Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life

This guest post is by Viktoria Barna. She has written a beautiful series of articles (This is Part 1) chronicling her experiences as a volunteer in a Nepalese orphanage and trekking through the Himalayas which gave her a new start in life.

The change in me through Nepal

After a fight with my– now dear friend- ex-boyfriend, we decided it was time we ended our relationship. And that was, in fact, a wonderful new beginning.

I sat in front of the computer for hours, applying for different volunteer works all over the world. Costa Rica, Fiji and Nepal to be precise.

I’ve always wanted to do something good, something worthwhile. This was the perfect opportunity. I thought it would be a difficult task, but I got an answer from all of the NGOs, and they were waiting for me with open arms (and pockets;)

I decided to go to Nepal, and volunteer in an orphanage for 4 months through GVN/VSN. After I’d read through their programme, I found out about the Everest Base Camp Fundraising Trek they organized. I though, “Why not, since I’m going to be there…might as well do it.”

So I sent my application, and paid bits by bits for the volunteer programme and the trek. I had to fund raise $2000, which some of my lovely friends kindly helped with. My ex helped me by sharing his house, without paying any rent, while I worked at the post office as a delivery person. He was off to Pakistan doing his own adventure.

My training to climb Everest Base Camp was sorted. I was doing my walks running, with a bag as heavy as 10-15kg at times. After work I would go for a run or take spinning classes. When I had the energy, since getting up at 4.20am took a lot out of me. Living in the country-side is great when one likes outdoor adventures, exercises.

I invited my mum to stay with me for a week, because I couldn’t go home in order to save more money, and she was so worried something would happen to me and we wouldn’t see each other again. She cooked for me, gave me massages and we would have long chats while walking in the forest.

When she told me, “I’m so scared, what if something horrible happened to you?!” I told her, “I prefer if something happened to me while climbing in the Himalayas, then getting hit by a bus in front of Tesco.” I saw a bit of relief on her face. We just don’t know when it’s our time to go…

Arriving in Nepal

I arrived to Nepal at the beginning of September 2006. Myself and a few other volunteers were picked up from the airport by a mini bus, and we were given a room in Potala Hotel. As we were racing through the streets of Katmandu, we were all smiling and I instantly fell in love with the place.

We had one week introduction in a beautiful little village called Bistachep. We lived with a Nepalese family, and had Nepalese language lessons every day. We were told about the scams in Kathmandu, and did some cool trekking in the valley. We had to use a communal tap in the middle of the village to get cleaned wearing a skirt pulled up to our necks as a cover.

We ate what every Nepalese eats every day, twice a day. Dhal baat. It’s rice, lentil soup and curry with the seasonal vegetable. We learnt to eat with our hands. We also learnt to use our right hand only, since the left was used to clean ourselves after using the toilet, which was a hole in the ground with a jug of water on the side.

We were told to watch out for leopards at night when we needed to go to the toilet, which was in the back of the garden. Great!

Once we were ready, we got our placements. I was living with my lovely aama (Nepalese for mother), who had two daughters and a son, and a little girl was staying over a lot, helping with the chores. Her parents were alcoholics, and as I understood, she was bitten up from time to time, so my aama helped her.

All of them lived in one room, and I had my own room which was the same size as theirs. There was nothing in my room, but a table and a bed, which had a blanket over it, so it was nice and hard.

The bathroom had a sink, but there was no pipe connected to the wall. When I washed my face the first time, I had water running on my feet to my surprise. We only had cold water, and oh dear, was it cold in the middle of the winter!?

This story continues tomorrow as Viktoria faces up to the harsh realities of orphanage life and discoveries the beauty of the Himalayan mountains.

To follow up on this inspirational volunteer story please connect with Viktoria Barna on Facebook

Credits for the images in this article about voluntary work in Nepal and getting fit for trekking in the Himalayas belong to Viktoria Barna.

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Related posts:

1. Part 2 Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
2. Part 3 Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
3. Part 4 Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
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