"While traveling through India, I and my fiancée decided that we wanted to get a closer look at the culture that resides in this part of the world. Traveling only allowed us to glimpse at the treasure chest that this culture is and we wanted to dig in behold the gold beneath its rusty surface. The key to open the chest was, for us, doing volunteer service and the choice came upon Hands for Help Nepal as it was one of the few organizations that could assist us in such a short notice and also it was in Nepal; a country we soon discovered was the best location we could have volunteered at in this region.

After an initial introductory class like Nepali language, customs and culture we were sent off to our first placement close outside Kathmandu. This little village called Thecho is located along one big dusty road which has surprisingly much traffic, surrounded by rice, broccoli, cauliflower and corn fields. The surroundings allowed for beautiful walks in the morning before having English classes at a local school, followed by helping out at an orphanage with serving food to little children and a few hours of free time at the end of the day spent playing basket with kids.

Next placement was located upon the top of a hill in the Himalayas at 2100 meters altitude. From our living room window we could see some of the highest peaks in the world like Annapurna South and Macchapuchre, a beautiful enviroment in a village without electricity, no roads and houses isolated with a mixture of clay and cow dung. With this beautiful surrounding we tried to teach english to kids that had yet to learn how to read. A delightfully difficult and arduous task. Especially combined with a nationwide 11 days strike. As the Nepalese say, ke garne?

In short our stay in Nepal was wonderful, thanks to everybody who made our stay such a wonderful one Badri Rai with family, Pramilla with family, "I-Love-my-djippers"-man, our host families and so many more."

Jon and Bella- Sweden

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