Experiences of a local volunteer ( Suman Ghimire) with VIN

My journey with VIN started from 3^rd January 2016. In the beginning, I volunteered at world cultural heritage site, Swayambhunath Temple “Monkey Temple“. With the efforts of other local and international volunteers, I tried to work there to make the temple cleaner, attractive and thus, beautiful place. We worked there for 8 days. We were collected the wastes, thrown plastics and rubbers and other garbage. Those pollutions which were unwanted there, we took it to the proper dumping site ensuring the government would recycle it and in a hope to use it again after the recycling process. The whole group went to the Tinpiple for the construction works after the completion of work in the monkey temple.

I was again the part of construction to the Korean group. I volunteered for sanitation with the 4 other volunteers near above the Tinpiple Chowk, Kathmandu. Due to the weakness in my Strength and Unusual practice I couldn’t continue the volunteering and was no longer the part of it at that period of time.

Later I volunteered in the community school, “Nagarjun School“of Jitpurphedi VDC. I along with 20 others Taiwan volunteers tried to be the part of Painting and Teaching program. We removed the rust from the rusted irons, pillars, painted it with Enamel and finally with the blue colour. Blue because it is the symbol of peace and hope.We also got equally engaged in the teaching and learning programs in the school.

Children there loved the new approaches and methodologies taught by us. I truly felt that Learning was easy, fun, comfortable and thus meaningful to the students of that school. We followed the same vision and approaches till the 9 days. I was supposed to plan the ways and modes of volunteering there at School.

Next thing I did at the community was the job of monitoring the sanitation programs which were started then. I was told to act as a representative of the VIN in those least developed places of Jitpurphedi. I visited the places named “Devisthan, “Aapchour“, “HalisMarg“, “Khyalbuchha“etc. The main work I performed at this program was that I checked the completion of toilets took pictures of each updated the report of each family about their sanitation and health status. I did the same volunteering work for the 3 days at different places. I followed the same methodologies and approaches too.

After the monitoring work on Sanitation, I was asked to do the job of Translator in the same community. It was the knowledge sharing about the Compost Fertiliser with the joint efforts of local women and one international volunteer and me.

These days I am a part of Construction in the Tinpiple – Kathmandu in the two houses nearby. I was worked there with the joint collaboration of two international volunteers and 3 other local volunteers. We six all together are working there with the mission to fulfil our goal. It’s our good fortune that the houses where we are volunteering for the sanitation purpose, the house holders also have experience volunteering and working with VIN.

I would love to do any volunteering work anywhere as VIN asks for.