Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my Volunteers Initiative Nepal ( VIN ) blog! While you’re here, I hope you’ll have a little look around their website so that you can see all the wonderful things that they are doing in Nepal. As you all know, I am off to Nepal in a month to spend 10 weeks out there working on their Women’s Empowerment Project. I have always been very passionate about international development and I have also always been fascinated with South Asia and this part of the world. I wanted to volunteer with an organisation which is run by local people who truly understood the needs of the communities they wish to serve, not a US or UK run organisation.
When I found VIN I knew instantly it was exactly the kind of organisation I wanted to commit my time and energy to. You only need to look through their extensive list of ongoing projects on the left hand side of this website to see just what immense passion and commitment and energy they have for their country and its people.
The project I will be working on helping in women empowerment. In a largely patriarchal society, the women of Nepal often don’t receive much education, they aren’t aware of all of their rights, and they aren’t supported with the skills or the confidence to lift themselves out of poverty. VIN’s project has several areas of focus, including teaching women technical skills to enable them to create a steady income. It also includes teaching them literacy and English and even life skills, such as assertiveness and stress management.
If you know me well enough you’ll know that it’s the latter areas that I will be hoping to contribute towards! I’ve already worked hard to save enough money needed to fund this trip and my time out there. This is because I feel like, although I am going out there to volunteer my time and energy to the women out there, I am almost certainly going to learn more from them and my experience living there! There is definitely a selfish element to me volunteering my time! I couldn’t possibly expect anyone to want to donate to me, but if you like what you learn about VIN here on their website and it strikes a chord in your heartstrings, then please do donate via my blog here, and rest assured that your kind donation will really make a difference to someone’s life out in Nepal. I’ll do my best to keep you all updated with pictures and stories of my time out there. In the meantime, thank you all for your time and your kindness. With much love! Helen
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