Teaching & Childcare positions: Empower through Education!

I can honestly say that the three months I spent in Nepal were some of the best months of my life.

Firstly, the support from Oyster Worldwide was incredible - right from my first email enquiring about the trip 'til weeks after I returned home, the staff were clearly dedicated to ensuring that I was always safe and happy. They are a small company but this adds to their charm, as they know each of their volunteers individually and remain in contact with you throughout your trip. Whilst you are in Nepal your independence is promoted as you are living in a village with a Nepali family - however Oyster's in country representative (a man named Basant, who was absolutely wonderful) is based in the capital city of Kathmandu, which is a brilliant 'Safety Net' if ever you have a problem. Basant is contactable basically 24/7, which keeps you feeling safe at all times. Furthermore, Basant (who has his own company based in Kathmandu) and his staff are incredibly welcoming, and I considered them friends by the time I left.

Secondly, living with my host family was such a wonderful experience. They welcomed me into their life in every way and treated my as if I was really their daughter - I would consider them a second family now! They cook an amazing breakfast and dinner for you each day (our Nepali mother actually brought us tea in bed each morning!), and are eager to make you feel at home. Joining in with family traditions such as the twice-annual potato harvest, or gathering around the fire in the evenings, preparing dinner, or even watching Nepali TV is an unbeatable way to get the most out of the experience. This also extends to spending time in the rest of the village - going for walks allowed us to make some great friends in other parts of our village (Godawari), and allowed us to enjoy events such as Holi (the festival of colour) as much as possible.

What makes this trip really stand out is the trips that are included in the main price. Whilst in Nepal I took part in a seven-day trek in the Himalayas (something I thought I would never be able to do but ended up being one of the most incredible things I have ever done - and I am so proud of myself for doing it!), a jungle Safari (in which I found myself stood two metres from a wild rhino, whilst feeling completely safe), white-water rafting, and an eight day tour of Tibet (which was truly fascinating). The trip to Tibet even included a day spent visiting Mt. Everest Base Camp! These trips are incredible for so many reasons, and allow you to spent a lot of time with the other volunteers completing the same project.

Finally, the teaching was really the heart and soul of the time I spent in Nepal. The children you are teaching are wonderful - so polite and so eager to be friends with you, it's nothing but a pleasure to be teaching them each day. Before arriving in Nepal I wondered how I would teach English to children who didn't speak the language at all - how very wrong I was to worry! The children's english is, for the most part, very, very good. I found that their vocabulary was excellent - however, it was teaching them to use it properly that was the challenge. It was incredible to see the children slowly adopting the things I was teaching them, and I left at the end of my three months feeling like I had really made a difference.

Now that I have returned home from my trip I find myself wishing I was back there more frequently than I would have ever expected before I went away. I have promised my host family that I will be back to visit them in a few years, and I truly intend on keeping that promise!

To sum up, I honestly could not recommend this project enough; I had the absolute time of my life!

Nepal was one of the best experiences of my life. The country itself is just so diverse and the people you will meet are absolutely lovely. There is so much to do and to experience so living in the country for a couple of months really lets you soak up the culture... fabulous.

I cannot praise the Oyster programme enough. They placed me with a local family in one of the outlying villages of Kathmandu Valley, which wasn't nearly as daunting as it seemed. The family were lovely and had numerous kids who spoke English, and there was another volunteer placed with me which was really nice. Living with a Nepali family provided me with thousands of memories that I'll treasure forever: eating Daal Bhat with my fingers whilst sitting on the floor of the kitchen; chasing the family cow through the village when it had gone walkabout; collecting wood with the women of the family and carrying it on our heads back to the house; participating in loads of Hindu festivals, involving flower garlands and tikka on our heads; washing in the freezing cold water under the light of the moon. It was an amazing experience that you won't get anywhere else.

Teaching English was also fabulous. Having had no particular training in how to teach, I was pretty nervous when arriving to be told that I would just be handed a number of classes but I shouldn't have worried. The kids were enthusiastic and just wanted to speak English to you and I had great fun selecting things that I wanted to teach to them. I enjoyed it so much that I ended up doing a PGCE when I got home and have been happily teaching English in a high school in the North of England for the past 5 years!

The social side of the programme was also really good. There were 7 Oyster volunteers in Kathmandu Valley so each weekend we used to get the bus back into the city and meet up. Kathmandu has a great nightlife scene and we soon met other travellers who were completing similar projects. The treks that we completed were also really great (Tibet was closed during the year that we went due to political upheaval... typical) and one of the best things that we did was the Annapurna Base Camp Trek. I'll never forget watching the sun set whilst surrounded by 8000m high mountains. Chitwan National Park was brilliant: where else can you see white rhino from the back of an elephant? We also spent some time in a women's shelter, painting murals and exploring the Buddhist area of Kathmandu. Trips to Pokhara, joining in with the festival of Holi and watching the bodies be burned in Pashnupathinath were also some of the highlights.

I felt so supported when in Nepal. The local representative, Basant, was just so friendly and he treated us so well. His door was always open and he was always there to offer help and advice; be it ideas on where to go or even assistance in getting an Indian visa (a farse in Kathmandu!), he was always there. When my boyfriend flew in after our 4 months and we went travelling through India, Singapore and Malaysia, Basant let me leave a load of stuff in his office to pick up at a later date... what a legend.

I cannot recommend this programme enough. Having completed Camp America and going Interrailing during my university years, I thought that I was fairly well travelled however this trip was like no other. Actually living in the country, with a family, was such an amazing experience I would recommend it to anyone... just go for it!

My experience in Nepal was amazing. I started out a shy and very nervous girl with little life experience and 4 months later I came back to the UK very confident, with heaps of great teaching experience, unbeatable memories and lifelong friendships.

For me, Oyster offered an unbeatable programme of cultural immersion, voluntary experience and organised treks and excursions all added to a comprehensive timetable. As I had never been away without family before, having a fairly organised structure really helped. I was able to explore Nepal during activities pre-arranged by Oyster, but along with my group we also arranged our own trips, such as watching the sunrise over Nagarkot, and bungy jumping, on top of socialising every weekend!

Being a volunteer teacher was by no means easy, and I am incredibly proud of myself for overcoming initial nerves to teach classes of around 40 children. I learned an incredible amount as a teacher and (hopefully!) imparted some knowledge too! In fact I was so inspired by teaching in Nepal that I completed 2 years as a Teaching Assistant back in the UK and this September I start my PGCE at Cambridge in order to become a qualified teacher. In Nepal I found the one major thing which was lacking in the curriculum was creativity. All teaching was done using set text books. Therefore I decided, with permission from the headteacher, to focus on creative writing with the children. I felt well prepared for teaching, as we had some detailed training delivered during the pre-departure course.

A highlight for me, as well as the awesome treks and safari, was living in the village with a traditional Nepali family. This experience was like none other I have had or ever will have again. I learned so much about Nepali culture, eating the staple 'dal bhat' twice a day, going to weddings at least once a week and waking up to my Nepali brothers turkey squawking at 5am every morning are just a few memories I will never forget!

Thank you Oyster for a FANTASTIC 4 months. 6 years, 2 universities, and countless residences later... Nepal still tops all my experiences!

The program focus is very much on teaching. However, it is very much up to you to make sure you have a positive impact at the schools at which you are teaching. In your (relatively short) time there, make sure to quickly identify what problems your pupils are having in their understanding of the English language, and then identify which one's you can make a real difference on in your short time there.
Outside of school, there are plenty of things to do, as well. The school day is relatively short, so make sure you make the most of your free time. You'll be living with a working family so you'll definitely get a 'real' experience, but make sure to explore the local area to get a good sense of what its like to actually live in Nepal (rather than just holiday there).
I did lots of longs walks, and took trips around the country on the weekend. I went to Pokhara (Nepal's second city), went paragliding, bungee jumping, and hill walking. I also went on safari in Chitwan National Park, seeing elephants, rhino and monkeys. At one point, when I got a bit longer time off (during a school holiday), my group and I even went to Tibet! The Tibet trip is fantastic and really worth doing.
The support from the Oyster contacts in Kathmandu is fantastic. Basant's main business is as a travel agent, so he can actually help you out a lot in terms of organising things to do in your free time.