Emily Onions

I really enjoyed my time with VIN. All the staffs were very friendly and ensured if you felt comfortable both on your placement and with your host family. They also provide opportunities to visit tourist attractions with other volunteers- the experience as a whole has been excellent.
 
The host family made me feels very welcome and made sure if I was happy. I would definitely recommend staying with this family to another volunteer. While there were small problems with communication with some members of the host family, all were very friendly and there was never a time where I needed something and wasn’t able to receive it. It was really interesting to obtain a good understanding of the way people live their lives in the villages in Nepal.
 
I volunteered for the Early Childhood Development programme; the teacher – Bimala –allowed me to lead activities with the children and helped with any language barriers. However, activities were already planned by the teacher in the most part, and while I was able to be creative with different games, it was not possible for me to teach more than what was already planned. I regret not staying here for longer than two weeks, as I think this was not enough time to notice much improvement in the children’s English, and I had to leave just as I was getting to know all of the children. This programme was a lot of fun and the children were always eager to learn.
 
My experience with VIN was fantastic. I felt that I made a small difference to the children’s English language skills and helped the teacher.  I really enjoyed visiting different tourist attractions around Nepal, and met many great people including workers at VIN, other volunteers, and the community people.