Rosie Crawley (Social Anthropology, Brunel University) describes her experiences as a Mountain Trust Intern gathering data in Nepal for five months during 2009.

Working in Nepal with the Mountain Trust was such an eye-opening and life-altering experience; I really think it has shaped who I am and who I will become. I spent about five months in Pokhara, the only city in the country after Kathmandu, carrying out research for a project called ‘Radio-Guru’ which aims to give all children in Nepal equal access to learning by broadcasting lessons over the radio.

The project has already been piloted in the central region of Nepal, but the ultimate aim is for these lessons to be broadcast nationally. To convince the government that it is worth their while investing in a national radio station, the success of the pilot project first has to be proved.

My job therefore was to collect the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exam results (equivalent to GCSEs) from the last three years to see if any improvements could be seen. At first it was decided that I would go to each district education office to gather the data; however, due to unforeseen problems such as the very frequent power cuts and lack of organised file keeping, it became evident that this was a very inefficient way of going about it. I then contacted the regional education office in Pokhara, who were very helpful and said that they would contact the districts on an official basis and that way the data was much more likely to come through – which it eventually did.

Although at times the work was frustrating and slow, as record keeping in Nepal is not as organised as we are used to in the UK, it all added to the challenge and it was a real insight into the workings of the place. Being an anthropology student, it was these differences and apparent peculiarities which I found exciting to be in the midst of. Apart from the beautiful people and spectacular scenery, Nepal is a fantastic place to visit because it is the only place I have been where I did not see a single McDonald’s, Burger King or Tesco. Even the capital, Kathmandu, is full of tradition; you don’t have to go far off the tourist strip to be surrounded by century old buildings, ancient temples and local life steeped in authentic Nepali culture.

Although it is a fast developing city, there is a real idiosyncrasy about the place. The smells and the noises and the colours are what struck me first and although they are things you can’t take with you, you never quite leave them behind either. Another thing which struck me about Nepal was how safe I felt, considering I travelled around on my own the majority of the time. Obviously I had the continuous support of the Mountain Trust, who at every step made me feel as if I had a huge safety net to fall back on should I need it, which fortunately I never did. It was one of the real benefits of working with the Mountain Trust that I was given the absolute freedom to make the trip my own and to discover everything for myself, knowing that help was only a phone call away.

Many people had told me about the amazing hospitality and kindness of the Nepalese before I went, but still I was touched by the genuine willingness of people to give you their last food etc.

Obviously you cannot escape the touts and the street vendors who target tourists for a living and of course, since tourism is such a big industry, it is their job to make money out of you.

Being followed down the street by men convinced that you want to buy tiger balm from them can get a little tiresome, but on the whole people are far more interested in who you are than how much money you have in your pocket. I encountered people who really were living on the edge of poverty, but what little they did have, they wanted to share with you for nothing more in return than your friendship. Faced with that level of generosity, it was sometimes easy to forget that Nepal is economically one of the poorest countries in the world.

After five months, Nepal, and Pokhara in particular, became like a second home and although I missed many things about England, I was very sad to leave Nepal behind. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to spend such a long time there and to meet some incredible people along the way who made an unforgettable impression on me. It is a country I would recommend everyone to visit at least once in their lives and for those considering volunteer work I would look no further than the Mountain Trust. I like the way they work on both macro and micro levels;  achieving a balance between working on big projects like ‘Radio-Guru’ as well as helping individual families who need help with medical bills or school fees. They appear to me to successfully target those who are in the greatest need and use the resources they have to their full capacity. I certainly hope to work with them again in the future and would definitely recommend them to anyone who really wants to help Nepal in a personal and effective way.

Rosie Crawley
Mountain Trust Research Intern,
July, 2009

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