Blog

Our blogs are written by our volunteers in each country to give you a flavour of what life is like on our programmes. Filter by Country, Programme and Subject/Theme to find out more.

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Leaving Ghopte Besi in Safe Hands

Raleigh's International Citizen Service (ICS) livelihoods volunteers are working for sustainable development with community members in Ghoptebesi, Makwanpur. They have now appointed mentors who will continue to work for improvement of livelihoods in their community after showing the community people the importance of livelihood diversification and how sustainable farming practices will allow them to increase their income and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

December 24, 2018
Marie Henri: volunteering with GLIDE

Marie Henri is an employee of GLIDE, a company which sponsors employees to take part in Raleigh expeditions as part of their “Future Leaders” programme. Marie spent ten weeks in Nepal, working in two communities in the Gorkha region, and trekked through the Ruby Valley for three weeks. She spoke to Raleigh about her time in Nepal, and the lessons she will bring back to GLIDE with her.

December 18, 2018
“Anyone from Raleigh is always welcome to stay with us, no matter when they come.”

Bhim Prasad Paudel, a primary school teacher, has hosted Raleigh volunteers in Khastar, a village in Gorkha, Nepal, since late September this year. Volunteers in Nepal stay with a host family for a period of three weeks, who provide them with a room to stay in and all their meals. Many volunteers develop a close bond with the families, who welcome them into their homes and treat them as a member of the family. We spoke to him about his life, and recent experience with Raleigh.

December 13, 2018
Youth-led environmental management in Mpanga village

Medson Sanga, a young person living in Mpanga, Mufindi and a member of the community’s environmental committee, will soon be overseeing a project aimed at planting 150,000 new trees in the village.

December 13, 2018
An infrastructure journey of ICS WASH in Kaudi

Raleigh's International Citizen Service (ICS) wash volunteers are working with community members in Koudi, Gorkha, to cope up with scarcity of water in the community. They are doing different sessions on awareness raising, training and helping in community development.

December 11, 2018
Empowering rural communities of Makwanpur and Gorkha to adapt with climate change

Exchange for Campaigns, Empowerment and Leadership (ExCEL) is a programme funded by NOREC, which sees a group of volunteers from the Raleigh National Societies of Nepal, Nicaragua, and Tanzania come together to design and develop environmental campaigns. These campaigns will empower rural communities in adapting to the impact of a changing climate through changes in their behaviours and raising awareness of the issues involved. The volunteers have successfully completed the first part of the project in Tanzania, where they identified community behaviours which will need to change in order to adapt to effects of climate change. These specifically relate to community energy use, forest management, and agricultural practices. They are now in Nepal for the second part of the project, where they will be identifying further climate change adaptive behaviours in the Nepali context.
Here is a report from Vivek, a participant in the project, as they began the second part in Nepal.

December 7, 2018
International Volunteer Day: Building resilient communities

The United Nations’ International Volunteer Day is celebrated annually on 5th December. This year, the event focuses on volunteer efforts that strengthen the resilience of communities in the face of natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks.

We look at how volunteers from Tanzania and from abroad have been supporting aspiring entrepreneurs in setting up small businesses in order to overcome economic challenges and create opportunities for young people in rural areas.

December 5, 2018
“If you are willing to change your actions and your way of thinking, you will be amazed at how much you can learn from the local people”

Raleigh's work is delivered though teams of volunteers, who give the programme its energy, inspiration and bring a whole lot of fun. To celebrate International Volunteer Day, two of our Expedition volunteers have written about their time volunteering in Nepal. Anna-Maria is an international volunteer from Edinburgh, in the UK, and Sudhir is a host country volunteer from Bhaktapur, Nepal.

December 5, 2018
Recognising the work of volunteers in Costa Rica

On 5th December we observe International Volunteers Day which celebrates the work and achievements of volunteers and organisations around the world. Here we find out about the amazing work of our volunteers in Costa Rica and how their efforts are helping create a more sustainable future.

“There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer. With it beats the spirit of service, generosity and compassion... and the health and the wellbeing of the community, country and our world”, Kobi Yamada

December 5, 2018
Raleigh ICS volunteers bringing changes to livelihoods in rural community

Raleigh International Citizen Service (ICS) livelihoods volunteers are working with community members in Kisedi, Makwanpur to show how sustainable farming practices and crop diversification will allow them to increase their income and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Volunteers have been delivering awareness raising sessions and training, developing resources and community infrastructure, undertaking needs assessments and action research and promoting active global citizenship. Here an ICS volunteer team reflect on life in the community and the work that they have undertaken so far on the programme.

December 4, 2018