For orphanage volunteering in Nepal, we have placements in the city of Kathmandu as well as rural villages in Chitwan such as Bijayanagar.

The volunteer work at orphanages in Nepal typically involves teaching conversational English, basic math, playing games, arts and crafts, helping with homework, playing sports, taking them on day-trips, and sometimes getting the children dressed in the morning and helping them with meals. The work schedule is generally Monday-Friday from 9 to 4.

A new friend in Nepal

Kathmandu is an urban setting, very crowded on the streets, with shops, businesses, and apartment buildings everywhere. There are a lot of incredible sightseeing opportunities on weekends, such as Monkey Temple, Pashupatinath Temple, the ancient neighborhood of Bhaktapur, and Durbar Square. For accommodations, volunteers stay with a local host family. You would take a public bus to reach the school (our coordinator will show you how to do this).

In Chitwan, the orphanages are located in rural and semi-rural areas. Bijayanagar is a very rural area, located about 100 miles southwest of Kathmandu (6 hours by bus). The area consists mostly of farmlands with small adobe houses, with schools and medical clinics and shop located at the end of dirt roads. There there is not much to do in your free time except meet and hang out with villagers, read at night, and walk around the forests (where you can actually see wild rhinos!). The nearest Internet cafe is about 30 minutes away in the town of Narayanghat. Some volunteers enjoy this isolation and slow pace of Bijayanagar, which I did when I first volunteered there myself in 2000 for 3 months. The people are wonderful, the students will love you, and the natural scenery is incredible.

Getting around in style !

For photos from Nepal, please see the albums on our Facebook Page.