I recently decided to take a career break and after some serious research I stumbled across the VIN website. Although I’d looked at numerous volunteering opportunities I decided to trust my instincts and run with VIN. I’m pleased to be able to say that from day one both they my placement have delivered well above my expectations.

After six months and too many interesting/crazy experiences to list, I’ve had one of the most satisfying and diverse experiences of my life. I decided early on that I wanted to teach and VIN placed me in a local secondary school about fourteen kilometres outside Kathmandu. I taught English to Grand 6, 7 & 8 classes and although it was a daily challenge it has proved to be the most rewarding things that I’ve ever done. Nepalese people in general are amazingly friendly and needless to say their children are equally charming. I stayed with a local family in the village and couldn’t have wished for a better home stay! The cold showers took a bit of getting used to, but the food was great and they made me genuinely feel that I was part of the family.

As an organisation VIN is comprised of a dedicated team of people who really care about what they do and have real drive and direction. Nepal is a wonderful place but it has many issues that it needs volunteers to help with. Anyone that is thinking about volunteering should definitely consider working with VIN as you will have a genuine opportunity to help improve peoples lives whilst at the same time getting a great travel/life experience yourself. Good luck!

James Kirk , UK,

Teaching English at Community School,

Aug 15, 2009 to Feb 16, 2010