Volunteer - Tarshi palkhiel

30 km away is one of Nepal's most beautiful mountains - Machhapuchhre (Fish Tail)
(One and a half days of trekking to reach this viewpoint)

"We love the atmosphere in the refugee camp". "My host family and their neighbour's have made us feel very welcome and have been teaching us a lot about their culture". "We have had a fantastic time". "We are sad to be leaving".

The routine will vary from group to group, but the normal pattern is for 5 or 6 hours of tuition per day for 5 days, with the weekend free for leisure. There are likely to be other volunteers at Tarshi Palkhiel at the same time as yourself, but you must be able to work alone as we cannot guarantee you will be part of a group for all of your stay.

We are very flexible about the time spent on the project as long as the minimum of 1 month is done, anything else is a bonus. Once the minimum period has been worked, you are free to take breaks for travel or other purposes.

There are likely to be other volunteers at Tarshi Palkhiel at the same time as yourself, but you must be able to work alone as we cannot guarantee you will be part of a group for all of your stay.

We have a number of options for teaching English at Tarshi Palkhiel and if you are there long enough you may get to try all of them.

There are the school children who are aged from 4 to 12 approx. Classes are mixed ages, as it is ability to pay fees not age that determines the class - a child from a poor family may not start schooling till he / she is 15 and would then be in the same class as a 7 year old perhaps.

The monks and students at the monastery have a wider age range with no upper limit, but most effort is given to teaching the younger students and monks.

The third and final batch of students are the adults, mainly women who are working in the arts and crafts market and a few men who are involved with tourism.

We have a permanent member of staff at Tarshi Palkhiel - Sonam Gyaltsen who was the teacher of English at the monastery until 6 years ago, prior to joining the Muir's Tours team.

We do need to obtain references and carry out a criminal records check for projects involving young children, such as at Tarshi Palkhiel.

In terms of travel within Nepal to the project, we can provide support in a number of ways depending upon your needs, or leave you free to find your own way.