Construction work in a community school

Our volunteers, community members, and students are committed to social justice, community development, and education.
As the government in Nepal is unable to provide free and accessible quality education in the rural areas of the country Maya Universe Academy's mission is to give a chance to children in remote areas of the country.

Volunteers work hand-in-hand with the community in order to provide a free quality education to these unprivileged children.
Today, thanks to the help of motivated and enthusiastic believers, Maya Universe Academy grew its facilities, and its educational possibilities and is starting the become self-sustainable thanks to its social enterprises.

We operate with the help of local and international volunteers and our own dedication to hard work. We drink spring water, tend fields, cook on an open fire, and bare the harsh conditions of living in a remote village of Nepal with a lot of fun in order to offer the opportunity of education to children otherwise overlooked.

Inspired by our gracious supporters and friends, Maya Universe Academy continues to educate and inspire our students and their families. The community recognizes the power of education, and our school continues to expand as we accept new students, teachers, and volunteers.
Be a part of this innovative education solution for Nepal by joining us in this volunteering program.

How can you get involved?
In order to provide safe classrooms, toilets, and housing, the construction team is always busy. The projects vary with the needs and growth of the school. For instance, after the massive earthquake of 2015 affecting Nepal, volunteers in construction built a hostel to accommodate children from affected areas.  

Furthermore, due to the rapid increase of children attending school, we need more and more facilities. 

Volunteers are guided by local experts, with who they will be able to learn about construction techniques as well as the different ways to use very limited resources. 

By working in construction for a school, the volunteers will be able to enjoy the company of the children during their free time and work closely with skilled locals. 

Despite the construction work, volunteers learn and grow from their experience and the children from Maya Universe Academy. They gain perspective through the differences in language, culture, and way of living. 

• Hostel Children: Students living at the school. Most children come from very poor families while some have none at all. 
• Permanent Volunteers: Nepali volunteers that live at the school and help run daily operations.
  
• Temporary Volunteers: Nepali and international volunteers who stay for both short-term and long-term periods.
  

At the school, you will be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery as it is surrounded by hills and mountains. By being further away from big cities, the area is quieter and more refreshing.

Every morning, volunteers have breakfast with the children from the school at 8:00 am.

At 9:00 am we all gather in the morning assembly which takes the form of a circle. All students, teachers, staff, and volunteers gather to share news, poetry, music, dances, and other creative work, which is sometimes followed by a team-building game or the Nepali national anthem. Volunteers and teachers also perform on Friday mornings. 

At 10:00 am, the working day starts for volunteers in either education, agriculture, or construction.

• The work in construction involves building structures, mixing cement, digging, painting... The projects vary according to the current need of the school. We are usually building classrooms and boarding houses. The Academy has a huge demand from the community and all classrooms are full. Hence, there is always a need to make more classrooms to keep up. More than a hundred people reside at the school. 

Lunch is at 1:45- The volunteers eat at the 'old kitchen'. Students and Staff eat in the 'new kitchen'. A few volunteers help with cooking too and the menu changes all the time as different people share their cooking recipes from home. 

At 7:00 pm the volunteers can have a traditional and simple meal with the children at the 'new kitchen'. The volunteers have a meeting with the coordinators to plan for the next day. 

After having dinner, volunteers usually gather together to enjoy their free time before going to sleep. Some people read, make a fire, drink coffee or a beer, discuss and debate and make friends with the others on the team. 

Volunteers also go hiking up the hill, visit the homes of the villagers, go to other tourist destinations nearby, shop in the nearby towns, etc. Saturdays are holidays while Sunday work is optional. 

During their free time, volunteers generally hang out together in the volunteers' facilities. It is a nice time for everyone to get to know each other and integrate into the group. 

The privileged location of the schools offers different hiking possibilities where you can enjoy views from the top of the hill during the afternoon. 

During the weekend, volunteers can travel to cities not far from the schools. Damauli for instance is the nearby town where one can find food, clothes, and general shopping. For a more cultural escape, Bandipur, a pretty hill station is good for chilling, food, and shopping in a well-preserved Newari architecture. The same can be said of the historic place of Gorkha. The school is between Kathmandu and Pokhara. Most tourist destinations are only an hour or two away from the school.