March 2013
Jeanette Antal
Position
Rewarding and amazing!
Did you feel like you made a difference?:
I felt like I made a difference in the lives of the children, and at the local school, even though I had no previous teaching experience.
Organization and communication:
Nice room in a lovely friendly family home, with delicious home-cooked meals included.
Safety:
The area is very safe, the locals are friendly and the organisation helped me get around and give us tips.
I volunteered with HMWS in October and had a fantastic experience. HMWS was a pleasure to volunteer with, and the location was a friendly mountain village close to the famous Himalayan town, Darjeeling. India as a destination is beautiful, interesting and diverse and also a challenge to fit into. After about a month travelling around busy and chaotic parts of India, my friend and I were stunned when we arrived in the beautiful, quiet and secluded village where HMWS is located. The people living here speak Nepalese and we noticed the culture difference; it felt like we had entered a different country.
We were picked up at the train station by the volunteer coordinator, we stayed in a nice room in a friendly family's house, got delicious home cooked food, and lots of help with getting around and planning our travels. It was nice to feel welcome in a home, we felt included in their everyday schedule, but also had freedom to explore the area alone and make friends with other volunteers. The organisation went out of their way to help us, and cared for my friend when she got ill, helped us with bookings, and even gave us a free lift to our taxi to Darjeeling at 7 am.
In the daytime, we taught English at a partner school. It was an amazing and rewarding experience, and the job was also fun and laid back. You really don't need any teaching experience, neither of us had taught before, but we managed well and the school appreciated us so much, as native English speakers are very rare there. In the evenings we helped out at the HMWS's homework club at the house, where we created activities and helped with homework for children who go to the under-funded local government school, in classes with hundreds of pupils. If there's one thing worth volunteering for, it is the children! They are happy, fun and super eager to learn, and their motivation proves that this organisation is doing a great job with giving them a better future. When I stayed there, they were just building a brand new class room which is ready for use now!
Thank you HMWS for my stay, and thanks for the great service you are doing for the underpriviledged children in your community. HMWS sets a fantastic example of how simple acts of kindness, humanity, charitable work and working together can make such an important difference in people's lives and in the world.
We were picked up at the train station by the volunteer coordinator, we stayed in a nice room in a friendly family's house, got delicious home cooked food, and lots of help with getting around and planning our travels. It was nice to feel welcome in a home, we felt included in their everyday schedule, but also had freedom to explore the area alone and make friends with other volunteers. The organisation went out of their way to help us, and cared for my friend when she got ill, helped us with bookings, and even gave us a free lift to our taxi to Darjeeling at 7 am.
In the daytime, we taught English at a partner school. It was an amazing and rewarding experience, and the job was also fun and laid back. You really don't need any teaching experience, neither of us had taught before, but we managed well and the school appreciated us so much, as native English speakers are very rare there. In the evenings we helped out at the HMWS's homework club at the house, where we created activities and helped with homework for children who go to the under-funded local government school, in classes with hundreds of pupils. If there's one thing worth volunteering for, it is the children! They are happy, fun and super eager to learn, and their motivation proves that this organisation is doing a great job with giving them a better future. When I stayed there, they were just building a brand new class room which is ready for use now!
Thank you HMWS for my stay, and thanks for the great service you are doing for the underpriviledged children in your community. HMWS sets a fantastic example of how simple acts of kindness, humanity, charitable work and working together can make such an important difference in people's lives and in the world.
