basis of our decisions is linked to our heart, our soul. For example, HASERA organizes International Permaculture Training, which aims to see how permaculture can help us find happiness in ourselves and connect with our lives and our work.
One thing that I remember the most from my discussion with Bibek is the fact that he recognized working a lot and being sometimes very tired, but he would never change his life for something else. The way he described this feeling let me think about that:
What if it is also what I want in my life, to wake up every day and to be sure that what I am doing is what I want, what I feel is the most important for me, from my soul and my heart?
Guess what? Despite my physical condition (actually, I decided to participate before falling), I chose to participate in the International Permaculture Training happening at HASERA farm from the 1st to the 14th of February. And it was a good decision because it was an incredible experience. I recommend this experience and thank VIN for working with such wonderful people.
This is the end of my experience in Nepal (in a very summarized way) for now, don’t hesitate to contact me for more information.
If you like being in nature, working outside and that you know a bit about farming, agriculture and permaculture… You should go to Nishankhe and give the energy you can to help local people. But also to learn more about yourself thanks to them.
