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VOLUNTEER'S PAGE
Collection of some volunteer's experience and opinion:-
(Ask us if you want to contact to our past volunteers.)
Thank you so much for all your help. You and your wonderful program VSSN have enabled me to experience such a beautiful country with such amazing people and fascinating history and culture. I do not know that I can ever thank you enough! I had an amazing time with Ram Krishna's family and also working at the clinic where learned from experiences, I couldn't have had anywhere else. But it was truly your kindness and paternal help that made the experience so memorable. Thank you for introducing me to Pramila. She was so sweet and helpful (and smart!) not to mention loads of fun. I wish you all the best and I can't wait to see you when I come next time to Nepal (which) hope will be very soon :)! I will be in touch very soon sending pictures etc.Love and thanks,
Miss. Sarah Jane Parker - Peachtree City, USA
I knew VSSN program via Imaginative Traveller UK. I found the programme excellent, well organized and fulfilling. VSSN program exceeded our expectations. Working at the Health center and understanding their vital role in the community was my experience. Local family is really great, very welcoming and hospitable who provided us food and accommodation. The quality of food that we had at working site was excellent- rally testy and plenty of it. The local people in Chapagaun village are very friendly, always helpful. I definitely would suggest anyone to have an experience with VSSN.
Miss. Harriet Rilay - Manchester, UK
VSSN programme is very rewarding and it was my great experience. Introduction with the local builders and people was my favorite activity. I was not used to eat so much food but it was always nice. Local people in the village are very friendly and staying with the family was very enjoyable and good experience. The programme met my expectations, I liked the way our leader was very relaxed and made everything flexible for us. The programme itinerary worked out very well. Thanks and please send email and photos of the finished wall!
Mr. Brain Lydon - Comayo, Ireland
People are welcoming, friendly and hospitable and good. Every thing seemed to run like clockwork which is good in this programme. Very comfortable accommodation made most welcome. It's been a great opportunity to be a part of this scheme. We have learned to work together as a team in harmony and to appreciate the cultures and traditions of Nepal. It was a great privilege to visit Nepal and help with the project. I wish you much success in the future, carry on the good work. It was a great team building exercise. This experience will stay with us the rest of our life.
Mr. John and Mrs. Mavis Briscombe - Pannal Harrogate Yorkshire, England
The VSSN village build programme was excellent. My favorite activity in the programme was the physical side of the wall construction and living with local family. It is the best way of learning about different people and their culture. Food was excellent but unusual to western tastes. Village is very beautiful and people are very friendly and always smiling. I suggest for joining with VSSN and 'expect the unexpected'. Everything is 'awesome'. Thanks.
Mr. Matthew Steiner -Hampshire, England
It feels so strange to be back in the United States! I miss Nepal already and can't wait to find an excuse to come back and visit again. My trip transcended all my initial expectations. VSSN is accommodating and incredibly organized. I got to see and do everything I wanted, and then some, all thanks to your help and support. The experiences that I had during my trip will never be forgotten. I hope your organization continues to thrive and attract even more friendly and dedicated volunteers. If you ever need someone to brag unashamedly about how amazing VSSN is, don't hesitate to contact me. Good Luck, and keep changing lives .
Thanks.
Mr. Bill Thanhouser - Portland, USA. Bill's photo album
Hi Matrika,
I've also published a little part of my pics online so if anyone is interested here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/dakinib/Nepal
I was just watching Bill's pics, they're amazing, really good pics he has.
How are you any way? how are all your activities going? Hope all is well and I'll hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Miss. Bilyana Iliykova - Bulgarian living in the UK
I was working as an English teacher at one of the monasteries in a town called Bhaktapur not far from Kathmandu. My day consisted of getting up at a civilised hour, around 9.00am and eating breakfast at a leisurely pace before going to an Internet cafe to send and receive emails. I then spent time looking around that amazing town. It is full of temples and other interesting buildings/architecture. The people are also worth a very big mention. They are warm and friendly and always want to help. Because tourists tend to stick to the main thoroughfares, you will find you will be stared at if you venture into the back streets and out-of-the-way places. The whole experience in this town and beyond is really amazing and I found every day a new and fascinating experience. The teaching was to novice monks in the monastery, and this started in the afternoon. In the early evening I taught to local small businessmen and women who were very keen to learn about all things western, apart from English. After some time I felt like a minor celebrity in the town because so many people knew who I was and greeted me as I walked by. All in all, I rate the experience with a gold star and will go back myself in the near future.
Mr. Arthur Moore - Castle Hill, Australia
As a medical student from Holland, used to big white well-arranged hospitals I wanted to do something else and decided to do my gynecology internship in Nepal. VSSN proved to be a good mediator and helped me with finding the right hospital. But not only with an hospital. They were helpful with my whole feeling home in Nepal progress. It started with learning me Nepalese language. After that Nepalese food (twice a day daal bhat with my right hand) in a Nepalese family but above all they showed me Nepalese hospitality, culture and care. Supportive in making your stay in Nepal an unforgettable experience, giving a listening ear if you need it, and change the program the way it fits you the best.
Miss. Feia Hemke - Utrecht, Holland.
John and I volunteered with VSSN for 2 months, and we have had a fascinating and rewarding experience. We helped to finish a wall-construction project at Chapagaon health centre, and taught at a local government secondary school. We stayed with Ram Krishna, the manager of the primary health-care centre, and were able to see the great benefits that the centre brings to the community. We were really impressed by RamÂ’s commitment to the local people, and his ambitions to keep developing health-care in the area. We also enjoyed our stay with his family, who made us feel completely at home. After this, we stayed with another lovely family in Bhaktapur, and taught English at a local private secondary school. It was very interesting to have experience of both types of schools. Although the Shree Udaya Kharka school in Chapagoan faces lots of challenges: limited funds, problems with children's attendance; we thought that the standard of education was good, and the children's enthusiasm made the teaching enjoyable. We had a similarly good experience teaching at the Little World School in Bhaktapur, and were made to feel very welcome by the teachers at both schools. All in all, we are very pleased that we chose to volunteer through VSSN. The language lessons taught by the lovely Pramila were very useful, and it was good to have some guidance regarding cultural differences. Matrika and Badri have been great hosts, and we have always felt very supported by them, and impressed by the development work that VSSN is doing.
Miss. Alyson Petra Owens - Surrey, UK.
Our volunteering experience had three main phases; a construction project plastering a wall, teaching in a government school, and teaching in a private school. I enjoyed the variety of experiences, as well as the chance to see different areas of Nepal from city to village. VSSN provided an excellent introduction to Nepal with cultural and linguistic lessons, which really were superb – I have never enjoyed formal language lessons so much! The support continued throughout our time in Nepal, so we never felt isolated. We stayed with two families, who were hospitable and had fantastic cooking skills. I am a convert to Dahl Bhaat, and plan to export this to England! I was fairly apprehensive about teaching as I had no formal teaching experience. In practice however, I hardly had any problems, and really enjoyed the experience. The children were much more cooperative than I had expected and, I hope, enjoyed the experience as well! If I get the opportunity again, I would love to come back!
Mr. John Bayley - Bookham, Surrey, UK.
An Email from Silvia:Hi Matrika, eventually I made it back "home"; the trip was a bit longer than expected but i killed the time practising a bit of sanskrit ;-) and guess what? they didn't find my name on my last flight but luckily I managed to solve the problem right away and it is somehow strange to be back to my Chinese life. In the next few days I'd like to write down all the thoughts, feelings and impressions that this extraordinary experience raised. I will also send you the pargraph you mentioned.
Meanwhile, thanks again for your great support in making all of this possible and best wishes to you, your family and VSSN from Shanghai. hugs, Silvia (Now living in China)
Miss. Silvia Sartori -Postioma, Italy.
An email from Emily from US:Hello Ram and Matrika!
Namaste!
I have made it safely and sleeplessly back to new york and while it's quite the adjustment, it's good to be home. Although, i'm completely homesick for Nepal, hearing the language, speaking Nepali - just the smells in the air, i miss!
I want to thank you both for all your guidance, humor, insight and all the help you both gave in getting me around the country. It was a remarkable experience and i'll be in touch w. you both with further things (volunteer paragraph, the medical package for the clinic. . . Of course, no promises Ram, but you'll get it! )
I hope you're both well and i'll keep in touch. Cheers and take care,
Miss. Emily Stein -New York, USA.
Email from volunteer's parent:
Hello Matrika,
Thank you for taking care of Emma. Her placement at the monastery was a great fit for her. She fell in love with the boys and the joy and compassion that she experienced during her time in Nepal has affected her profoundly.
She is determined to return to your country. I hope to be able to join her if she does. Please feel free to have concerned parents of prospective volunteers contact me if you think it will help. Emma and I both feel like she was in good hands with VSSN and we both agree that this was a positive life changing experience for her. Thanks again for giving her this opportunity.
Cordially,
John Castleberry - USA
My friend Natalie and I spent a month at the Primary health care clinic in Chapagoun a suburb of Kathmandhu. From our very arrival the staff at VSSN were there to help us to get settled, answer our questions and ensure our transition to Nepal went smoothly. Natalie and I had worked as nurses in Canada for one year (in Cardiology and Neurosurgery respectively) but we had much to learn about primary health care nursing in a Nepali community. The staff at the clinic soon involved us in the pre-natal checkups, immunization clinics, outpatient department and deliveries. Our days were also spent outside the clinic, as we assisted at the outreach posts and visited schools that were implementing sanitation and health education programs. As we had an interest in the Nepali health care system we were shown around area hospitals and even taken on the staff fact-finding trip that visited health care centers throughout the Chitwan region. The language barrier was overcome by the infinite patience of the Nepali people as we used our newly-learned phrases backed up by the ever so useful pantomime! Besides that, many of the clinic staff and our host family were fluent in English which allowed us to ask endless questions about Nepali culture, religion, healthcare, etc. Overall everyone from the clinic, from VSSN and from our host family went above and beyond to ensure we had an interesting volunteership and a great experience in Nepal. I will forever remember the early morning chiya before our walks (getting in shape for trekking), trying to eat dhal bhat Nepali style much to the amusement of the family’s children (as we gave ourselves rice and lentil facials) and the hundreds of kindnesses that we encountered every day by Nepali people that will stay in our hearts and minds forever.
Thank you, Maia and Nat - CANADA
Hello Matrika! Well, Shelby and I made it safely back to California, and it's nice to be home. Nepal was the craziest, funniest, biggest adventure we've ever been exposed to! We have to admit we miss Nepal and we will always remember this experience. Thank you so much for everything, we really appreciate you coordinating our trips and placement into our host family. We also miss having philosophical conversations that make no sense with Ram, so you'll have to tell him hello for us. We miss the food so much! I wish I could just run down the street to Zaika's to get some Momo. When we think back on our time in Nepal we usually just laugh and tell people Nepal is Crazy (but in a good way)! Looking at our pictures and telling our family and friends about our experience makes us very thankful we were there.
Thank you so much for everything!
Ella Flambures and Shelby Peterson
Fresno, CA
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