Summer Vacation in Nepal

Sometime back in May, the volunteer bug bit me and I knew I couldn’t let summer vacation pass without spending some time on an All Hands base. While teaching in Korea has been incredibly fulfilling and rewarding, there’s something about working with people from all over the world to rebuild lives after a natural disaster that I can’t turn down.

I think the decision to join another project was a gradual thing, starting with seeing pictures of repeat volunteers visiting different projects online, with my mind being made up when I practically binge-watched all of the videos on the All Hands Youtube channel. Life in Korea is comfortable, and I am privileged to be here, but it felt wrong to take my vacation to travel and be a tourist in other countries when disasters happen every day. Since I had the time, money, and resources to get me to a disaster site, I decided to go for it. So, I applied to Nepal.

Well, I actually applied to Fiji, but the Fiji project responded saying that they would be ending before my Korean school’s summer vacation started. I immediately applied to Nepal, and after I was accepted, Fiji wrote back saying that they could actually take me, but if you recall, the same exact thing happened last year. In 2015, I had applied to Nepal as my first choice and ended up going to the Philippines in a similar situation. The Philippines ended up being the best month of my life, so Nepal 2016 was looking pretty promising already.

The team in Nepal has been in the country for over a year, but there is still work to be done. On April 25, 2015, Nepal was hit by a 7.8 earthquake, killing over 9,000 people and injuring over 25,000. The worst earthquake since 1934, the devastation worsened when a 7.3 aftershock hit only 17 days afterwards on May 12^th. After the initial disaster, the Nepali government asked for support from international organizations, and All Hands was one of many to answer the call.

In April 2015, All Hands Volunteers sent their Disaster Assessment Response Team (DART) to evaluate the situation on the ground, and they decided that there was need for All Hands contribution. So, in March 2015, they began to take day volunteers, rubbling and cleaning up where they could. In June, All Hands began to take residential volunteers and set up bases in Kathmandu and Melamchi, finishing each project in November 2015 and April 2016 respectfully. The volunteers worked to rubble damaged structures, distribute food and water, build Temporary Learning Centres (TLC’s) and temporary homes, and whatever other work was needed. In November 2015, the project in Nuwakot, Nepal opened, which is where I volunteered this August.

So, on August 7, I boarded a plane to Nepal.

The trip was long, and I could barely hide my excitement on the three different flights plus the 4-hour bus that I had booked to my final destination. When I walked up to the All Hands Nuwakot base, a day and a half after I had left my apartment in Korea, it felt good to be home again. I was quickly greeted by the base manager and shown around the building (base tour coming later) before being briefed on the current active projects.

The main project in Nuwakot is the Prithvi school build, where we are rebuilding the only public school in the area. The children are currently attending school in Temporary Learning Centres (TLCs) that were built almost immediately after the earthquake. The reason that TLCs are built immediately after earthquakes is that child trafficking peaks after natural disasters in Nepal. With all of the confusion and struggle to restore normalcy after a disaster, children are particularly vulnerable. During this time, schools are able provide a safe, productive space where children can remain during the day under the supervision of a teacher. However, the TLCs will be removed in December 2016, so the timeline for All Hands to finish the permanent structure is tight.

The TLCs, made with metal and extremely hot during the summer.

The school we are building will comprise of two buildings that will be two stories each, so this is the first time I have worked on a multiple floor construction site. The buildings are being built on new land that the school owns right next to the TLCs, rather than where the original school once stood. The foundations and floors are being built with concrete reinforced with rebar, and the walls are being made with bricks. We are working with local Nepali masons on the project who live within walking distance of our Nuwakot base.

Local masons having a meeting on site.

Site rules.

Everyone working hard in the workshop area.

Two buildings – one is just hole in the ground with columns and the other has two stories already.

Stairs to the second floor of one of the school buildings.

The second floor to one of the buildings – by the time I left, the entire concrete slab was poured for this floor.

Our partner and sponsor for the Prithvi school build is called Room to Read, an organization centered around improving literacy and gender equality in the developing world. This means that, as with most All Hands projects, the service to the community does not end with us simply constructing a building and leaving. After construction is complete, Room to Read will continue to work with the Prithvi School to provide training for teachers and books for the school’s library. This organization aims to not only help students develop their literary skills, but also to create an environment where children want to read. Long after we have put down our hammers and drills, Room to Read will be running its programs to continue making a positive impact on the community. And Prithvi School is not the only school we have planned to build with Room to Read – at the moment, All Hands hopes to construct five different schools with this organization. In fact, one has already finished since I have left Nepal, and another is currently being constructed in addition to Prithvi. You can learn more about Room to Read here.

Although this post has been largely informational, there will be more reflective entries coming. I was only in Nepal for two weeks because that was the length of my summer vacation from school in Korea (the kids got five weeks but I had to teach camp for three of them). While there were a lot differences with my Nepal experience compared to my Philippines All Hands trip, there were also similarities. And like every All Hands Volunteers trip I’ve been on, I know that this will not be my last. Stay tuned!