Having been to Nepal before ,I felt I didn’t need the customary introduction to Katmandu’s most visited sites and Badri demonstrated a very tolerant and flexible attitude to my needs as a whole.
I would recommend to anyone wishing to volunteer in Nepal to follow through the Nepali language classes organized for you by HforH.as it becomes an invaluable tool for communicating and Nepali people really appreciate your effort for trying to speak it.

Hulsa Hyon means in Gurung, the local language and tribe, prosperous village.Of the little they have, everything is shared and their generosity goes beyond the customs.Needless to say I was made to feel very welcomed and my stay at the monastery a very happy one.

This was also my first experience teaching English and it did present some challenges. It was with great relief that on my first look into the “gumba”, that was to become the classroom, I noticed a white board together with a marker pen and a wiper. The main challenge for me, perhaps to be expected, was that the shared range of English knowledge of the monks (of an age between 10 and 17 years old) wasn’t evenly distributed, making the lesson’s aims and structures difficult to plan.
The monks are also used to a very old fashioned way of learning that although, possibly still of value in learning Tibetan texts and prayers to recite in ceremonies, doesn’t apply to communicative approach of modern English learning. So considerable amount of time was spent trying to establish some kind of compromise that could satisfy the learning requirement of all the class. A lot of teaching and learning on both our sides was outside the class hours (two a day), while playing and singing nursery rhymes with the smallest and sharing some of their activities. Washing at the river, playing football, complex offering ceremonies, cooking walking on the hills, all presented opportunities foe communication which I tried to maximize. It was during some of these moments that I felt meaningful end personal connection were formed.

The monastery is very small and the lack of privacy is something that one gets quickly used to, especially in the face of the monk’s curiosity and excitement at having a foreigner amongst them.
In closure I’d like to say that everybody at Hulsa Hyon has left a mark in my heart and it’s my wish to keep in touch and to help them in the future to indeed prosper.
http://hhyongumba.com
Renato Risari (Italy) 2008