An ex-Plymstock School student has recently returned from an exciting opportunity to volunteer in Nepal, writes Erin Downes.
After the 2015 earthquake, the Kavrepalanchok district of Nepal was badly impacted, meaning the issues in this already vulnerable area began to increase.
In order to tackle some of these issues, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) created a volunteering programme for young people to get involved, an opportunity that Jay Holton gladly took.
He felt urged to take part due to the huge inequality globally, as there are countless amounts of people who are less fortunate than him, but equally, if not more deserving of the quality of life he is so grateful to have.
The project aimed to primarily assist in the education of those children affected by the earthquake, through a range of programmes. These included sexual harassment and domestic violence awareness, first aid and WASH training and even a focus on career development (such as help writing CVs).
However, the volunteers themselves were given a lot of freedom in terms of planning their own events, including community football games across multiple schools, primary school drawing competitions and spelling competitions.
“If I can improve one person’s quality of life during my existence, I can say I did what I wanted to do.”
Jay and his partner Anup decided that as part of their personal project, they wanted to ensure safety of all the students, leading them to the idea of making young children’s play areas safer. Through constructing a secure fence along the cliff edge that neighboured a playground, they successfully reduced the vulnerability of these young children.
Volunteers were also given the opportunity to help with individual improvements, such as cleaning, organising and painting schools and classrooms to create a better learning environment. Once again, Jay and his partner Anup decided to focus on ensuring safety, as Jay strongly believed that:
“If I can improve one person’s quality of life during my existence, I can say I did what I wanted to do.”
Consequently the pair decided to install concrete bins across multiple communities to encourage the safe and controlled burning of waste and reduce the detrimental impact it was having on the communities.
Part of the programme also included being fully immersed into Nepalese culture. Volunteers were able to live with families in the communities they were helping, meaning Jay and his group were able to stay in an area called Parkhal Chour.
This allowed the volunteers to build strong relationships with the communities, including the children and teachers that they were working closely with. However, despite being an amazing opportunity, this immersion into their culture had some disadvantages – the main one being the language barrier.
Despite having partners who could speak Nepali (as the families they were staying with couldn’t speak any English), Jay said that learning the language himself was difficult, leading to a few awkward moments.
he began to realise how important it is to be open to other cultures and ways of life
However, he also recognised how rewarding it was to be able to reach out to them through their own language, and how it allowed them to develop an emotional relationship, rather than one based solely on verbal communication.When speaking to Jay about his experience, he emphasised the complex nature of the trip, and how even his most and least favourite moments overlapped.
Being able to visit such a range of areas of Nepal was a highlight, as he got the chance to visit Bhaktupur Durbar Square, Panauti, Banepa, Nyatapola, Thamel and of course Khatmandu, as well as the community he was based in. Despite an overwhelmingly positive trip, Jay easily pinpointed his most poignant moment.
As they prepared to return home to the UK, they were able to visit the schools they had been working closely with for the final time. He said the impact they had was clear, mainly due to the reactions of the children and teachers once they knew he was leaving.
“To see how much we meant to these kids meant the world because they certainly meant a lot to us.”
Whilst being able to help others was beneficial in itself, Jay also mentioned many new skills that he gained whilst volunteering.
The main lessons he learnt were actually life skills rather than practical skills, especially as he began to realise how important it is to be open to other cultures and ways of life.
“Although we may not always understand other cultures, we should treat them with empathy (especially because our culture may equally seem very different to them). Not only this, but Jay also learnt how to think on his feet, especially as he was often left to entertain 30+ children at one time, even with a language barrier and little preparation or supplies!
“I would recommend this opportunity to anyone who feels they aren’t reaching their full potential, or they need the time to really figure out their true calling, or even if you just want to help more than you can in your daily life.
“I’m sure there’s infinite reasons someone might want to do something like this but at the end of the day, all you should have to even consider this is a good heart.”
