Southeast Asia · Community
Cambodia
English teaching and community education in a temple town in Cambodia’s northwest.
South Asia · Community
Nepal
Mountain community resilience: education, health, and women’s empowerment in the Annapurna foothills.
- Track record
- Since 2003
- Focus areas
- 2 offered
- From
- $1,470 USD for 2 weeks
- Start dates
- Rolling
Your host
Who you’d be working with
Your host has run community development work in the Annapurna foothills since 2003, one of the longest-running programs of its kind in the region. They partner with government schools from primary through higher secondary, where budgets and infrastructure run chronically thin.
The work spans English teaching, health and hygiene education in schools, and women’s groups offering English, life skills, and income skills like knitting and sewing. Construction crews have delivered toilet blocks, desks, and a music room.
- Region
- South Asia
- Focus
- Community
- Established
- Since 2003
- Launch destination
- Yes
The work
What you’d actually do
4–6 hours a day, matched to the partner’s current needs during your screening call.
Focus areas offered
- English teaching in partner government schools
- Health, hygiene, and WASH education
- Women’s groups: English, life skills, and income skills
- School construction and refurbishment projects
Included
Everything your Program Fee covers
- Shared volunteer accommodation at or near each project, from village bases and homestays to small hotels and hostels
- All daily meals
- Daily transport to and from the project, including boat transfers where the project needs them
- In-country orientation
- Basic language lessons, cultural events and community activities
- Role-specific training where the project needs it
- 4 to 6 hours of supervised work a day
- A local emergency contact and in-country support from our NGO partner
What your stay in Nepal costs
| Stay | Total |
|---|---|
| 2 weeksour minimum | $1,470 |
| 4 weeks1 month | $2,440 |
| 8 weeks2 months | $4,630 |
| 12 weeks3 months | Recommended$6,570 |
| 24 weeks6 months | $12,640 |
Deposit + Program Fee · all prices in USD
Not included: flights, visas, travel insurance (required), vaccinations and personal spending.
Safety & trust
Questions people ask before they go
How are partners vetted?
Every partner is an established local nonprofit with years of hosting experience, formal safeguarding policies, vetted accommodation, and a trained on-site supervisor as your daily contact. Partners commit to contracted expectations and regular reporting. More on safety.
Why don’t you name your partner organizations?
Naming grassroots organizations publicly gets them flooded with unsolicited outreach. We describe each partner richly without naming them, and you’ll be introduced to your partner by name a minimum of 30 days before departure. Why we work this way.
What if something goes wrong in-country?
You have a local emergency contact from your partner organization, and your Placement Coordinator as the escalation point. Travel insurance covering your whole placement is required on every program. Orientation covers exactly who to call, for what, before you need to.
Am I actually useful, or is this voluntourism?
Fair question. It’s the one we built the whole model around. Placements exist only where a partner has asked for them, you work under a local supervisor on their agenda, and we encourage longer stays because two weeks of goodwill doesn’t equal three months of consistency. We won’t manufacture a project to sell you a trip.
More destinations
Where else you could go
South Pacific · Community
Fiji
Locally led education and health work across a district of traditional coastal villages.
Southeast Asia · Conservation
Northern Thailand
Community-based elephant, gibbon, and forest conservation in the mountain forests of the north.
Ready for Nepal?
Applications are open with rolling start dates, and the screening call works both ways.