During our first Adventure Travelz trip we went to some ethnic villages in Langtang area in Nepal. It was part of the so-called Tamang Heritage Trail. Tamang is a Nepali ethnic group, residing predominantly in Langtang in the Himalayas.
The most memorable stay and welcoming hospitality we experienced in a tiny mountain village of GRE. We stayed with a family of Nema and Dale and their four little daughters.
In April 2015 Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake, Langtang area was affected the most! Sadly, some people in GRE village still live in temporary shelters, and definitely not enjoying some basic needs, like showers or toilets. We slept in our sleeping bags on the floor, on thin mattresses. Washed our hands pouring water on each other from a little bucket. Enjoyed simple meals of rice, beans and eggs. But the hospitality and friendliness that was offered to us was so heart-warming.
Local people gave us their traditional clothing and we all took pictures. Played with children, who run all around the village. Visited the school, spoke extensively to the principal. He explained us what resources they lack, which was basically everything, from books and supplies, human resources and internet connection.
After leaving the village, we were still thinking a lot about GRE, and how we could support this beautiful place and it’s people. The resources that are available are impressive: GRE is located on the Tamang Heritage Trail among gorgeous Himalayas, Tamang culture and ethnicity is very rich and interesting to learn about. What they need is help with creating certain infrastructure, learn about sustainability, and also promote the village, so that hikers know they can go there and stay.
So we came up with an idea to launch a 2-week volunteering program in GRE village. In the nutshell, our goal is to put the GRE village on the map and keep it there.We would like to bring a cohort of 10 skilled volunteers to the village to help enable the villagers to create sustainable tourism in GRE to ensure their livelihood.
The objectives of the program would be the following:
- Help build necessary infrastructure (homestays – some are in the works already, showers, hygiene facilities);
- Educate about the importance of hygiene;
- Educate about sustainable approaches/ eco-tourism, create a plan together;
- Educate about the specifics of running homestays in Nepal (will be done by the local competent people);
- Create a marketing strategy, social media content and educate the villagers to do that independently going forward;
- Brainstorm on how to prepare for a possible culture shock/ mitigate cultural differences;
- Develop activities that the villagers can offer to attract hikers;
- Develop a curriculum ‘English for Hospitality’, tailored for GRE villagers, also help local school teachers refine English language curriculum at school.
We are looking for passionate people with some of the following skills:
- Construction, design, possibly working with solar equipment;
- Social media marketing;
- English as a foreign language teacher/ curriculum developer;
- Project management (overseeing the broad goals);
- Blogging (preferably if you already have some platform to write about this project), story telling, copywriting;
- Photography/ videography/ editing.
The program will run for two weeks April 1-14, 2019 and will be administered by the NGO Girls Empowered by Travel- Nepal, our sister non-profit organization.
INTERESTED? Please visit the website, join our Facebook group, join the event, fill out the application form.
With all questions please e-mail girlsEbyT@gmail.com.
Let’s travel with a purpose and make a difference!
