Additional program info

It is the goal of Friends for Asia (Nepal) to ensure that the children of Nepal are able to advance their practical English language skills, both written and verbal, to ensure their success in the future. In Nepal, English is becoming more and more of a required skill for job placement and educational advancement. In this program volunteers are placed in Government and community schools to teach conversational English and reading classes to Nepali children during school and non-school hours. To teach English at a Nepali school you don’t need any formal teaching qualifications. You will however, need a good command of written and spoken English, plenty of initiative, determination, motivation and a lot of patience.

English skills among the children will vary due to age and the quality of education provided by the school. Repetitive learning is common practice and levels of individuals within classes will differ and you will be expected to work with the varying levels. The program is fairly basic and we encourage volunteers to come equipped to teach songs, dances, and other activities which will promote increased vocabulary among the students regardless of their initial ability. At some times of the year students will be preparing for exams so it may be your responsibility to prepare students for these. Some schools will have set texts that you should follow; others are more open to your suggestions. If you are planning to bring texts to use in the classroom it is a good idea to show them to school staff before using them in the classroom.You may be working as the sole teacher in the classroom or in partnership with a Nepali teacher. 

You may also find that due to numbers of Teaching English volunteers that you will be the sole volunteer in a placement. In some schools Nepali teachers will step down in order for you to take their classes, we do not encourage this and strongly recommend that volunteers work in partnership with Nepali teachers to introduce new practical teaching methods to the classroom that can be carried on after your placement. Working in partnership will also provide volunteers the opportunity to learn from others as well.

You may find Nepali schools very different to your own past experience as they are often lacking in funding and resources, even the Government schools. Class sizes can range from 10 to 50 students and operate from Sunday to Friday with Saturday off, however each school is different and Sunday may also be a day off. Again, hours vary from school to school, but are generally from 9.45am to 4.00pm. Teaching for two to three hours per day is the norm, but you may wish to create your own opportunities to teach for longer periods by implementing study groups or offering extra lessons to students or others in the community. You may also like to consider teaching in an informal setting within the Children’s Home Program where many children need additional assistance with school work. Please note that additional teaching opportunities may be difficult to initiate and would need perseverance and determination on the volunteer’s part.

There are some times of the year when you may find the Teaching English Program more erratic than at others, as festivals, exams, holidays and strikes disrupt the teaching schedule often at various times throughout the year. We ask that volunteers in this program have a second choice of program for these times or be prepared to use initiative to utilize the days schools are closed for additional tuition to students and/or community members. This program guide cannot outline exact dates that the many festivals occur as they are usually determined by the lunar calendar and occur on different dates each year. As for exams and school holidays, this will vary from school to school and strikes obviously are unpredictable. We urge you to contact Friends for Asia (Nepal) for more information on what may interrupt your teaching schedule during your intended placement period. Please note that the biggest festivals in Nepal usually happen during September to November and most of the schools are generally closed for a whole month.

Health volunteers often work within the children’s homes and orphanages we serve. The main focus is on preventative measures by way of regular basic health checks, administering necessary childhood immunizations and teaching the children about health, personal hygiene and sanitation as a disease prevention method. Individual health profiles are created and maintained for each child and all medical treatment required and administered is recorded. Health volunteers may also assist children’s home and orphanage volunteers with hospital & dental, appointments and provide guidance on appropriate treatment of minor ailments. Assistance with researching various ailments/diseases that require treatment is often needed.

Depending on experience/qualifications, there are various roles health volunteers can undertake, however this is not a medical program and you should not expect to be performing any medical procedures. All those wishing to join the Health program will be required to submit their full resume in order to assess your suitability for the role; this will need to be submitted along with your application to the Health program. Good computer skills are also desired to assist with updating electronic records and assistance with researching various ailments/diseases that require treatment is often needed.Volunteers with little community health experience can also be placed; this will need to be discussed with the Friends for Asia (Nepal) Health Program Coordinator prior to acceptance into the Health program. If you feel you lack the skills necessary to qualify for the Health program but still wish to gain experience working in the health sector, Friends for Asia (Nepal) advises you to apply for the Children’s Home & Orphanage program as an alternative. Children’s home & Orphanage volunteers will be expected to carry our minor health treatments on the children and accompany them to medical appointments.

Friends for Asia (Nepal) works with many Nepali run children’s homes throughout the Kathmandu Valley. Each and every home will vary in terms of number of children, cleanliness, management capability, funding assistance, health issues, education provided, etc. Each placement will have basic facilities compared to western standards, which is a cultural norm however, some placements will have less than basic/ideal facilities which result in various health issues for the children. Volunteers often work without support from the Manager’s of the Nepali run homes and must be prepared to use initiative and be highly motivated.

*Note: Friends for Asia (Nepal) chooses to refer to these placements as “Child Care Centers” rather than orphanages as the children are sometimes not literally ‘orphans’ in terms of the western meaning of the word. Often children are abandoned or ‘given over to the children's homes’ by their families, but of course there are children who reside in the homes who do not have parents or other family to care for them.What you will be doing will vary in each home. Generally, some of the children attend school during the day so there may not always be children around during school hours however, there may be sick children who need care at home. You may be required to help in other ways besides simply playing with the children – for example helping with medical visits and daily medical treatment, educating about personal hygiene (toothbrushing/bathing/handwashing), walking to school, mending clothing, monitoring chores and disciplining (Friends for Asia (Nepal) do not condone physical or harsh disciplinary actions), etc. Once the children return from school, your role will be to assist and encourage them with their homework. Planning after school activities such as games, songs and other activities will be extremely popular with the children. It is also a requirement of volunteers on this program to write a monthly report, using a standard template, on the home they work within; therefore basic computer skills are useful.

Within the homes you will constantly have company when the children are not at school and it is up to you to keep the children stimulated and occupied, preferably with activities that also provide an educational element. Please note that your role as a volunteer in the Children’s Home Program is to be a big brother/big sister, not to act as a manager. Maintaining the Nepali culture is very important and we therefore ask volunteers to join this program with an openness and willingness to accept cultural differences.

As well as being very rewarding, the Child Care Program can be physically and emotionally demanding. We suggest you read the volunteer journal section to gain an understanding into your upcoming experience. Friends for Asia (Nepal) staff will be available for guidance, advice and debriefing. Your exact responsibilities within each home will be discussed with you prior to your placement. All Child Care Centers supported by Friends for Asia (Nepal) will have a profile folder outlining history of involvement, school details, individual child information and other relevant information. Sometimes there will be a volunteer in your placement who has started in a previous month; these people will be an excellent source of information and direction. In most cases you will be placed with one or two other volunteers; however there are some Child Care Centers that can only take one volunteer at a time.

It is vital that you are flexible and willing to adapt to situations as they arise. You cannot predict what each day may bring. We also ask that you are prepared to follow any rules set by Friends for Asia (Nepal) to ensure continuity of the program and safety of the children. Initiatives should be discussed with Friends for Asia (Nepal) before implementing to ensure that what you set up is appropriate for the children.

It is extremely helpful to the Child Care Center (Orphanage) or Teaching English program Volunteers to fundraise for supplies and materials to help improve the living conditions of the children, however it is important to maintain the ‘culture’ of the children in the home and not to introduce too many items which are not commonly available in Nepal, so please contact Friends for Asia (Nepal) to discuss the program’s current needs.

Depending on your placement you will either live with a host family near to the Child Care Centers or you will live in the Center. We cannot guarantee you will be able to live within the Child Care Centers for your placement. Placements on offer will vary from month to month; therefore we are not able to give specific information on each Center prior to the first day of your training. There are many reasons why placements will vary, for example we take into account the needs of each Child Care Center, the number of current volunteers and their length of stay, etc. Teaching English in Monasteries Program.

This is a great opportunity for volunteers who want to teach English in the monasteries. There are Several Tibetan refugees Camps and Monasteries that house hundreds of Tibetan kids taking Buddhist monk educational training in Kathmandu to preserve the amazing cultural richness of Tibet and Buddhism practice. Knowledge of English can be an enormous help to these kids to explore more scriptures written in English and circulate Buddhist teachings practice to the whole world. Often volunteers on this program are left to be at their own devices when teaching. Volunteers will be responsible for planning their own lessons, organizing games, conducting workshops and other creative activities. Most of the morning is taken up with prayers; so teaching normally starts after lunch, for about 3-4 hours a day.

Volunteers duties: Volunteer’s main duties in the monasteries will be teaching English and occasionally supervising extra-curricular activities and sports. The children age range from 5 to 20 years old. Class divisions are from nursery to class 10 so there may be plenty of opportunities to bring variety to your teaching. Attendance at classes is voluntary for the monks so class sizes tend to change every day! Ability levels in each class can also vary.

This is a great opportunity for volunteers who want to work with the woman’s in Nepal. As one of the poorest country in the world, the Nepalese society is dominated largely by males, almost all the women after marriage are fully depended on their husband as female child hardly get education in Nepal, illiteracy makes them unfit for any government or private job and the worst part is the unaware about their own fundamental rights. Without education they cannot undergo any academic based trainings or vocation as a result they are left helpless and dependent on their husband. Not all women are treated well by their husbands and in-laws. Moreover, there are several widows without any means of living as a result of 10 years insurgency; due to their naive nature they are often lured/forced by pimps into sex business. Some women willingly get into this sort of business as they have no education, no formal training to help themselves for their livelihood. All these instances here prompted us to help them by giving some kind of training depending on their caliber inviting well educated volunteers from around the world.

Teaching them to be self dependent so that their husband and in laws do not underestimate or abuse them taking advantage of her dependence on her husband income for survival. If women are self sufficient and self dependent domestic violence automatically become less and less over the course of time.

Volunteer duties: As a Volunteer in this program you can help and work with woman in the community, by educating, and giving training concerning woman’s issues, such as gender equality, income generating program, computer literacy program also, volunteers can help with our partner woman’s organization such record keeping, teaching English, office management, etc

Nepal’s natural environment has been deteriorating day by day under the growing demand of trees. In the past few years, thousand of hectors of land have been disappeared due to the soil erosion. To promote conservation work in Nepal, Friends for Asia (Nepal) works in partnership with a small village-based program in Chitwan. Working in this conservation project is physically demanding.

Teaching them to be self dependent so that their husband and in laws do not underestimate or abuse them taking advantage of her dependence on her husband income for survival. If women are self sufficient and self dependent domestic violence automatically become less and less over the course of time.

Project Objectives: 

• To generate a sense of environmental awareness & conservation amongst children & local villagers. 

• To provide an opportunity for foreign Volunteers to study and gain new insights into issues such as environmental protection, resource management and sustainable agriculture in Nepal. 

• To participate in integrated community development activities. Y

our Activities as a Volunteer: Work in the Environmental Awareness & conservation Program includes seed collection, trimming, weeding, researches and study of endangered plants, and other related work. During the project period volunteers may conduct research & teach local villager & schools about Environmental awareness & conservation. Volunteers’ effort and contribution may create a positive impact for the promotion and protection of environmental conservation. 

* While volunteering in conservation & Environment Project in Nepal, you may find yourself on a working holiday in a spectacular location with local people who carry out wildlife conservation, environmental conservation or historical preservation.

Project Skills Required:Work in this conservation project may need physical efforts and strengths. You don’t need to be experienced in conservation abroad, just bring self-reliance, enthusiasm, and motivation to conservation works, patience and an open mind – as conservation also means doing the vital maintenance work to keep your project running.