First Volunteering Experience with VIN

Like all the SLC appeared students we too were clueless about how to utilize the free time we had after the exam. Since we wanted to use our time in productive activities we decided to join volunteering service but we were clueless until Meiron’s aunt informed us about Volunteering Initiative Nepal (VIN) located in her neighborhood. So we went straight to the organization’s office at Balaju and got detail information about VIN from Mr. Dinesh Khatiwada.

HOW WE STARTED?

After a short conversation with Dinesh sir we were so motivated to get involved in volunteering via VIN and we also signed a contract on 15^th April, 2016. Attending orientation was the next step.

We were nervous on the day of orientation itself. There were many national and international volunteers during the orientation program. We kind of lost our confidence. Even when we were asked to introduce ourselves, we were so nervous that we had no guts to speak a word. Eventually  when we saw other volunteers introducing themselves we felt comfortable and we were able to introduce ourselves. Sushma ma’am was the person who made us feel comfortable during the introduction. 

During the orientation, we gained some more information about VIN from the Executive Director Mr. Bhupendra Ghimire. The session got more interesting with the ice breaking session and learning was fun with him. At the end of the orientation when we were asked to select a project that we would like to work in and we chose the WASH project.

Field Work

We were very excited on the very first day of our field work. Survey was our job in the field which was a little challenging for inexperienced people like us yet we had the enthusiasm. Besides, there was Ms. Katja Olsen, an international volunteer who helped us to collect data from Jitpur 7 and Jitpur 8.

On the second day with the  help of some local volunteers we conducted a survey in the village. We visited every household in the village. We did not limit ourselves in the survey only. We also involved ourselves in some construction work (toilet construction) as well. Of course both of the things were not easy. Two of our friends even felt unwell yet we did not give up.

Learning

Volunteering gave us the opportunity to learn a lot of things. It was not just about how we utilize our time in some productive activities. We got the opportunity to learn the life of people living in the village. They are living a very difficult life. The status of development is very low. Forget about the infrastructures they do not even have toilet and some of them are living in a make shift even after a year of the devastating earthquake. Lack of availability of drinking water was another problem we saw in there. Having seen these things we have realized we are living a privileged life. We have understood the importance of resources and the quality of life we have.

Our feelings

VIN provided us the platform for volunteering. Our involvement in volunteering made us realize that life is not as easy as we thought after we saw there are people living a very difficult life. Every day is a challenge for them to live without the basic needs of the life fulfilled. Since it was our first time in such volunteering activities we had to face difficulties but deep in our heart we felt that it is more about living for others and it is the best feeling. We would like to suggest you to involve in volunteering to explore yourself and help the helpless.

Words by:

Jenish Tuladhar

Nischal Basnet

Meiron Rajbhandari