FAQ

If you are energetic, motivated and wish to provide a helping hand to needy children, youth, and community people from underprivileged and marginalized communities, your initial interest in volunteering abroad will quickly be followed by a number of questions and doubts.
 
We hope to answer most of these initial questions in this prospectus.
We assure you, volunteering in Nepal through Volunteers Initiative Nepal is an investment for life and one that will impact all the decisions you make in the future. We are a small dynamic NGO that started as a direct response to the ongoing conflict within Nepal to support communities. Our goals, education, peace, understanding, and true sustainable development, are reflected in our ethos as well as our extremely low fees.
 
Helping those in need is a job bigger than one country. We therefore invite all interested individuals, groups and organizations to extend their helping hands to help achieve better and fairer world with no poverty. Instead, Nepali people will enrich you with full of culture and aesthetic value. Let's go hand in hand to alleviate ignorance and poverty from the country.

Q 1. What sort of volunteer work is possible?

There are a number of volunteer opportunities available either within the community; at a monastery or nunnery; or assisting at the VIN office, each type of placement offers a unique and rewarding experience.
 
Community Based Projects:
The main community based projects are Women’s Empowerment (including Women’s Education; Income Generation; Savings and Credits; and Health, Sanitation and the Environment); Children’s Development (including Early Childhood Development; Flexible Schooling for conflict victims and support for Orphanages); Youth Development (including a youth club and language development class); Teacher Development (including workshops, seminars and exchange visits and teaching English) and the Health Program. 
 
There are also opportunities for Construction and Manual work in the Community, and for Agro forestry projects.
 
Monastery and Nunnery Placements:
WCDF works with many monasteries and nunneries in the Kathmandu valley, to place volunteers to teach English, life skills and creative activities.
 
Office Based Placements:
WCDF also welcomes volunteers with the following expertise to help assist in the WCDF office: Grant Writing; Fundraising; Website Design and Administration skills.
 
There are also opportunities for Home Stay Programs; Cultural Exchanges, and Volunteer and Trekking programs. 
 
Your placement will be tailored according to your individual needs and interests.

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Q 2. Do you have any information about Nepal?

Nepal is a geographically and ethnically diverse country located in South Asia, bordering Tibet to the north and India to the south, east and west.

Throughout most of its history Nepal has been a monarchy, but it is now officially a federal democratic republic since the end of the decade long Maoist revolution. The capital city is Kathmandu, and there are 14 zones, 75 districts, 3914 Village Development Committees and 58 Municipalities. The population of Nepal is approximately 30 million. 

Nepal is predominantly Hindu, but the minority faith of Buddhism is linked historically to the country, as it is the birth place of Siddhartha Gautama who, as the Buddha Gautama, gave birth to the Buddhist tradition.

Although only 147,181 square kilometers, Nepal’s landscape encompasses the mountainous north (including eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest), to the flat Terai plains in the south, with an altitude range from near sea level to 8,850 meters above sea level. This huge altitudinal variation results in an incredible variety of ecosystems and a dazzling array of wildlife and vegetation.

As well as the amazing geographical and wildlife diversity, Nepal also hosts an amazing ethnic and cultural diversity.

However, it is also one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. An estimated 30% of Nepalis live below the poverty line – some 82% of Nepalis live on less than US$2 per day.

Nepal is a mostly rural nation with 85% of people living in the countryside. It is in these rural communities that development issues such as poor education, health and sanitation are most acutely felt. Gender and social inequality are also part of daily life here too.

For more information on Nepal, there are plenty of informative guide books, such as the Lonely Planet’s Guide to Nepal and the Rough Guide to Nepal.