Events 2014

Service, Education and Awareness (SEA) Program 2014

On December 6, 2014, students and teachers of St Augustine’s College, Sydney came to Nepal once more as volunteers for Service, Education and Awareness (SEA) Program. A total of 40 of them, one group volunteered at Disabled Students Association in Bungamati, Kathmandu while another group volunteered at Bhairabi Primary School in Arupokhari, Gorkha from December 8 to 12. And on the remaining days they all toured to Pokhara and trekked in Annapurna region.

On December 8, after half-day sightseeing in Kathmandu the day before, a group of 17 headed towards Bungamati to volunteer at Disabled Students Association. Whereas the remaining 23 took a drive to Gorkha. It took them about 8 hours to reach the destination. Upon reaching Arupokhari, a welcome program was organized where the volunteers were introduced. They spent the night in a tented camp.

The objective of the 23 volunteers at Bhairabi Primary School was to build a safe and modern playground for the students where they can play and school program and competitions can be held easily. On December 9, they started the construction work after paying a visit to Sisneri Primary School. All the volunteers worked hard and did all it takes to build playground. They carried stones, mixed gravel, cement and sand to make concrete and flattened the ground where stones were arranged. By the middle of the afternoon of December 12, they had completed their work. A playground was built and ready to be used. Apart from construction, they also did a village visit. They found about the village where they were staying and volunteering.

While one group was volunteering in Gorkha, another was helping in Kathmandu. At Disabled Students Association, these 17 volunteers had a positive impact on the disabled students. They did some construction work, cleaned the place and played with the disabled children. It was a great sight to see the volunteers showing the students compassion and care which they deserve a lot.

At Arupokhari, Gorkha, on December 12, a farewell program was held. Joy and gratitude were in the air. The villagers and the students were gathered there to show acknowledgement to the volunteers for their outstanding deeds. At the ceremony, there was dancing and singing. And the volunteers were handed Certificates of Appreciation by Chinkaji Shrestha, former State Finance Minister and Chief Whip of Nepali Congress at the presence of Prem K Khatry, the founder of Sambhav Nepal and Ace the Himalaya, and Tanka B Neupane, the principal of Bhairabi Primary School. It was the end of the first part of the entire trip.

The second part of the trip began on December 13. The group at Kathmandu took a flight whereas the group at Gorkha took a drive to Pokhara. The next day they did rafting and sightseeing and started their trek on December 15. It was a short and easy trek to Poon Hill. They walked through Gurung and Magar villages, through forests and over hills. At Poon Hill, they had amazing panoramic views of the Annapurna and the Dhaulagiri Himalayas. December 19 was the last day of their voluntourism trip. They flew to Kathmandu from Pokhara, had farewell dinner and departed from Nepal carrying great memories and noble experiences.

The whole voluntourism trip, which lasted for 14 days, was a joint collaboration of St Augustine’s College, Sambhav Nepal and Ace the Himalaya. St Augustine’s College sent students and teachers as volunteers, Sambhav Nepal arranged volunteering at Disabled Students Association and Bhairabi Primary School and Ace the Himalaya guided a trek in Annapurna region. Because of the volunteers, the disabled students got a better place to play and study, and the students of remote Arupokhari got a modern playground. The actions of these 40 volunteers from St Augustine’s College will be remembered greatly.

Next year when students and teachers of St Augustine’s College, Sydney will come to Nepal to take part in Service, Education and Awareness (SEA) Program, they won’t be volunteering at Bhairabi Primary School. They will move on to the next school where they will construct and renovate and make that school better in terms of infrastructures and make a great contribution to the community.

We, Sambhav Nepal family along with Disabled Students Association, disabled students, Bhairabi Primary School, students, Arupokhari villagers and Ace the Himalaya thank you all the volunteers for your outstanding deeds. Our prayers and wishes for your well-being are always with you all!

The names of the volunteers of Service, Education and Awareness (SEA) Program are given below.
The list is separated in two groups:

Volunteers for Disabled Students Association

1. Anthony Donohoe
2. Asher Riese
3. Ben Colless
4. Ben Hickey
5. Brendan Watkins
6. Dan Fee
7. Dylan Price
8. Ethan Sheedy
9. Hamish Moore
10. Jack Gaggin
11. Jamie Postle
12. Joe Gray
13. Liam Taylor
14. Michael Mete
15. Mitchel Jones
16. Robyn Larbaleister
17. Tom Browne

Volunteers for Bhairabi Primary School

1. Adam Craven
2. Andres Trujilo
3. Ben Morgan
4. Ben Whitfield
5. Ben Wigney
6. Craig Jeffery
7. Daniel Ferreira
8. Dylan O’Connor
9. Ewan Metcalfe
10. Harry Pietor
11. Jack Gustafson
12. Jack Turner
13. Jacob Baynie
14. Jarad Travers
15. Kurt Ingram
16. Lachlan Brown
17. Lachlan Channell
18. Luke Rawle
19. Max Cleary
20. Monique Douglas
21. Oliver Hunter
22. William Akhurst
23. Zac Lai

The following is the picture gallery of the volunteering trip.

Getting There

Welcome Program

Volunteering Activities

Arupokhari Excursion

Second UNSW Global Village Team Voluntourism Trip – 2014

The students of University of New South Wales (UNSW) Global Village Team, Australia once again came to Nepal as volunteers under Arupokhari School Volunteer Program. This marks the fifth time that the students from UNSW came to volunteer in Arupokhari, Gorkha and the second time in 2014.The entire voluntoursim trip began on November 27 and ended on December 21. There were seven of them who volunteered at Bhairabi Primary School in Arupokhari, Gorkha and then trekked in annapurna region.

The names of the seven volunteers are:

1.  Ashleigh Marina Condon
2.  Jack Wearne
3.  Michael Robinson Whittaker
4.  Nightingale Keira Laree
5.  Saskia Hopman
6.  Sebastian Duggan
7.  William Main

The volunteers from UNSW arrived in two groups. One on November 27 and another on November 29. They had a sightseeing tour of Kathmandu on November 30. They visited four World Heritage Sites: Kathmandu Durbar Square, Swoyambhunath, Pashupatinath Temple and Boudhanath Stupa. And on the next day, December 1, they took a seven-hour drive and a one-hour walk to reach Arupokhari, Gorkha.

A common Nepali welcome program with khada, a traditional shawl worn for expressing respect, garland and tika (red powder) was organized for the volunteers at the school. They were introduced to the students and the teachers. Then the volunteering kicked off. The students from UNSW spend their days going to school and teaching different subjects to the kids. It was a great experience for the kids as they get to learn from Australia-educated volunteers. Apart from teaching at school, the volunteers did an excursion around the village and met the cheerful and helpful villagers.

The volunteering at Bhairabi Primary School continued till December 10. There was a farewell program for the volunteers. At the program, they were handed Certificates of Appreciation for their assistance in improving education status of the students of the remote part of Gorkha, Nepal. The volunteers turn by turn gave speech and there was singing and dancing. They danced along with the kids and the teachers.

From December 11, their trek started. They at first went to Pokhara and then trekked to Ghorepani and Poon Hill and returned to Pokhara. It was a short and easy trek in Annapurna region which provided them opportunities to view the great Himalayas. At Pokhara, they did a sightseeing tour. And apart from trek and sightseeing, they did rafting too. They returned to Kathmandu and had a few spare days at their hand before departing from Nepal on December 21.

The voluntourism trip was a great experience for both the volunteers and the students of Bhairabi Primary School. The volunteering at Arupokhari, Gorkha was arranged by Sambhav Nepal and the trek in Annapurna region was guided by Ace the Himalaya.

We along with Bhairabi Primary School, students, Arupokhari villagers and Ace the Himalaya express our gratitude greatly to you all the volunteers. And wish you all success in all your endeavours! The following is the picture gallery of the volunteering trip. UNSW Volunteers in Action

Volunteering by UNSW Global Village Team 2014 at Bhairabi Primary School

On July 5, 2014, the students of the University of New South Wales Global Village Team, Australia, participated in Arupokhari School Volunteer Program. This was the fourth consecutive time that the student from UNSW have participated in Arupokhari School Volunteer Program, and the following university students worked as volunteers.

The participating students from “Global Village Team” were as follows:

1. Amanda Brooker
2. Christine Chen
3. Heidi Wright
4. Jessie Zi Ting Wong
5. Rebecca Ann Linney

On the first day, the welcome ceremony was held in Bhairabi Lower Secondary School. The ceremony included football tournament and biscuit-eating competition.

For five days, the volunteers taught Arithmetic, English, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics to the students. They also taught computers and discussed how the teachers of Bhairabi Lower Secondary School could improve their computer teaching methods.

It was a monsoon season in Nepal and the volunteers enjoyed drenching in the rain as well as planting rice seedlings in the fields. The volunteers also enjoyed swimming in the Stull Khola (river). The volunteers also visited Gorkha Durbar temple, Arughat Bazaar, and a traditional blacksmith, who uses furnace of iron and brick.

They also trekked in the Annapurna Region after completing the five days volunteering activities where they enjoyed watching the spectacular view of Annapurna I (8091 m), Annapurna II (7937 m), Annapurna III (7555 m), Annapurna IV (7525 m), Dhaulagiri I (8167 m), Gangapurna (7455 m), and Annapurna South (7219 m).

The volunteer program was a huge success and was appreciated by both the students and the staffs of Bhairabi Lower Secondary School. The program was facilitated by Ace the Himalaya and coordinated by Sambhav Nepal.

We thank to UNSW Global Village Team; we wish all the best to the team, and we also wish to see the enthusiastic team of UNSW, again in Gorkha, Nepal.

The following is the picture gallery of the volunteering trip.

Welcome Program

Volunteering Activities

Arupokhari Excursion

Farewell Program

Teaching the Teachers in Gorkha

The Australian Rotary Volunteer Team conducted the third consecutive “Teacher Training Program: at Bhairabi Primary School, Arupokhari – 6, Ratmate, Gorkha, from 6 Jan to 11 January 2014. The program was of six days and was a huge success. Dr. Anne Prescott, the main supporter of the ‘Sambhav Nepal’ and Mr. Prem K Khatry, president of Sambhav Nepal also attended the program. ‘Ace the Himalaya,’ the trek and tour operator, based in Kathmandu facilitated the Australian Rotary Volunteer Team in Gorkha by managing the logistics.
The following Australian Volunteers members had participated in the program :

1. Anne Prescott
2. James Mackintosh
3. Jenny Quinn
4. Katherine Ho
5. Melissa Dullege
6. Michael Laws
7. Ronie Quinn
8. Ruo Yiu Liu
9. Simon Forbes
10. Yu Su

The main objective of the professional teacher trainers was to give knowledge to the local teachers on class management and on the psychology of students. Apart from this, Math, Science, and English were also the priorities of the teacher-training program.

The teachers of the following schools of Gorkha participated in the Teacher Training Program:

 

Primary Schools

1. Bhairabi Primary School
2. Balodaya Primary School
3. Ganesh Primary School
4. Gyanbhumi Primary School
5. Jalakanya Primary School
6. Shankar Primary School
7. Shivashakti Primary School
8. Sitala Primary School

Lower Secondary Schools

1. Basukee Lower Secondary School
2. Devi Jalakumari Lower Secondary School
3. Janashakti Lower Secondary School
4. Kalleri Lower Secondary School
5. Sthanika Lower Secondary School

Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools

1. Alainche Secondary School
2. Bhawani Secondary School
3. Bhimodaya Higher Secondary School
4. Chulidevi Secondary School
5. Dharapani Secondary School
6. Durbar Higher Secondary School
7. Siddha Devi Higher Secondary School

Two translators –
Mohan Sapkota (Durbar Higher Secondary School from the faculty of Economics and Education) and
Mr. Amit Gurung (Bhimodaya Multiple Campus from the faculty of English) assisted the Teacher Training Program and made the communication easier between the Australian and the Nepali participants.

The teacher trainers also explored the beautiful and rural villages of Gorkha, as well as they met the local villagers and saw the cultural variations. They also enjoyed hiking and met a blacksmith. Simon, the documentary maker, bought a knife from the Blacksmith. The leader of the Teacher Training Program — Dr. Anne Prescott also expressed her gratitude to the schools by giving them football, cricket balls, and bats.

 

The trainers also visited these nine different schools of Gorkha: Balodaya Primary, Shanker Primary, Jal Kanya Primary, Gyan Bhumi Primary, Durbar Higher Secondary, Dharapani Secondary School, Siddha Devi Higher Secondary School, Sthanika, Devi Jal Kumari Lower Secondary School, and Gandaki Secondary School. The team leaders Dr. Anne and Prem talked about the possibility of doing future project in Devi Jal Kumari Lower Secondary School, Siddha Devi Higher Secondary and Gandaki Secondary Schools because their infrastructures are in in deteriorating stage.

After the volunteering program, the volunteers trekked all the way to Poonhill and Ghorepani in the Annapurna region to see the spectacular view of Annapurna I (8091 m), Annapurna II (7937 m), Annapurna III (7555 m), Annapurna IV (7525 m), Dhaulagiri I (8167 m), Gangapurna (7455 m), and Annapurna South (7219 m).

 

On the behalf of Bhairabi Primary School, the community of teachers of Gorkha and the well-wishers of Arupokhari village, including Sambhav Nepal would like to show gratitude for making the Teacher Training Program possible and successful, as well as they hope to see you again in the future.

The following is the picture gallery of the volunteering trip.

Reaching Arupokhari

Welcome Program

Training Activities

The School Visits, Village Excursion and Everything

Farewell Program

 Trek to Poon-Hill