Welcome to our One Day Volunteer Work in Kathmandu, Nepal program at SCIF Volunteer Work Nepal. We welcome volunteers to our orphanage, where you can get an insight into the orphans’ lives and participate in our daily activities.
Here is what a typical day at our orphanage looks like:
Saturdays are our weekends, we get only one day off a week. There is no fixed schedule at the orphanage on Saturdays, except for mealtimes. Our children generally spend the day playing and watching the TV, and we occasionally hold an assortment of contests for them. This can involve anything from drawing and dancing to story telling and painting. Generally, this is our fun day!
06.00am – 07.30am: Our day begins at 6am, where we begin to prepare breakfast and assist our children with their unfinished homework. For those who have managed to finish their homework the day before, they spend this time studying and practicing their reading skills.
Our children mainly require tutoring in the English language, as even though they are attending an English school, they have little practical usage with the language.
07.30am – 08.00am: This is our breakfast time! Breakfast varies according to the menu of the day, and can include anything from biscuits with tea and milo to bread or dal bhat.
08.00am – 08.45am: Our children continue studying and practicing their reading skills again during this time. We are however not very strict in implementing this as we believe that children should be children, hence for those who have already completed their homework, we allow them to get away with playing and drawing – as long as they don’t disrupt those who have not finished their homework.
08.45am – 09.00am: This is where we get everyone to start changing into their school uniforms. Things can get slightly chaotic during this period where our younger ones need help with putting on their school uniforms, and when socks go missing and children start putting on their siblings uniforms instead of their own by mistake. This usually involves a lot of “fun” afterwards trying to figure out who is wearing whose pants!
09.00am – 9.30am: Usually the changing of their school uniform goes on until about 9.10 or 9.15am, whereby our children head downstairs thereafter to put on their shoes. This is another fun affair, because if they are wearing their black shoes on that day, the younger ones need help with polishing their shoes. Shoelaces tend to be another complication with the younger ones, where they require help from the older children or volunteers.
At 9.30am, the little tykes start queuing up to head out to school, from the shortest to the tallest.
09.30am – 12.00pm: This period is when the adults get a bit of quiet time. We begin preparing lunch now, working in the vegetable garden, cleaning the house, and perhaps doing our laundry. We have WiFi in the house, so you can have your own leisure time now to get to know our staff better, surf the internet, or simply hop onto Netflix.
12.00pm – 02.00pm: Our children will start trickling home for lunch between 12pm and 2pm, as there is a time difference for break between the younger and older children. This is where we usually try to hurry them along, so that they can get back to school on time.
02.00pm – 04.00pm: This is the adult’s downtime, where we go about our own personal stuff. We usually chill during this period, and the house will be rather quiet. Dinner preparations begin during this period too!
04.00pm – 04.30pm: Teatime! Our children will start coming home from school now, and after everyone arrives we sit down for tea. Teatime usually comprises tea or milo with some biscuits, depending on the day’s menu.
04.30pm – 06.00pm: Homework time! Our children have loads of homework daily, involving mathematics, the English language, social studies, art, and the like. This is the period where volunteers come in the most handy, as the children require much tutoring especially in the English language and mathematics. Your art skills will sometimes be put to the test too when they need to draw stuff from anything between footballs and aliens to rhododendrons!
06.00pm – 07.00pm: Play time! This is their favourite time of the day. The boys play football, the girls start dancing, and some wander off to pluck flowers. If you have anything fun you’d like to teach them, now is the time to do so. They love dancing, and will love trying anything new you have to teach them; especially anything involving arts and crafts!
07.00pm – 08.00pm: Dinner time! Meal times are one of our children’s favourite time of the day aside from play time. After eating, our children will clean up after themselves, washing the dishes according to the duty roster.
08.00pm – 09.00pm: The children’s activities are quite subjective during this period. They sometimes watch TV if there is a special program on, or sometimes they just like watching their cartoons.
But if their homework is as of yet unfinished, they will get chased upstairs to continue with their homework and studies until bedtime at 9pm.
09:00pm: This is their bed time. You’ll have to help make sure that all of them brush their teeth before sleeping, and after putting them to bed, you’re free for the day!
Program Duration: There is no minimum or maximum length of stay. Let us know what you are comfortable with, and we can work something out according to your schedule.
If you would like to go through our tour company, Eyes on Nepal Tours & Treks offers the same program too: One Day Volunteering Work in Nepal | SCIF Nepal. Rest assured that 100% of the profits go to our children, even if you go through our tour company.