Environment and Agroforestry

Program at a glance:

Project: Environment and Agroforestry

Program: Environment and Agroforestry

Start Dates: 1st and 15th of each month

Language Requirements: English (Basic Nepali is provided)

Food and Accommodation: Nepali standard at hostel / host family

Key Activities: Working at farm, teaching English to farmers'/ children

Beneficiaries: Disadvantaged farmers, children

Working Hours: 3 to 5 hours a day / 6 days a week

Required Qualifications and Skills: High School Diploma, passion to work for disadvantaged community, flexible

Nepal is full of biodiversity. Due to lack of awareness and rapid population growth, natural resources have been used unexpectedly. If it continues, communities may face awful natural disasters like soil erosions, land slide and consequently, epidemics. VIN therefore mobilizes people from home and abroad as Volunteers and Intern to make community people aware on those issues in association with community based organizations and children clubs. In this program, volunteers / Intern will help to develop village and school profiles organizing meetings with school management committees, students, and community members, in an effort to identify the further needs of the school and the community.

Volunteers will identify their needs by using Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) tools i.e. community mapping, Focused Group Discussions, sorting and Ranking volunteers are positively contributing because succeeding projects can thus be prioritized and developed through this process. During their stay in community, volunteers will also organize many awareness raising activities to help promote the understanding of various environmental and development issues. Awareness campaigns are done through dramas, rallies, stories games and competitions.

This process has strengthened and empowered children's groups, Women Groups and CBOs. Then, they continue these activities for the rest of the period. These activities cover environmental and sanitation campaigns, conservation campaigns, health issue campaigns, etc.

Agroforestry Projects:

VIN has been working together with "Kaule-ev", a German Association, working for Agro-Projects in Kaule, Okharpauwa VDC, Kathmandu, Nepal. If you wish to learn more about their projects please visit their website http://en.kauleev.org/kaulenepal. Their goal is to support socially sustainable Agro-Projects. Here, the association alludes to the social, economical and ecological aspects of such projects. If you wish to volunteer through VIN in their projects, you are welcome! Please contact us at info@volunteeringnepal.org

The volunteering opportunities with them include: working with farmers in their set farms; renovation of farms; English teaching for farmers and their children.

Possible number of volunteer placements: maximum 4

Length of placement: 3 weeks - 5 month (limitation by visa regulations)

Employment fields: Working on farm in an agroforestry project, English teaching to farmers and farmer's children

Description of placement:

1. Agroforestry Project

Volunteers can be placed after the agroforestry training has been given to farmers by NAF (Nepal Agroforestry Foundation) and CARD (Center of Agriculture Research and Development). The training will be for 3 weeks in end of March to start of April).

After the training farmers will develop by them self the restructuring plan of their land. Based on those plans rebuilding of the project area will than be done with the help of volunteers.

Examples for possible elements included in the rebuilding of the project area are:

nursery

contour hedgerows of nitrogen-fixing plants

crop rotation

cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants

fruits and spices

conservation farming

beekeeping

home gardening

Work areas for volunteers could be in any of the listed areas, depending on what farmers decide to include on their land.

2. Teaching English to farmers, farmers children and in a primary school

Evening class:

a) Number of children: 30 - 40

The children are between 5 and 18 years old. At least 2 classes should be formed depending on age and knowledge.

Time: 5 - 5:45 pm first class 6 - 6:45 pm second class

Place: teaching room in the house of Kaule e.V. or in a room of the primary school in Kaule

b) Number of farmers: 15 - 20

Time: 7 - 7:45 pm

Place: teaching room in the house of Kaule e.V. or in a room of the primary school in Kaule

Day class: Teaching in a primary school

Time: approximately 3 hours per day

Place: primary school of Kaule

Food and accommodation for volunteers:

Accommodation will be in the Kaule e.V. house approximately 10 -15 walking minutes to the primary school.

Volunteers get Dal Bhat for breakfast and dinner (or comparable meal) and a snack for lunch.

You can also read more on it at: https://www.volunteersinitiativenepal.org/environment-conservation-program/agroforestry/?var1=summary