My name is Michelle. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I’m 60 and retired from teaching 3 years ago. Every year or so, I have a special volunteer project. 2009 brought me to volunteer inn Nepal. I arrived Oct. 1st and stayed for 2 months.First I was welcomed by Sughanda Bai at the airport and found my new home in Kathmandu. I then had a crash course in Nepali in the mornings and visited Kathmandu in the afternoon. I had asked for manual work and enjoyed painting at the orphanage and school with another volunteer. My short stay with Sughanda Bai and his family was reassuring, convivial, (the best dhal bat ever!!!) and rewarding. Tej Bai was also of great help with communications between the Orphanage in Pokhara and Kathmandu. They always knew where I was and made my security their priority. Although I didn’t feel insecure in this new environment, their supervision showed the professionalism of VSN.After 10 days in Kathmandu, I went to volunteer in Pokhara in another orphanage and worked for a month starting a vegetable garden from scratch. I also took care of the children when it was too hot to dig!!!!. I enjoyed every minute of this posting. Great scenery,charming people, great trekking, and my hosts were as thoughfull as the Shresta family!!! Simple living, but grandiose people!!!I returned to Kathmandu a week before leaving, and indulged myself in a last trekking to Langtang with Gelu Sherpa. He works for Volunteer Society Nepal as a language teacher but is also a trekking guide. It was the ultimate trekking!!!

To sum up my stay is almost impossible. No words can express my learning, my sensations, my gratitude to these people and their land.

I can only recommend Volunteer Society Nepal if you want to volunteer in Nepal. It is a very good option!