OUR VOLUNTEERS
Hi there!
​
I am Lisa Pier. I volunteered at Hoste Hainse from October 2015 to April 2016, and am very happy that you out there are reading these words right now. I created this informal blog while being in Nepal to share my experiences with anyone interested, either in what volunteering at Hoste Hainse can be like, living and working in Nepal in general, or my personal story. The articles cover quite a wide range of topics, but are mainly about my work as a volunteer at Hoste Hainse, living with a Nepali host family, whatever was going on in Nepal at the time, and how I am still kind of involved in Hoste Hainse's work even after leaving the country. I hope you enjoy reading. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via lisa.pier@hostehainse.org; I will always be happy to help.
​
Cheers,
Lisa
Hey everyone! My name is Aayushma Bastola, and I'm a young Nepali American who really wants to make a positive difference in people's lives. I visit Nepal often, but in the summer of 2017, I visited Nepal for the sole purpose of volunteering. I wanted to give back to the country that had raised my parents and my entire lineage for centuries. I have experienced the culture and beauty of Nepal in bits and pieces by my parents' side, but this summer was the first time I had the chance to see Nepal independently, through my own eyes. Hoste Hainse gave me the opportunity to travel to Sarlahi to visit their schools for the underprivileged children of Nepal. During my visit, I noticed little children squished together on the classroom floors with nothing to sit on or place their books on: no chairs or desks. Upon returning to the US, I thought of how I could help from across the sea, and the idea of the Virginia Room project was born. Raising money in America to furnish the Hoste Hainse school in Nepal brought together my two worlds and heightened my love for volunteering. No one is too young to make a difference in the world, and there really is no better time to start than now. So here is a blog of my experience working with Hoste Hainse to change the lives of children my age living halfway across the world.
My boyfriend, Martin, and I were very busy with our jobs (both business consultants) and we felt that we literally were doing nothing except working and watching the world go by. I always dreamed about taking some time off to travel the world. Finally, I convinced Martin to make my dream come true, and so we started our sabbatical in January 2017. We wanted to use our time wisely and not only travel but also make a positive difference in people's lives. As a very good friend of mine already volunteered at Hoste Hainse, it wasn't difficult for us to choose Hoste Hainse as the organization we wanted to work with. Hoste Hainse quickly became family and we didn't only experience things that we would have never expected, we also made lifelong friends. No matter where you come from, Hoste Hainse is always waiting for you to welcome you in the big family. Before we continued our travels, we thought of how we could support Hoste Hainse in the future. We came up with the idea to sell amazing Nepali handmade cashmere and woolen scarfs in Germany and to donate a certain percentage of our profit to Hoste Hainse to further support the income generation programs. No sooner said than done: we registered our business in 2017 and launched our website, www.iri-matters.com. At the present, the website is in German only, but we are optimistic to change that some day. What I learned during my travels is that change takes time and that even though things are not possible, they are not impossible either. Together we can make a difference! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about volunteering @ Hoste Hainse or our business! irina.gressog@iri-matters.com.
DAVID AND GANJA
_edited.jpg)
AAYUSHMA BASTOLA
IRINA GRESSOG
