As Volunteachers, we want to take responsibility for our actions. Therefore, sustainable volunteering, eco-friendly travelling and sustainability as lesson content are part of our philosophy.
Volunteering is sustainable if your work continues to have an effect after your volunteering time is up. Our goal is to promote and provide support, which focuses on the exchange of knowledge. This knowledge remains at the supported schools and has an impact even if the volunteer is no longer present.
As a Volunteacher, you teach together with the local English teacher(s) in tandem. By working closely together an exchange about methods and teaching ideas takes place. This broadened experience can improve the English lessons at the host school longterm. Learn more
Starting projects which have the potential to continue without volunteers is another way to promote sustainable change. A few examples would be pen-friendships (online), English theater groups, sports activities, reading clubs, etc.
Tell family, friends and fellow students about Volunteachers. The project is most beneficial for the schools if there is continuous support from motivated and skilled volunteers. If you cannot volunteer yourself, donations are highly appreciated. Donations are used to support future volunteers financially and to buy needed materials for the schools.
You might come to realize that some students do not have a pen or paper or that other essential teaching
materials are missing. Organizing these materials is a possibility to support students and teachers in a
sustainable manner. Please keep in mind that your primary focus is to share your
knowledge not to donate money to the schools. If you are interested in supporting the schools
with more than your expertise, you can do so. Our tip is to buy the material you realize is missing
yourself and distribute it to the students instead of handing over money. In general pens, exercise
books and dictionaries are a good idea. You will be rewarded with smiling faces and can be sure your
help reached those in need.
Please inform the Volunteachers team about planned donations to the school. This helps us to keep
an overview and we can tell you if donations are already on their way. Furthermore, we can inform future
volunteers about previous donations.
Acting in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner is only possible if we know about the
consequences of our actions. Therefore, we believe that education about environmental issues is
essential to enable change.
Nepal contributes only a small share of human-made climate change and other environmental problems
compared to most other countries. Nonetheless, the country faces environmental challenges like the
pollution of water and air and the lack of a working waste disposal system.
Making human contribution to climate change as well as environmental friendly behavior in everyday life
part of your lessons is vital. The most prominent issue in many parts of Nepal is the pollution of the
landscape through plastic waste. By drawing attention to this problem in your lesson content, showing
alternative behavior and initiating projects, the reduction of plastic waste can be encouraged.
Volunteachers goal is not to judge the lack of a waste disposal system or similar problems but
rather to educate, to inform and to sensitize.
By integrating environmental issues into the educational system, we hope to contribute to the awareness
of those issues and to provide the basis for environmentally friendly behavior.
A few ideas for environmental projects:
Feel free to come up with your own ideas and share them in the material section, so everyone can benefit and contribute to making this world a bit more sustainable.
We do not want to ask you to postulate the one thing and do the other. As a Volunteacher, you probably take the plane to reach your destination, which is anything but environmentally-friendly (consider atmosfair). We, therefore, ask you to make up your mind on how to act as sustainably as possible during your volunteering time (and hopefully, the rest of your life). As conditions might vary largely from what you are used to, we have compiled a guide to help you out. One of the main issues is the lack of a garbage system. The goal, therefore, is to produce as little garbage as possible. A wisely packed suitcase saves you from producing waste which ends up in the river or countryside. Please contact us for our tips for environmentally friendly traveling.