Name:        Chris Gray
Age:           52
Occupation: Educating Primary School Children

I went to Nepal in 2006 with my family along with Nell and Den. After a very long and tiring journey we arrived in Kathmandu. Nothing could prepare me for the beautiful sights of Nepal. After resting in Kathmandu we travelled up to Gorkha, where we got our first view of Shree Krishna Primary. I have a passion for children reading and I was excited about taking my passion to the children of Nepal. I got started straight away auditing the home reading scheme, and reading with the children from classes 3, 4 and 5. Getting to know the staff and children was like making new friends. All the hard work, which is done in the UK, is well worth it when you see the smiles on the children’s faces. I hope to see those smiles again in 2008.

Name:       Caroline Gray
Age:         14
Currently: At secondary school.

Hi! I went to Nepal in August 2006 and I can honestly say I had the most amazing time of my life. The children at the school were lovely. Seeing the school for the first time was amazing. I took groups of children to draw a picture so we could bring them back to give out to their sponsors, I asked the children to write their names on the pictures but some could only write their names in Nepali. I loved the atmosphere in Nepal it was relaxed but everyone got on with the jobs they needed to do. I found the buzz of Kathmandu amazing. When I told my friends back in England that we were hoping to go back in 2008 they all groaned because they knew I would be talking about it until I went again and they are correct!

I can’t wait to go back!

I found that the only problem with visiting Nepal is that it has left me with a desire to return as soon as possible and I intend to do this in 2008.

Name:       Reg Gray
Age:         51 (birthday in Kathmandu)
Currently: Gardener

I went to Nepal in August 2006 to have a go at whatever was required. After the wonderful shock of Kathmandu we tried to play music most of the way to Gorkha. At the school, I helped paint the clinic white, we fixed window shutters, painted the new library cupboard, carried a roll of lino all the way up to the school and laid it in part of the nursery, helped fix the headteacher’s chair and helped put up pin boards in some classrooms and the clinic room. We also tried to make dolls furniture for the dolls house in the nursery using a rusty and blunt saw (lots of fun!) I must say that you hear the term ‘life changing experience’ but visiting Nepal and the school project really shows the meaning of the term.

Name:      Lydia
Age:         23
Currently: Graduate (want to be a teacher)

After a chance meeting with Nell and Den in Gorkha, Nepal, I offered to volunteer at their school. I choose to do so after witnessing their hard work in making sure that every penny of the charity money went on the children and their aim to help the poorest of families. My three weeks there were a great experience. I worked in the nursery to help ensure the children had an organised routine of play and learning, alongside their teacher, Sunita. I was very pleased to see the results of them happily playing, painting, drawing, writing, enjoying stories and singing. The nursery is very well equipped and therefore an excellent introduction to school for children who do not have their own nursery at home. Sunita was extremely kind to me, very hospitable and great to work with. I would highly recommend volunteering at this school for anyone who wants to experience Nepali culture and get to know Nepali people.

This is a charity that spends its sponsorship money directly on the children, not bureaucracy!

My name is Gareth, I am Nell's son and I went to Nepal in April along with my girlfriend Marie. It was our first time and to be honest, I was rather worried on arrival, as it all seemed so surreal. Yet as the days went on I loved it. I went along as a volunteer and helped with painting and cleaning the original school classrooms and distribution of children's clothes. This whole experience for me was incredibly interesting and I look forward to re-visiting Nepal next year. The people, the food and the culture were very much worth seeing and also experiencing the satisfaction gained from helping was a bonus in itself.

I visited Nepal in April 2005 with my boyfriend Gareth. I went as a volunteer to help with a number of things such as taking minutes in all the meetings, helping to refurbish the old school and to help distribute the baby clothes to the poorest families in the village. For me this was an incredible experience; until you visit one of these countries you don't really know what it will be like and the lifestyle there is completely different. For instance, the women having to do literally everything came as a big shock to me and it was quite sad to see older women having to carry massive water carriers strapped on their heads, up steep steps and men just walking past. This is just one aspect of their way of life and it made me think just how much I really take for granted. Being in Nepal was an overwhelming experience for me, by just painting two classrooms they were so appreciative to Gareth and I and it was a small thing for us to do considering we really enjoyed doing it but it made a huge difference to the students and teachers. Seeing their happy faces on our first day at the school when they welcomed us was an indescribable feeling and a memory I will never forget.

'I would definitely like to go back to Nepal in the near future.'

Name : Moira White 
Age : 23 
Currently : Student at Emerson College

My visit to Gorkha was in August 2004 and was to help with transforming the nursery. We painted all the walls white and then we painted pictures on the walls. We designed areas for the nursery such as construction, small role-play, large role-play, art, quiet table play, reading space and both a writing and a maths area. I taught an English lesson whilst the staff were holding a meeting. I was involved in the hiring of new staff and sharing information and in distributing baby clothes amongst the poor.I attended meetings with the local community, as well as the staff and school committee. I had a great time and I am now saving to return in 2005.

Names : Stephanie and Emily
Age : in their 20's
Currently: Teaching in Dartford, Kent.

These kind young ladies saved their hard earned cash to buy a ticket for Nepal. As well as visiting the sites they spent a long week painting the nursery classroom at our school with Moira above and Kuldip. They also carried for us 40 kilos of equipment between them to help stock the nursery. Once the nursery class was laid out how we wanted it, Emily and Stephanie, through our interpreter Kuldip, explained how to use all of the new resources.A big thank you goes out to both of these young ladies for their much-appreciated work.

Name : Richard Roberts
Age : 20
Currently: Student at Bristol University

I volunteered to help out at the school set up by Gorkha Learning For Life in spring 2003. I saw it as a great opportunity to help give something back to Nepal while I was travelling in the area. The school in Pokharathok, Gorkha does a fantastic job providing education for lower cast children who would otherwise go without. The charity provided me with contacts to help me find my feet in Kathmandu and it was from there that I travelled to the school, which was still under construction when I arrived. The teachers and children were all terribly kind and very pleased to meet me. While I was there I was able to help teach some English as well as aid the administration of the school. I took photos of all the new pupils and brought those back along with their school records. This is vital to get sponsorship for each child, which is needed for the charities survival. I got a great insight into Nepali culture especially its kindness and hospitality and was very pleased to be able to help.

To this end I plan to visit Nepal and the school again in the near future.

Den Edwards building a partition to make an extra room, he is now the charities Building Co-ordinator.

Gordon Lineham checking the wall is vertical using a homemade level. Now he checks the bank statements!

Jib Baldwin spends his break time having a game of footer with the children.

Julie and Denise, after carrying resources to the school from the UK, are enjoying a well-earned break setting up the dolls house for the nursery class.

Name: Gordon Lineham
Age: retired
After a conversation in the Swan PH Horndon-on-the-Hill, I decided to accompany a group of five others to Nepal during Easter 2001 for two weeks.
The object was to improve the then existing school in Pokharathok, Gorkha, Nepal, and take some well-needed supplies for the school as our luggage allowance.
The five colleagues were Nell Edwards, Julie Henderson, Denise Gibson, Den Edwards and James Baldwin.

The main objective for Den, James and myself was to build a partition wall in the large existing classroom to provide two rooms in the expanding school, plus any other jobs in the time available. This may seem an easy project, but unfortunately there is no B&Q in Gorkha.
We purchased reclaimed wood from a local yard for the framework and good plywood from a local shop for the skin. With tools, nails and screws that were available in a local hardware shop. (Spear and Jackson and Black and Decker did not exist in Gorkha.) The reclaimed wood was hardwood with a capital H and the saw barely coped with cutting it, bending in the process. This wood was not designed to have nails and screws driven into it either. No use of power tools here! Eventually the framework for the wall was manufactured.
Our next task was to make a home corner and then began the process of cutting out windows in the plywood. Easy? It wasn’t the saw was not up to the job of cutting it so I under took to sit on the floor and chopping them out with a hammer and chisel. Finally after a few days of hard toil, bent nails and screws the wall was erected and painted, giving the school the much-needed additional classroom and the home corner was set in place.

Gordon cutting a window in the wall of our home corner, using a chisel and a hammer.

Do you want to volunteer?