“We soaked up the culture, food and lifestyle of the Nepalese people”

Pedro with children from the project. His energy is inexhaustible!

Pedro flew for 15 hours from London to Kathmandu to collaborate in the secondary education of Tibetan boys and girls. “But without a doubt, the long journey was worth it.", it states. For three weeks, he helped with the studies of children and adolescents who have had to leave their remote and isolated villages in the Himalayas to continue studying in the capital thanks to the project with which we collaborate.

Life in the project begins early, since the volunteers get up to have breakfast with the little ones. “We started the day with the boys and girls, who had to be ready at 8 am. to go to school”, explains Pedro. Since the children did not return until 4:00 p.m., the volunteers used to do tourism: “We got to know everything that Kathmandu and its surroundings have to see, which is a lot. We soaked up the culture, food and lifestyle of the Nepali people,” he adds.

Pedro and two other volunteers. They did sightseeing in the mornings.

Study time

Once back, Pedro and the rest of the volunteers played with the boys and girls for a couple of hours, until it was time for study. At 6 p.m., they helped out with homework and other activities for young people to get the most out of their classes at the Kathmandu institute.

For Pedro, the best part of his trip has been the boys and girls: “they have inexhaustible energy", Explain. In addition, "the project staff has also been very kind to the volunteers," he adds.

One of the young students of the project.

Happiness despite the earthquake

Money is not something that abounds in Nepal. All you have to do is go out into the street and look up to realize that the country has suffered a lot of pain. «The 2015 earthquake is still extremely present, and the effort that the Nepalese people make every day to move forward is enormous”, explains Pedro.

Despite being the capital, Kathmandu has a different rhythm of life.

“But the earthquake has not succeeded in depriving the Nepali people of happiness. Its inhabitants have learned to live with what they have and can get. There is no desire to own things that we do have in Europe. The rhythm of life is totally different: even in the big capital, there are thousands of people who live from crafts”, he adds.

As for the project, is sustainable thanks, in part, to the contribution of the volunteers who collaborate with it. "With the money of the sponsors and of what we volunteers contribute, plus the subsidies, there is enough to pay the bills and give the boys and girls food every day»explains Peter.

Hygiene workshop with the little ones, very attentive.

Good company and a clear conscience

In Nepal there are certain things that are considered a luxury, like fruit, which is taken three times a week. “One of the things I liked the most about the experience was being lucky enough to buy fruit from time to time for the little ones and seeing them enjoy something that for us is so routine that we even reject it in our diet,” he adds.

"We cannot live based on money, because it will not make us happy, but good company and a clear conscience They will always be a haven of peace for those who have it. It is one of the lessons that Pedro has learned during his trip.

“A peasant from the area had recently died, they said he was 120 years old and he was no exception. There must be a reason…"

Learning how to cook!

Peter collaborated in Nepal in February and March 2017.