Join us for two weeks of cultural immersion and outdoorsy adventure in Nepal!
August 28, 2019
Mark your calendar
Oct 27 - Nov 10, 2019
The program truly will have three highlights!
1) Festival of Lights (Tihar) - It's a 5-day long sacred Hindu festival, worshipping gods, humans and animals. We will be celebrating the festival with the real local families, following all the unique traditions: drawing mandalas, dressing up in sarees, Laxmi pooja, the blessing of the brothers, etc. We promise it will be unforgettable!
2) Going to Gre, an ethnic Tamang village in the Himalayas, where Girls Empowered by Travel have been working hard for the past year, educating villagers how to open and run cultural homestays - so we need volunteers, who will join our program and as a part of it will go to this village and enjoy the opening of these homestays and will give their feedback, which we will later put into a further strategy for the village. We have 4-5 homestays right now that are ready to open their doors, so we urgently need volunteers to experience this magical moment:)
3) Hike in the Himalayas in Langtang area (this would also provide practice possibility for our girls to co-lead the hikes, as they're training to be trekking guides). We are going to hike an indigenous trail of Tamang people - a trek that will make you work hard for splendid views of the Himalayas, taking you as high as 4,550 m (15,700 ft). It's not a popular touristic route. We will be staying at local people's houses, learning about their culture and communities first hand. So the program will support Girls Empowered by Travel, Gre village, homestay owners (most are women and of course families) and entire Gre community. Also any family at whose house we will stay in the Himalayas.
For more details of programs, click here
For more details of programs, click here
Set Your Goal: Explore Opportunities
August 27, 2019
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| Youth Participants of Set Your Goals
SET
YOUR GOAL: EXPLORE OPPORTUNITIES' is a 4-day training package for the students
who has just appeared SEE, +2 and pursuing a bachelors degree in any faculty?
The training is jointly initiated by Girls Empowered by Travel-Nepal (GET) and
2030 Youth Force Nepal. The training is conducted every Saturday from June
2019 at GET Office, Basantapur. Each
batch starts their course on the first Saturday of the month and graduates on
the last Saturday of the month.
The training includes the following sessions:
1st
week: Public Speaking (Interactive, Innovative fun activities)
2nd
week: CV, Profile and Cover Letter for job applications and Financial Literacy
3rd
Week: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Travel Guide (Day out session
with a day out hiking)
4th
week: Personal Goal Setting, Social Media Management, Platforms for National
and International Opportunities and Graduation (certificate distribution.
Till
the date we have reached to more than 100 of youths from a diverse educational
background. Recently
we organized the program for Agriculture students at Lamjung Campus in coordination with Technical Students’ Association of Nepal (TSAN), Lamjung Campus. We are trying to
reach more youths outside the valley. We believe that every youth is part of the pillar.
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Meaningful Hike: SDGs and Travel Guide
June 19, 2019
We always jump in if it is to hike or to travel but it would be more fun if it is meaningful hike/travel.
Our participants from Set Your Goals did the 3-hrs hike from Telkot to Changunarayan on last Saturday. There were different sessions during the hike: Binita Karki, the co-founder of 2030 Youth Force Nepal, conducted the SDGs session where the youth were informed about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and how youth can be involved/contribute to achieving these global goals by 2030.
Similarly, Bikram Karki, adventurer, and mountaineer, shared about safe traveling tips, the session was completely new to the participants, they were really excited to learn about safe traveling.
We had lunch at Champak Namuna Home, an only one traditional homestay in the entire Changunarayan village. We were welcomed by Dashmaya Tamang, owner of Champak Namuna Home. She shared about the socio-economic situation of her village. She is the breadwinner for entire family members.
At the end of the day, Sajana Bhadel, president at Girls Empowered by Travel-Nepal, gave some tips on how to travel affordably as a being student. Everyone loves traveling but it is more challenging to travel as a student but nothing is impossible.
To sum up, the hike was meaningful because we got to know about nature, knew about SDGs, knew about safe and budget travel and at the end we supported the homestay.
So, wasn't that meaningful hike?
"Sustainable Tourism Initiative"
June 19, 2019
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| Participants receiving the certificate of Homestay Training |
What comes in your mind when you first
hear the word GRE? The image of grey colors hover over your mind? But it is the
place for conflict management or to settle down the disputes in the Tibetan
language.
While it is
pronounced the word “Gre” normally the image of GRE color hover around the
mind. But what if it is said that it is known as the place for the conflict
management in the Tibetan language like when two people or different groups have to
discuss or settle down the disputes.
We, seven in team
members, reached in GRE after 7-hrs in the Jeep, then
3-hrs hiking. Which is 130 km from Kathmandu? We experienced the local cultures
and lived the authentic lives of Tamang people in Gre village, Rasuwa district. During
our 9-days stay, we conducted a program to help prepare local entrepreneurs to
build sustainable tourism business: includes waste management, safe cooking, personal hygiene, The very first day started with a kickoff
ceremony by playing the videos from our last visit to Gre. They were amazed to
see their own dance performance on the screen they were so excited to see
themselves, and laughed and joked when each new face appeared!
The
program followed with trash collection game. Similarly, each day it was full of fun and participants learn new things every day from safe cooking, clean water to English class.
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March 13, 2019
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| Participants during the Trave-Yeller event |
"Trave-Yeller" event was held on 8th March 2019 at @Thames International College, on International Women’s Day, to mark the invaluable contributions of women. Our theme of the event was “Redefining the meaning of Travel”
It was a fundraising event for Hitaishi-4 in order to bring five young girls from Jureli, Makwanpur district for a week-long leadership boot camp in Kathmandu.
Thank you so much for Adventure and Travel partner: Apex Himalaya Trek and Expeditions, Core Adventure Company and Big Smile Company for the support. Specially Thanks for Thames International College for the great venue.
We were really grateful to have marvelous speakers- Maya Gurung: Mount Climber and Social Entrepreneur, Shanta Nepali: Filmmaker and Traveler, Pancha Maya Tamang: National Sports Climber, who shared their amazing and inspiring stories and with the message that,
"Travel can make a difference".
We were really grateful to have marvelous speakers- Maya Gurung: Mount Climber and Social Entrepreneur, Shanta Nepali: Filmmaker and Traveler, Pancha Maya Tamang: National Sports Climber, who shared their amazing and inspiring stories and with the message that,
"Travel can make a difference".
The event started with a welcome dance from Naani (children from Brick factory)
The proactive participation of more than 100 like-minded youths added the light toward the event.
Our panel discussion was really interactive and informative with our great panelists- Chet Narayan Rasaili: The President of Nepal Democracy Forum, Binita Karki: Co-founder of Youth Force 2030 and Devaki Bista: Freelancer Writer and Photo Journalist with the help of our young energetic moderator Prekchhya Shrestha.
The proactive participation of more than 100 like-minded youths added the light toward the event.
Our panel discussion was really interactive and informative with our great panelists- Chet Narayan Rasaili: The President of Nepal Democracy Forum, Binita Karki: Co-founder of Youth Force 2030 and Devaki Bista: Freelancer Writer and Photo Journalist with the help of our young energetic moderator Prekchhya Shrestha.
We are really grateful to everyone who supported us directly and indirectly to make our event grand success.
January 17, 2019
Volunteer in Nepal: Help Rebuild Ethnic Village in Himalayas
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| Local people from GRE village in Tamang dress |
We are thrilled to announce a new VOLUNTEERING PROGRAM IN NEPAL, rebuilding an ethnic village of Gre in the Himalayas.
IN THE NUTSHELL, our goal is to put the Gre village on the map and keep it there. We will be bringing a cohort of skilled volunteers to the village to help enable the villagers to create sustainable tourism in their village to ensure their livelihood.
PROBLEM: In April 2015 Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake and the Langtang region (including Gre village) was hit the hardest! Tens of thousands of people lost their homes, lives, and/or loved ones. Sadly, many people in Gre village still live in temporary shelters and lack basic needs, like showers or toilets.
However, the potential of the village is impressive:
-Gre is located on the Tamang Heritage Trail, which promises peaceful trekking among the gorgeous Himalayas without the crowds of more established routes.
- Gre currently lacks facilities to accommodate hikers, but many families are interested in establishing homestays.
- Tamang ethnicity and culture is very rich and interesting to learn about, and people are eager to share their way of life.
- Local families are eager to launch homestay businesses and just need the guidance of mentors to show them the way.
SOLUTION: We would like to bring a group of 10 volunteers to the village for 2 weeks to fulfill the following OBJECTIVES:
1) Help BUILD the infrastructure necessary to support tourism: - Many homestays are newly-constructed or still in the works and need solar showers, toilets, hand-washing stations, hygiene facilities, etc.
- Develop a curriculum of ‘English for Hospitality’, tailored for Gre villagers (Bonus opportunity to help local school teachers refine English language curriculum at village school!)
2) Help ESTABLISH safe, sustainable business practices for the benefit of all:
- Teach and importance of hygiene and hygienic cooking;
- Encourage sustainable approaches and Eco-tourism and work with local entrepreneurs to create a plan together;
- Address issues of culture shock, customer service, and conflict resolution;
- Educate entrepreneurs about the legal requirements and government benefits of running homestays in Nepal (to be led in partnership with qualified Nepali staff);
3) Help ATTRACT travelers to introduce this emerging destination to the world:
- Collaborate with locals to create a sustainable marketing strategy;
- Teach social media marketing basics and boost technical literacy overall;
- Put Gre village on the map (quite literally) and spread the word through PR and outreach to influencers;
FEE: the program fee is $550 for two weeks. This includes:
- Transportation to and from Gre village (an adventure in itself!)
- A wonderful and experienced local guide
- Very basic accommodations in Gre
- 3 meals per/day in Gre village, local cuisine (additional food and drinks available for purchase)
- Program orientation and basic Nepali language class
- Supplies for teaching and program needs
WHO: we are looking for passionate people with some of the following skills:
- Construction, design, experience with plumbing and/or solar equipment;
- Social media marketing, branding, online/digital marketing;
- English as a foreign language teacher/ curriculum developer;
- Project management (overseeing broad goals);
- Blogging (preferably if you already have some platform to write about this project), storytelling, copy writing;
- Photography/ videography/ editing;
- Graphic design
REQUIREMENTS for volunteers:
- 18+ years old
- Physically and mentally able to hike a few hours to the village, carry your own pack, sleep, eat, and live in conditions below Western standers (a thin mat on the floor, no central air, limited electricity, squat toilets, etc.)
- Travel or volunteering experience is NOT required
- Experience in one of the above areas (i.e. construction, blogging, etc) is highly appreciated!
INTERESTED? Please fill out the APPLICATION FORM:
https://bit.ly/2CdxnZg
With all questions please E-mail Girls Empowered by Travel - Nepal, a non-profit organization running the volunteering program, at girlsEbyT@gmail.com
