Nepal

Last week in Nepal, delegates of the various political parties voted to abolish the monarchy and convert the country into a republic. Until the vote, Nepal was the world’s last remaining Hindu kingdom. Recent decades have been tumultuous for Nepal – a Maoist uprising that began in 1996 lasted a decade before a tenuous peace agreement brought the Maoists into the government. The process of abolishing the monarchy began in the last several years, and finally came to fruition with this May’s vote.

United Planet has been sending volunteers to Nepal for several years. Last year, UP Volunteer Ronald Lee spent six weeks in the country, mostly in and around Kathmandu. Ronald spent the greater part of his time assisting the teachers at a children’s home in Kathmandu. Ronald helped set up activities, looked after the children, and of course, spent a lot of time just playing with them! In his own words:

“Many of the kids have gone through such terrible traumas at a very young age, many losing their parents or simply being abandoned by their families. Yet, they were still a very resilient bunch, and most were adapting quite well to life in an orphanage with a whole new group of peers. During my stay there, we received a few new children, and one in particular was extremely shy to begin with. But after a week or so, she was starting to interact well with the others.”

Every United Planet Quest involves a number of excursions, so Ronald got to see some of the fantastic sights of Nepal. One of the highlights was a three-day trip to the Royal Chitwan National Park, in which Ronald went on a river canoe trip and a jungle walk – with a guide keeping an eye out for tigers! A mountain flight past Mt. Everest rounded out the experience.

Thank you to Ronald for giving his time to help those in need and for letting us feature him here!