In recent years, more Singaporean youths and local chapters of international groups are going to Nepal to do volunteer work.  From as early as 2006, however, SMU students have been supporting communities in Nepal through their overseas community service projects via Project Namaste, and from 2009, Project Gazaab.

Founded by team leader Ivy Wong from the graduating class of 2008, Project Namaste focuses on building the leadership potential of the Nepali youth through a conducive educational environment.  So far, Project Namaste has been successfully engaging with local communities in Kaski District (2006-2010) and Thumki village (2011-2013).

In December 2013, the eighth Project Namaste team returned to Jateswar Lower Secondary in Pokhara, Nepal, to help improve the students’ conversational English and offer basic IT lessons to their teachers. The students also supported upgrades to the school’s infrastructure through the refurbishment of the outer facades of the school building. Together with the local community, the students painted murals on the school buildings.  Later this month, Project Namaste IX will be returning to Nepal to fulfill its promise of providing sustained support to the communities there.

In an interview with The Sunday Times (ST), two of the team leaders of Namaste VIII - Peng Bojie and Elaine Teo, both second year accountancy students, share their volunteering experiences in Nepal.  Below is an excerpt of the article, 'Nepal: Volunteer Central', published on 13 April 2014 in The Sunday Times.

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Where eggs are a luxury

What began as one person's desire to do community service in Nepal has grown into a movement among some Singapore Management University (SMU) students.

Project Namaste I was born in 2006 after Ms Ivy Wong, then 21 and pursuing a double degree in business and accountancy at SMU, roped in more than 20 fellow students and travelled to a Nepalese village school in Kaski District. There, they conducted English learning activities and built a library for the students.

Since then, teams of SMU students have gone to Nepal every year to do community service, always with the aim of building the leadership potential of the Nepali youth. Project Namaste is now into its ninth edition, with a team going up later this year.

SundayLife! caught up with Mr Peng Bojie and Miss Elaine Teo, team leaders of Project Namaste VIII, who returned from their trip in December. Both are from SMU's School of Accountancy and joined Project Namaste's seventh edition in 2012 as team members.

Says Mr Peng, 23: "I felt it would be good cultural exposure for myself. Not many people go to Nepal to do community service, in comparison to places such as China, Thailand and Vietnam."

Ms Teo, 21, adds: "I was drawn to Nepal as I saw it as a place with a lot of potential for help. I also wanted to experience doing community service overseas, after having done local community service projects."

Their experience in 2012 was so meaningful that they stepped up to be team leaders for last year's trip.

They partnered a local non-government organisation and World Vision Nepal to develop a sustainable education programme for teachers and students at a secondary school in Thumki Village, in the city of Pokhara. The programme saw 22 SMU students conducting English learning activities, daily reading sessions and basic computer classes, as well as helping to paint the school walls.

The trips have been an eye-opener for the Singapore students. "We slept either in tents, classrooms or in the villagers' homes. We cooked our own meals in the open, did not shower much and held debriefing sessions around a campfire every night," Ms Teo says.

The team went to the city only on weekends to replenish paint supplies, stock up on groceries and to shower.

"We did not use our mobile phones much either," says Mr Peng. "The whole idea was to spend time with one another and the people there, and to immerse ourselves in their culture and way of life. This has been the focus of previous Namaste groups too."

This was also why they chose to cook mainly beans or vegetables with rice or potatoes for their daily meals, and rarely had meat.

"The villagers seldom get to eat meat. Even eggs are a luxury. They were so happy when we cooked steamed egg for them," says Mr Peng, who hopes to take his family to the village in future.

Ms Teo hopes Project Namaste will go on for years to come. She says: "People who have gone on the project are like members of a close family. We often talk about our experiences. Those who have been there before us speak of their trips as though they happened yesterday."

Source: The Sunday Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission.

To read the full article, click here.