The FFN has been sending volunteers to Siru Bari lamjung for more than ten years. It is a remote village in the hilly regions of Nepal where the locals still live off the land. However, the community has a severe lack of diverse knowledge and funds to improve the living standards and facilities. Due to this, the youth are highly impacted. FFN believes, the main goal is to educate the youth and improve their facilities. We will therefore engage in both construction and educational work at the school. Over several years of community work, sending groups of motivated volunteers to Siru Bari, has a huge positive impact on the community. This summer, we will arrange four consecutive work camps during the monsoon.
Main task
During the monsoon when the ground is soft, the school is often affected by land- and mudslides and domestic cattle entering the area around the school. We therefore have two tasks:
1. Build a fence around the school to protect against these issues.
2. Dig out and construct a playground for the children and an area for the community to hold gatherings.
It rains in July and August but only for a couple of hours a day and here we don’t work outside. But to maximize our effort, we do educational activities when the rain prevents us from being outside. Our volunteers can therefore:
3. Teach English, Math, Sports and/or Music at the local school. We also encourage you to interact with the kids, and organize a cultural exchange program.
Cultural activities
Since you will be staying with a family, you have the chance to take part in the typical Nepali farm life: cutting grass, taking care of buffaloes and goats, harvest vegetables etc.
Furthermore, planting rice is a deeply rooted annual activity in Nepalese culture, . This happens during the monsoon, and if time, our volunteers are more than welcome to join their host family in doing this as well.
Location:
Siru Bari is in the Lamjung district about 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu in central Nepal. It is a small village with a population approximately 500 people; all living in very traditional ways. It is situated on a hillside with beautiful views of the valley and for the volunteer, this is a unique opportunity to experience the rural Nepal and their ways of living that unfortunately are becoming more and more uncommon.
Food and Accommodation:
The volunteers will stay with a local family. Each family can host up to three volunteers. You will experience their huge hospitality, friendliness and generosity and it is easily noticeable, that they truly enjoy having people staying with them. They are proud of their culture and this will give you a good insight into Nepali life. Please bring your own sleeping bag and mattress. A (cold) shower will be available at the camp house, but not to the standard of your respective country. You will be served Dal Bhat (a soup of lentil or beans with boiled rice) and Tarkari (cooked vegetables) by your host family. All vegetables are grown by themselves. This is the staple diet of the Nepalese and most Nepalese people eat it every day. We all take part in the daily routines, so the volunteers will help to prepare meals in turn.
Meeting Point and Orientation Day:
We meet at the Friendship Foundation Nepal (FFN) office (just next to Pilgrims Guest House in Thamel) at 1PM the day before the project starts for an orientation meeting. All volunteers are requested to participate in the orientation meeting. Here we will give detailed information about our organization, the project, traveling arrangements and Nepalese culture. Any updates on the work and work camp due to sudden political changes will also be stipulated here. Therefore, we will ask that you stay updated before you leave your country at our website: www.theffn.org, or at your local embassy.
Where to stay before the project:
Thamel is a popular place in Kathmandu for travelers, as it is home to several economy hotels and guesthouses. Most of our volunteers stay at Hotel Encounter Nepal in Thamel before the work camp. We are unfortunately not able to pick up all volunteers from the airport due to entrance difficulties at the arrival of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. However, we have made an agreement with Hotel Encounter that they will pick up all FFN volunteers from the airport according to your arrival information for approximately 4 euros (they charge double at night time) and offer you a decent economy single room for 10 euros. You are also able to upgrade your room for an extra charge. We can help you to reserve your room in Hotel Encounter Nepal or in any other economy hotels if you prefer to stay anywhere else; Moreover, please send us your full arrival information promptly.
Work camp leader:
Bed Prasad Adhikari
What to Bring:
Sleeping bag, working gloves, comfortable footwear, mosquito-net, music player, reading materials or photographs and most of all: GOOD MOTIVATION!
The work camp will be held during the monsoon. Therefore, you should bring an umbrella and rain clothes. We won’t be working outside when it is raining, but before and after. And importantly: since we have to walk two hours to get there, please bring a bag and not a suitcase. It is too difficult to carry up the mountain.
And if our volunteers could bring pencils, pens, books and text-books for the local kids, it would be highly appreciated. These can be bought for a reasonable price in Kathmandu before departure.
How to travel:
All volunteers travel together from Kathmandu to Bhote Odar by bus. It normally takes around 5 hours to get to Bhote Odar. It will be arranged and managed by the FFN. From Bhote Odar, we walk two hours up the mountain on a beautiful trail to get to the village. Should anything prevent the volunteer from arriving to Kathmandu before departure for the project, please let us know and we will arrange your transportation accordingly.
Insurance:
FFN will NOT provide any kind of INSURANCE to volunteers during the project period. Please have the necessary insurance to cover your needs BEFORE you arrive. We can assure you that we will make our best effort to create a safe working environment.
Camp Fee:
200 euros. This fee covers the cost of administration, work, food, and accommodation which includes two-way transportation for the volunteer. It also includes a donation to the local community, pocket money for the work camp leader, and contribution to our emergency fund. The camp fee is collected on orientation day. Please pay the camp fee in Nepalese currency according to the current exchange rate. All major international currencies or travelers’ cheques and cash are acceptable in Nepalese banks. We ask that all volunteers read the volunteer guideline and contract carefully before paying the camp fee. If you have not received this, please ask your camp leader or the FFN staff who will be at the meeting.
Extra Activities:
Saturday is your day off work and we encourage you to explore the local area on this day. We highly recommend a walk to village, Bharte, on the top of the mountain. Here you can see the great views of the valley and the whole Annapurna mountain range while getting some exercise.
Once you finish your stay, you’ll have the opportunity to explore some of the wonders of Nepal. We suggest:
Jungle Safari in Chitwan National Park (about 120km from Siru Bari. You can get direct bus from Bhote Odar)
Trekking in Annapurna Region. The trek starts from Besisahar and can be reached in 30 minutes from Bhote Odar.
The FFN will help you arrange all the different activities.
How to find Friendship Foundation Nepal (FFN) Office:
FFN is located in Thamel, near Amrit Campus and next to the Pilgrim Guest House on Main Street. You can see our signboard on the left side of the street if you head north. Our office is in on the 2nd floor.