Project Life
Volunteer in Nepal

Outline of a typical first (Four) Weeks

This 28 day period is divided into three parts/phases, known as Orientation, Placement and Recreation.

Orientation Phase: Four days spent in the region of Kathmandu and the countryside of the Kathmandu Valley, staying in family home-stays. Each early morning you will work at our basic Nepali language skills and then explore the Kathmandu Valley with all its amazing sights, great monuments and rich cultural heritage.

Recreational Phase (One): Two days rafting the white-water of the Trisuli River (which provides some great time for team building).

Placement Phase: You should now be feeling pretty well-equipped to start your volunteering placement period. The locations and roles of different volunteers will vary and will be based on the most suitable, available placement, as well as attributes and preferences of the volunteer. The placements themselves will, for the most part, be individual ones, however the living quarters provided during this period are usually shared with other GVI volunteers.

Recreational Phase (Two): Total four days trekking plus assembly and end of trek time. The group will assemble in Pokhara, ready to set off the next day on a unique five night / six day trek high into the Annapurna Mountains (max altitude 3050m). Here too, you will be very in-touch with the village people of the High Himal.

End of Stay (if only volunteering for 28 days): Return to Kathmandu for the night, then depart.

After the First 28 Days

Now you are a fully-fledged GVI volunteer, your role involves implementing all that you have learned (although during the following few weeks there is a period of 4-5 days in which the daily volunteering duties are relaxed). Volunteers get together to chill out and touch base with their fellow volunteers (often this is in the delightful little mountain town of Bandipur, which is centrally placed within the spread of our placement regions, and where you get to stay at HE’s Old Inn that is spoken so well of in all the guidebooks). Here you will also have the chance to go on the usual travel / activity outings. Typically this involves helping to organise a small group from one of the placements (usually one of the children’s homes) to get away on a few days of adventure and excitement. This could be a camping trip, a visit to Bandipur, some light rafting, a exploration to see wildlife, an educational trip to Kathmandu or anything similar. Anyone volunteering for just six weeks will generally get involved in this at the end of their volunteering time, if not before.

Those of you Volunteering for 8 or 10 Weeks:

If you are staying for 8 or 10 weeks, there will be slight variations to the routine and you will have a choice of short breaks (for two nights).