Get started early. At least six months in advance of your scheduled
departure date you should begin working out the details of your
volunteer experience. Choose a few organizations you are interested in
and begin to establish communication with them. You can email (always
the fastest), call or write depending on the capabilities of the
organization.
If the organization you plan to work with is a Nepali NGO, establishing
communication may be challenging however email facilities are available
in most places within the Kathmandu Valley. Cyber cafes are common in
Kathmandu and are available in the rest of the valley. Cost of emailing
is inexpensive with an hour costing less than $US0.50 per hour.
Most Nepali NGOs have a phone number you can call. Although this is
expensive and sometimes it is hard to get the right person on the line,
you can save time by emailing. Don't forget to calculate the time
difference from your country to Nepal.
The telephone country code for Nepal is 977 and the city code for the
Kathmandu Valley is 1. For numbers outside the Kathmandu Valley, you
will need to use a city code other than 1.
Also, sometimes when calling Nepal you can hear an echo of the person
who is speaking on the phone. This echo makes it difficult to
communicate because you feel as though you and the other person on the
line are talking on top of each other. After a few tries or a few
minutes on the phone, however, you should get used to it and will learn
to leave a pause before and after you speak.
