FREE VOLUNTEERING DURING YOUR TIME IN NEPAL
Pristine Nepal Treks & Expeditions is constantly looking for international volunteers.
This is part of our initiative to combine our professional activities with our efforts to face our social responsibilities in Nepal, our beautiful home and one of the poorest and least-developed countries in the world.
After the earthquake in 2015, when the school and most buildings in our home areas collapsed, we experienced a heart-warming wave of support from former customers and friends. We realized how many of the trekkers we work with were also looking for volunteering opportunities to help improve the conditions in Nepal and get to know the unique and original Nepali culture. Instead of, however, directing our customers to the many volunteering organizations in Nepal, we decided in January 2017 to launch Free Volunteering Nepal, a new volunteering project, for the following reasons:
Volunteering opportunities in Nepal are in the hands of a bunch of large NGOs which charge the volunteers money for their help. It is quite obvious that this has become an nontransparent and profitable industry in Nepal. Since the primary interest is the money paid by the volunteer, the projects are often questionable and the skills and efforts of volunteers are not put to good use (Check for a comprehensive report about this problem).
The bad results: Many good people wanting to help refrain from volunteering while small needy communities and projects have little chance of getting in contact with volunteers in the shadow of the NGOs. Free Volunteering Nepal is a free volunteering program focussing on small remote communities. Free Volunteering Nepal does not charge any money to the volunteer or the community and we do not see any reason why money should be part of the equation:
There is no reason why people truly looking for help from volunteers for specific tasks or projects in their community should charge money. Also, there is no reason why a volunteer should pay for volunteering, as he/she is already investing valuable time and efforts. So with no money to gain, we have a simple and effective way to make sure that people indeed looking for help are getting help. Moreover, we can make sure that our volunteers get the chance to actually help and make a difference:
Free Volunteering Nepal focuses on small remote communities. We see this effort as part of the professional activities of Pristine Nepal Treks & Expeditions. While trekking we are constantly visiting remote areas. We know many of the local families, the communities, and their struggles for more than 10 years. This gives us the opportunity to facilitate on-spot support for communities we know well and have people we know well look after our volunteers to make sure you have the best experience. Our guides and porters pass by without notice, have a lock at the projects and we can make sure things are going the right way. Within the last two months, we have established a long term project for volunteers to give English and Computer lessons in Shree Mahendrodaya secondary school in Mulpani. We have completed one short term project on re-establishing a computer lab that was damaged by the earthquake in the Salang area.
Currently, we are in the course of completing another project building up an entirely new cumputer lab in the area closse to Arugath Bazaar. If you are interested to help, check our website for free volunteering in Nepal (but please be prepared that it is still under construction)!