Not worth the price

I’m actually on my last day here. It’s 2:30am. I’d first like to comment if you sleep lightly, like I do, be aware dogs will bark at all times of day and night. Nonstop. Earplugs if you can, I personally don’t like wearing them so I usually end up in a bad mood. Nothing really to be done about this but I feel it needs to be said. There’s also a hotel two doors down that is notoriously loud as well. Overall it’s not that quiet of an environment. I’ve been here for two months and while I understand extravagant meals shouldn’t be expected, I find the bland breakfast hard to have EVERY SINGLE DAY, I’d recommend a higher budget to have variety. Or if you’re not fussed, great. The recruiter low balls the amount spent outside of the gvi price a ridiculous amount, Riana claims the average spent a month is $200 so budget for that. Unless you sit in your room all everyday this is completely false. Again, bring more money. You also, according to my past two month experience have to pay for Wednesday “social nights” (if you go out together) and Friday night meals despite it being a “GVI night out” which is asinine to me. I’ve already complained about this and I know previous volunteers did as well. If it’s GVI based it should be GVI funded, end of story. Hopefully for any future volunteers they change that bs.
You have one quick lesson in language, sure you can ask the staff anytime to help teach you more; but I expected to be in legitimate classes and to retain how to speak to locals. I was disappointed.
Construction is limited and lacking. The construction manager is a fun guy and I appreciate his personality and honesty, but the program doesn’t necessarily meet the expectations. You may have no projects. You may only paint. Or maybe you’ll be lucky and have more things to actually construct. The tools and supplies are lacking and minimal to no safety equipment is provided. This is a management and GVI issue as well. Fix it.
Teaching is not for the faint of heart nor inexperienced, there is minimal structure to follow, the kids are energetic and somewhat hard to calm down and have focus on a lesson plan that is almost entirely the volunteers responsibility, or so I’ve been told by multiple volunteers.
Also I’m not sure what they mean by working with children in this program description. After school you spend an hour in CC with super rambunctious children in a random courtyard with books they kind of read or some brief “lesson” or arts and crafts. I’d encourage games so they can burn off energy. It wasn’t my favorite experience especially having to cross the crazy busy roads with the kids but they can be fun and cute, as kids are. I just again, expected more.
Women’s Empowerment: this was my experience. You teach. Every day. You spend one day with the local ngo as they advertise and have a nice little cooking class and they give a presentation on actual impactful programs. The rest of the time you visit SASANE you might teach, if the students show up. Teaching involves unstructured lessons, again, almost entirely left to the responsibility of the volunteers even if you have absolutely no intention nor experience of teaching. I personally wouldn’t mind doing some but I’ve expressed to GVI and staff I did not pay to teach every single day of this program. The women themselves are so sweet and lovely and frankly DESERVE more. The women staff within GVI overwork and are under appreciated by this company, my guess underpaid as well. There needs to be more variety within the program for the women’s sake and for the volunteers. The current management needs maybe some
management courses under his belt. He’s not really involved in any of the project, he seems to only be concerned with taking the commission of the extracurricular adventures that he uses his other company for. I also had a personal experience of him opening my bedroom door while I was undressed and uninvited. Obviously horribly inappropriate and violating of my privacy, I have yet to see GVIs response or actions taken to make my experience better (reimburse me GVI). No doubt swept under the rug as these types of companies do (please prove me wrong GVI).

Overall I put the responsibility on GVI itself. They misrepresent what this program entails when you, especially if you’re American like me, spend THOUSANDS of dollars not including the flights, souvenirs, excursions, MEALS, and any extra things outside of the actual expense of this program. If I had known per description that I’d be teaching basic grammar everyday I certainly wouldn’t have come for two months. I had heard from other GVI volunteers in another country that they did not pay for any meals or drinks (one volunteer, for example ordered 10+ shots of hard alcohol and GVI still covered) but yet we were told certain meals and activities were our responsibility to pay for.
Again the women staff currently (Sita Roshani Mhendo Tsering) are amazing people and I wish them better than GVI, frankly. Bibek in construction gives life to the construction. The women in Nepal are sweet and deserve more than provided for by GVI.
Management here needs rearranging.
I doubt you’ll hate this experience but please do understand it’s overpriced and misrepresented in the initial description that is meant to draw in volunteers. Personally I think that’s fraudulent.

Nepal is beautiful. There are beautiful local programs that are less expensive and potentially more impactful, if interested in working with victims of human trafficking I suggest contacting SASANE and joining their program in Kathmandu or maybe something per their suggestion. Because you certainly do bare minimum if anything at all through GVI, which was my initial desire to join this company in the first place.

I want the staff here to continue getting paid and hopefully the program gets the attention, resources, funding, and transparency it needs for that to happen. But I don’t think I’ll be choosing GVI ever again.