I ARRIVED in Nepal on July 10 to begin my 10-week volunteering programme with Global Vision International. Along with the other volunteers I had five days' orientation in the capital, Katmandu, which consisted of language lessons, sightseeing and a home stay.

Our guide Lalit, a Tibetan trekker, took us on our first sightseeing trip around the city. We visited Patan square, Bhaktapur and witnessed a Hindu funeral by the Trisuli River. It is Hindu tradition that the body of the deceased person is burnt within two days then their ashes are placed into the river to flow to the Ganges in India.

After walking in the soaring heat for most of the day I arrived at my home stay. The family welcomed me by putting tika on my forehead and preparing a meal of Nepali dhal baht which consists of white rice, lentils and spicy vegetables. The family spoke good English except for the mother, Biznomia. I found myself communicating with her through mime and gesture much to the amusement of everyone.

As there were five volunteers from different countries, GVI arranged for us to undertake a one-day trek in the Katmandu valley as part of our induction. We walked out of Katmandu into the countryside and there I was absolutely amazed by the stunning scenery. As it was the monsoon season the fields, mountains and hills were organic and lush with exotic flowers and marijuana crops, growing freely. We climbed the steep mountains to a small rural village where the oldest temple in the valley is situated. It is still used daily by the local people who are devout religious worshippers. The descent was somewhat different to the ascent as we were able to catch a local bus – but unfortunately it was so full that we were ushered rather desperately on to the roof of the vehicle. As we were driving down the mountain admiring the incredible views we heard frantic shouts from our guide indicating we should quickly stoop to avoid the overhead electric cables – an experience I'll never forget!

I was soon to begin my placement in a remote mountain town called Bandipur which has an altitude of 1030m and is a four-hour bus ride from Katmandu. It has been described as a natural viewing tower, providing spectacular panoramic views of the entire Annapurna Himalayan range. I am based at the local learning centre which focuses on extra-curricular activities and I am teaching drama, art, English and computing. The children have various levels of English comprehension: some speak fluently whilst others can only say, "hello", "money please" and "bye". I initially focused on drama to get to know and bond with the children. They were so enthusiastic, polite, respectful and eager to engage and learn – a sharp contrast to many western children.

My teaching day begins at 7am and runs until 6pm and I also teach at the privately-run Notre Dame school in Bandipur. The school is run by religious missionaries who have dedicated their lives to building and improving the educational system in Nepal. The Sisters are from all over the world, Japan, USA and England. They have welcomed me into their school and are keen to promote new and innovative teaching methods and programmes. I teach drama with children of all ages focusing mainly on English conversation and developing their vocal and articulation ability/ skills. The children have never had a drama class before, so it was a new and exciting experience for them that they thoroughly enjoyed.

I have to improvise when teaching as even the basic teaching materials, such as books, are not available. When creating a piece of drama we have to use the environment and found objects as tools and props for the process of creating a piece of theatre simply don't exist in Nepal. The children have wonderful imaginations, so free and organic. They are not corrupted by outside, western influences. They all involve themselves in activities regardless of age, gender and ability and readily take part in painting, drama, hopscotch, football, Nepali circle games and climbing trees.

The children I am working with are from extremely poor economic backgrounds. They don't have the modern luxuries that our western children have; no computer games, TVs, iPods etc. In fact most only own two sets of clothes, one pair of shoes and live in small mud houses some of which don't have beds. They eat only one meal a day and can't afford luxuries such as fruit.

On Saturdays we all gather at the Learning Centre at 7am for weekly litter collection. We walk around Bandipur with our gloves and bags collecting as much litter as we possibly can. Dustbins do not exist in Bandipur so the locals simply throw their rubbish into the streets, making it an extremely dirty place. We try to educate the children about the importance of keeping the streets clean and being proud of their lovely picturesque town. We also try to explain to the local residents about the importance of using dustbins or even a cardboard box to collect their waste. Afterwards we normally take the children on a walk if the monsoon rain doesn't come.

The children love swimming but unfortunately there is not a public swimming pool in Bandipur. One of the local hotels has an old unused swimming pool that has gathered rain water of about one metre at the deep end. The children love going there to play and eagerly took me along one day. I was horrified to see the state of the pool which was filled with green slimy water and frogs, dirt, twigs and leaves in it. The children were oblivious and merrily jumped in. They cleared the rest of the pool and splashed water up to the shallow end to make a slide in the murky water and were in their element prompting me to use my camera with shouts of "Ami, photo".

Buddha, who dressed up as a jungle man whilst on a walk with Ami.

There is no emergency service in Bandipur. You cannot pick up the phone for an ambulance or fire engine. When I first arrived in Bandipur, I went for a walk to get my bearings and came across both the police station and the hospital. The police station is a worn-out, white building with three rooms; one room is the living quarters with four beds and police uniforms hanging neatly.

I asked the communications police officer what sort of crime is prevalent in Bandipur and he informed me that it was mainly domestic violence. He explained that if someone has to be detained they are taken to the police station and held in what looks like more like a store cupboard than a cell, with a bike and a washing line to hang their clothes on. The punishment for domestic violence is somewhat contradictory and ironic – if a man beats his wife and the police are involved, it is their duty to speak to the man about his unacceptable behaviour. If the man causes a disturbance then the police beat him with a large stick.

If someone falls sick in Bandipur the locals all pull together to help. They make a stretcher from strong tree branches and tie old sarongs on to the branches to hold the person. Then four men carry the sick or injured person to the hospital. If it is night time when the person is on route to the hospital the men shout as loud as possible to warn the doctor of an imminent arrival. If there is a fire all the locals run to the burning house with buckets and try to extinguish the blaze.

Each Sunday I take the children for an outing as they are keen to show me their environment and playing haunts. We recently went to Siddha Cave one Sunday which is the largest cave in Nepal. I had 11 children with me and felt like the Pied Piper as I headed through the town towards the cave trail. We had to climb down a mountain for one hour, and it was extremely treacherous as the trail was really slippery and it felt as though we were walking on ice not grass. Another unpleasant factor was that the trail was plagued by thousands of hungry leeches. The children wore flip flops and were regularly bitten; we would all have to stop as they shouted, "Ami leech, leech". I would be the person who would have to pick the leech off their foot, leg or arm. One child, Buddha, was picking large leaves and flowers on the way down the mountain. I asked him what he was doing and he said, " jungle man".

I had no idea what he meant as his English was very poor, but a while later he appeared dressed in a fantastic costume made of leaves. He took his top off and made a jungle outfit consisting of a skirt, head and arm band with a twig as a spear. The children were in hysterics, as was I, at his funny interpretation of a jungle man. When we arrived at the cave we had to pay 50 rupees entry fee, but once inside it was amazing and it felt like the biggest cave in the world. It took one hour to navigate our way around using ropes, ladders and head torches. The children knew the cave inside out and were so sure-footed in the pitch black; a complete contrast to myself so the boys took my hand and led me through the spectacular crevices of the ancient cave.

Afterwards we continued our descent to the next town of Dumre. The children all wanted to swim in the river to cool down. As we approached the river the smell of sewage was quite unbearable, but not to the children who happily plunged into the water. Raw sewage was floating down the river and it made me very aware of how robust their immune system must be as clearly they had been in the river many times.

The local people are extremely resourceful at making things. Sweeping floor brushes are constructed from straw of various different strengths, seats are made from bike wheels, bamboo and string whilst animal hair is used to make candle wicks. Most of the locals have a small area of land where they grow corn which they dry out to make popcorn, sweet corn pancakes and as feed for goats. They also use the leaves of the corn to make seats and baskets. One old lady in her 80s sits daily peeling the corn into a large bucket and I offered my help but was much slower than her, although I managed to pick the corn off 40 large sweetcorn. Next day, however, I really suffered with large blisters on my thumbs.

At the moment Bandipur is a place of celebration. It is the Newari festival and all the Newari caste comes together in celebration, to pray to God and worship the dead. Every night they gather with their drums, cymbals and other musical instruments and parade around the streets heading to each temple in the town. They believe that the music wakes the spirits and releases them. One man had a basket over his head with a large totem pole that was decorated with the drawing of a cow's head. The cow is sacred in Nepal and is a symbol of money and wealth. If someone purposely kills a cow in Nepal the penalty is 15 years in jail. The cow is the god Luxmi and is used in religious ceremonies throughout the country. The festival attracts huge crowds from all castes and the children play and dance to the music. The Newari women gather separately at the temples and sit in a circle and sing Nepalese religious songs. They also prepare a gift for the gods on a large platter which they leave at the temple along with, money, rice, flowers and incense as part of the presentation.

This is my first experience of volunteering and I would be keen to do more voluntary work in the future, perhaps in Mongolia as my 10 weeks in Nepal has been enlightening and enriching. The people of Nepal, in particular the residents of Bandipur, have welcomed me into their community and showed me that money certainly does not necessarily bring happiness. So much has to be said for family values, morals and helping other people.

Ami (back) with another volunteer and some children from Bandipur Learning Centre.

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