For the last 4 years I’ve been getting out of my comfort zone a lot, but camping for 4 months straight in the mountains in Nepal throughout 3 different seasons was one of the most extreme things I’ve done so far. And you know what? I miss it a lot, even though I hated it so much for the first few weeks.
Why was I camping for such a long time? Because I was working for All Hands And Hearts(AHAH), organization which responds and rebuilds after natural disasters. Massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal more than 3 years ago, but as you’ll see on the pictures below, a lot of the kids still study in the temporary learning centers or in the ruins of what once was their school. So AHAH is still there and is soon reopening the project! This time they will be building schools in Sinduli district and you can sign up to volunteer with them on hands.org. Volunteering with them is free, they provide food, insurance and accommodation and the only thing they want in exchange is your very hard work and valuable time! You can also start personal fund-raising page to raise money for the project and help them have even bigger impact!
How is the project? It feels like you’re in different world. You’re surrounded by crazy and incredibly amazing people who work their asses off 6 days a week for this important cause. You live among local community, usually camping, eat daal bhat (rice with lentils and veggies) every day, have bucket showers, work hard on the building site, spend all day with people from all around the world and simply feel happy. I know it for a face, because that was my third project and even though conditions are always rough and work gets really hard, everyone loves it. I think it’s a mix of pride, fulfillment, appreciation and good fun. It’s difficult to describe such experience with only few words, you have to go and check it for yourself to understand such feeling!
To anticipate the questions:
It’s really all free and there is no catch! Don’t worry, I would never recommend project and organization if I wasn’t 100% reliable, wouldn’t have a good impact on the communities or wouldn’t treat volunteers well.
You can volunteer as long as you want: a week, a month or 5 months. You can apply for as long as you can and if only they will have spaces available they will accept you. You can always extend your stay or shorten it, if it’s necessary. They are flexible, but it’s also really important that they know actual numbers so let them know ASAP about any changes.
You don’t need any skills to volunteer. It doesn’t matter if you are a professional mason or have never used shovel or hummer before in your life. They will teach you whatever you need to know! They take safety very seriously, so don’t you worry, they will always have your back! And whenever you are coming by yourself or with a group, you will feel like in a big family!
If you have any questions or want to read more posts about volunteering, give me a shout on Instagram or my email [email protected] .
