GENERAL INFO
Good Karma Foundation is an organization established to offer national and international citizens with an opportunity of volunteering in Nepal to bring some positive change in country. We are dedicated in offering you with safe and memorable volunteer experience where both the local communities and the volunteers learn from each other and establish a personal bond.
Holistic community development is a framework for integrating social, economic, environmental, and cultural concerns into meaningful community initiatives. Development programs emphasize in-person connections, resource-sharing networks, and flexible collaborations with the goal of building and sustaining resilient, vibrant, and thriving communities. This programme is open for people of every age group and profession so it does not matter if you are a student or if you are looking for volunteering in gap year or if you are pioneer in your profession every one is welcome for this meaningful initiatives in mountain are of Nepal our foundation is carrying .
ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
By participating in our Holistic community development package, you will get an opportunity of experiencing the rural life, take the taste of local dish while work hand in hand with local communities. As a volunteer in the village, your task vary from participating in light construction works like repairing houses to teaching in local school to cooking food for children. Upon your interest, you can also volunteer in eco farm where you will exchange your ideas on organic farming and adopt traditional farming method.
It is also a great escape from one world to other where you simply experience the best life close to the nature .
You will be greeted at Kathmandu Airport. The trip involves trekking through the rustic path that allows views of incredible Himalayas. After receiving, volunteer is given a day tour to know the highlights of the city. After spending the day in Kathmandu and having orientation of the program now volunteer is ready to travel to the local village of his choice.
The volunteers will teach in a community run schools in school days (Sunday to Friday) for 3-4 hours and help the host family in evenings and off days if they want . The volunteers are expected to be a source of inspiration, a agent of social change and a also cultural exchange agent to take good Nepalis practices home and teach good practices to Nepalis children. Volunteering we regard as a both way traffic.
We would like to assure you that you will never have to do the work that does not interest you. We will offer you with tailored volunteer program to meet your needs.
This program tries to give students of mountain village room to improve their speaking English skills through cultural exchange.
The volunteers will be always safe and in good supervision of organization staffs. The proper host families are selected to ensure the volunteer feels home atmosphere while in homestay.
The program location is rural villages of lamjung district like Khudi, Siurung, Bhusme, Manjang etc, After the volunteer sends an application, we will provide profile of each village where need is most. The location is starting point of Annapurna circuit which is 200Km far from Kathmandu, roughly 5 hours drive distance.
The volunteers can join this program all round the year .
THINGS TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE IN THE WEEKENDS FOR VOLUNTEERS AND DAILY PSSIBEL ACITIVITIES FOR NON VOLUNTEERS
1 - BATASE DHUNGA AND TIGER NEST HIKE 1.5 TO 2 HOURS (CAN BE DONE IN THE MORNING ) ( LOCAL GUIDE RECOMMENDED)
2) BHULBHULE WATER FALL VISIT WITH TROUT FARM VISIT IN NAGDI ( 4 HOURS HIKE TOTAL )
3) SWIMMING IN MARSHYANGDI RIVER ( 10 MINUTE TO GO TO T HE NATURAL RIVER AND 20 MINUTE TO RETURN ) ( JUNE TO AUG NOT HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO SWIM AS MONSOON CAN MAKE THE RIVER LEVEL HIGH AND CAN BE DANGEROUS) .
4) PEACE HILL HIKE WITH BHUSME VILLAGE STOP ON THE WAY. 6-7 HOURS TOTAL ( MOST RECOMEMNDED TO SPEND A NIGHT TO SEE THE MORNING VIEWS OF THE MOUNTAIANS ( LOCAL GUIDE RECOMMENDED
6) JAGAT HOT SPRING TOUR - A SHORT JEEP RIDE 3 HOURS ROUND TRIP PLUS FEW HOURS TO SPEND IN HOT SPRING POND FOR A WARM BATH
7) VILLAGE TOURS (HAVING A LOCAL GUIDE IS BEST )
VILLAGE TOURS TO KHASUR 2 HOURS WALK ( ONE WAY)
VILLAGE TOUR TO BHALAMCHOUR (1.5 HOURS WALK ( ONE WAY)
VILLAGE TOUR TO SIURUNG VIA NIGHT STOP IN HORSING HILL 3+2 HOURS ( ONE WAY)
VILLAGE TOUR TO GHALEGAUN 3-4 HOURS WALK ONE WAY
VILLAGE TOUR TO KAULEPANI 1.5 HOURS DRIVE ONE WAY
8) YOGAS AND MEDITATIONS: It’s a great place for those who ant to try Yoga’s and medications in the nature
9) AFTER FINISHING THE STAY YOU CAN GO TO POKHARA, CHITWAN FOR JUNGLE SAFARI OR START THE ANNAPURNA CIRCUIT TREK FORM THIS POINT .
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PACKAGE
Experiencing the Nepal rural beauty while staying with locals
Participate in various volunteering opportunities in the region available .
Memorable volunteering experience where adventure meets sustainable development.
Explore vibrant Nepali culture while having fun at our acclaimed program in a world of nature
Beautiful day Hikes every where .
Empower children, create cherished memories, and have incredible fun making a difference
ALSO IT IS HOME TO FAMOUS MOUNTAINS OF THE WORLD
Mansiri Himal is a small, high subrange of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal, about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Kathmandu. The Mansiri range is notable for its local relief. It rises 7,000 m (23,000 ft) above the Marsyangdi valley floor in less than 30 km (19 mi) horizontal distance. The Mansiri range is also known as Manaslu Himal or the Gurkha Massif. It contains these peaks among Earth's twenty highest (with at least 500m topographic prominence):
I) Manaslu, 8,156 m (26,759 ft), 8th highest
Manaslu is the eighth-highest mountain in the world at 8,163 metres (26,781 ft) above sea level. Manaslu means "mountain of the spirit" and the word is derived from the Sanskrit word manasa, meaning "intellect" or "soul". Manaslu was first climbed on May 9, 1956, by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu, members of a Japanese expedition. It is said that, given the many unsuccessful attempts by the British to climb Everest before Nepali Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary, "just as the British consider Everest their mountain, Manaslu has always been a Japanese mountain".
ll) Himalchuli, 7,893 m (25,896 ft), 18th highest
Himalchuli (also sometimes written as two words, Himal Chuli) is the second-highest mountain in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, and the 18th-highest mountain in the world . It lies south of Manaslu, one of the eight-thousanders. Himalchuli has three main peaks: East (7,893 m (25,896 ft)), West (7,540 m (24,740 ft)) and North (7,371 m (24,183 ft)).
lll) Ngadi Chuli, 7,871 m (25,823 ft), 20th highest
Ngadi Chuli (also known as Peak 29, Dakura, Dakum, or Dunapurna) is a mountain in the Mansiri Himal (or Manaslu Himal), also known as the Gurkha Massif, in Nepal. With an elevation of 7,871 metres (25,823 ft) above sea level, it is the 20th-highest mountain on Earth. Despite its top 20 height, Ngadi Chuli has only been climbed once or twice. The first confirmed ascent was in 1979 by the Polish climbers Ryszard Gajewski and Maciej Pawlikowski via the West buttress, involving some class V rock climbing at great height.
IT IS A LIVING MUSEUM OF VARIOUS ETHNIC PEOPLES:
Due to various ethnic peoples living in a small mountain area and their day to day work and activities it can be felt like open mountain museum. There are four major caste system in Nepal and among them all four Caste peoples from Brahmin Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra alL reside in this area . The notable caste in the area is as follows.
Brahmin: The traditional occupation of Brahmins is that of priesthood (purohit, pandit, or pujari) at Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies, and the performing of rite of passage rituals, such as solemnizing a wedding with hymns and prayers.
Kami: The Kami caste is a group of people in Nepal who are known for their metalworking skills. They are also known as Vishwakarma or Bishwakarma.
Damai : People belonging to this caste are traditionally tailors and musicians capable of using the naumati baja - an ensemble of nine traditional musical instruments
Sakri: Sarki is an indigenous people in Nepal. They are found in the region of the .Himalayas. They are experts in playing their musical instrument "Madal" and performing dance in a group which is also called “Khayali Marooni”.
Kshetri: Kshetriya or Khas are Nepali speaking indo-aryans historically associated with the warrior class and administration.
Tamang: Tamang are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group of Nepal,
Gurung: Gurung are a Tibetan ethnic group living in the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal
Newar: Newar as Vaishya cast peoples known for trades and business.
WHAT WILL BE THE ACOMODATION LIKE PROJECT?
We Currently have a a volunteer house/ home stay build with Korean technology SY panel to give the extra comfort for the volunteers with modern kitchen and bathrooms for those volunteers who have problem sleeping in traditional huts and having visitors like rats or any insect can now have peaceful sleep as the home is build considering all these issues and trying to address as much as possible. the light Korean technology home also stands as a unique home in the region as it also is an earthquake proof home from safety reason .
Currently the home host 6- 10 Peoples once. There are 3 Dorm beds in each room and there is one Private room incase if someone senior volunteers really need or a couple. The dorm concepts is to unites the world with any gender or group in same room and we want to make it an international commune home in practical where peoples from different country come and sleep like a family in another part of world and be a friend forever while doing some things good and sharing room and responsibility’s together .
WHAT FOOD WILL BE SERVED DURING THE STAY?
Most of the food will be fresh grown in farms that include rice, seasonal vegetables, beans and lentils soups. Milk will be served from local buffalo farm . Bread will be brought from a small manufacturer in Khudi . Honey are managed locally by honey farms. We have fresh lemons . There will be salads from the garden as well. We try to be away from the city foods and junk world. It’s a place for organic as much as possible.