Today is the first action day of my volunteering experience in Nepal. I spent yesterday getting to the town of Dhulikhel, about an hour from Kathmandu. We are staying at a pretty luxurious accommodation, Dhulikhel Mountain Resort. It is much better than the usual places I stay when travelling throughout Asia. Waking up to the fresh mountain air and the views are wonderful. And the well-stocked buffet breakfast is just what is needed for the day’s activity ahead.

After breakfast, it was time to start what I have come halfway across the world for. We were all shuffled along to buses waiting for us on the main road. It was about a 30-minute drive to the area where the houses are being built. All the volunteers gathered for a little ceremony to welcome groups from around the world.

red dot

All the Australians are in the same group, helping to build a house for a poor Nepalese family. We were welcomed by a lady who would be living in the new house, Geeta. Her English was very limited, but with a smile, she led us on the 10-minute walk to the site where the new house will be built, located just behind a primary school.

walking to work
Walking to the job on the first day

We were surprised to see that the house is already partially done, but that means we might actually finish it this week. Ours is a brick-style house, while some of the other groups have walls made of wood. The foundations are done, plus parts of the walls. We will need to finish the walls and render them and put up the roof.

the starting house
The house when we started

Having the primary school adjacent to our house meant that we could interact with the kids, who were very curious and always poking their heads in to see what we foreigners were up to. It wasn’t all play, we all got stuck into the build, and even missed morning tea as we were so focused on working.

play not work
A couple of the boys showing off to the kids

It was hot work mud mixing, bricklaying, rendering. After we had finished all we could today, we went to help the Singapore team next door, mostly helping them by moving bricks along a line up to the house.

Working on my bricklaying skills

We were all very knackered by the end of the first day and headed straight to bed after dinner. I’m expecting to be sore tomorrow.

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