NEPAL: Community Youth Empowerment Program

• click here to download more detailed program information
• Click here to visit the SPW Nepal website: www.spwnepal.org,np

Nepal is facing a concentrated HIV and AIDS epidemic within groups that practice high-risk behaviors. Nepal's poverty and gender inequality, combined with low levels of education and literacy, present challenges in tackling this epidemic. However, SPW is mobilizing young volunteers to encourage rural young people to take action to safeguard their own health, as well as their communities’ wellbeing and environmental resources.

Volunteers are…



• Based in Terai (the Southern belt of Nepal)
• Placed in mixed-nationality groups of 3 volunteers (2 national and 1 international)
• Placed in rural communities with the school as a base, within 10-34 miles of the closest SPW office
• Housed with Nepali families or in local hostels

Volunteers will be…



• Teaching formal and non-formal timetabled lessons in schools (Health/English)
• Forming or strengthening a youth group (Green Club) and establishing or improving a school library
• Conducting extra-curricular activities involving non-formal education techniques (e.g. games, drama, art) to explore sensitive topics openly with young people
• Assisting youth club to organize outreach activities (e.g. street dramas, rallies, health camps) that raise awareness of HIV and AIDS, nutrition, hygiene, sanitation, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health
• Linking youth clubs with other community-based organizations and with local and district services
• Ensuring that activities involve girls as well as boys

Case Study




“Today we taught in a government school about nutrition. It was just a forty-minute session about food groups. It made me so happy to finally teach. They were so excited to have young people teaching! We also had Kurt-has or Punjabi suits made. They are similar to Indian saris except that they are for unmarried women. It’s so cool! They are really comfortable to wear. This program is awesome!” ~Moriah Karlin, HEP Volunteer

Staff Support:



• 1 main office in Kathmandu, which monitors volunteers' welfare
• 1 month after arriving in placement, volunteers receive a welfare visit from office staff
• Local staff (namely, a District Coordinator) visit volunteers every 1-3 weeks

Country Information




Background: From the heights of the Himalaya to the southern Terai region, Nepal is a colorful, vibrant country, whose cultural diversity blends into one bustling metropolis in its capital city, Kathmandu. Nepal is renowned for the friendliness of its people.

Language: Nepali and English

Religion: 90% Hindu, 5% Buddhist, 3% Muslim, 2% other

Food:



• Staple - dal, bhat and tarkari, literally meaning lentils, rice and curried vegetables
• Meat - masu is meat with spices and gravy, usually served with rice. Nepalese eat chicken, mutton, buffalo and pork. Most Nepalese do not eat beef.
• Vegetarianism - accepted easily; potatoes, lentils, rice and vegetables are plentiful
• Other - to quench your thirst, a lassi is perfect, a drink made of curd and water.

Read Nepal’s ex-volunteer newsletter, ‘Samjhana’.