Yes, you can choose to adopt a project or you can choose a specific Children Home to donate towards, or one of our other general project areas (Microcredit; Education; Skills training; Rural Health; Environment; Water/sanitation or Elderly care)
Yes you can donate as a “gift” for a loved one’s birthday or special occasion. Please be in touch with us directly as we can provide you with a template that you can print and personalise for your “gift”.
It is possible for you to send letters to your child – as the postal system is very unreliable in Nepal we recommend that you send these letters to Kira, who hand delivers them during her bi-yearly visits. Due to our experiences of the past years it is not automatic that the children will send you a letter. This is a sensitive topic as not all sponsors send children letters or visit so it can be confusing for the children and Kira and the Children Home managers deal with this matter child by child.
Yes, we encourage individuals and businesses to organise their own events to fund raise for our projects in Nepal. We can provide you with some basic materials such as photos, poster pages of projects and general information on current project activities that you can download and print for yourself. For idea of types of events you can browse our calendar of events to see what other people are doing (http://www.handswithhands.com/calendar.html) or be creative with your own community/friends! We have had people host: Dance events; Art auctions; Music/Poetry concerts; Market stalls; Tea Parties and more!
Please do not send any goods/clothes/food/tents to Nepal. Especially since the Earthquake the not so great postal system is ever further compromised. If you send something it will not arrive to us in tack and will require one of our staff to pay money for what is likely to be an empty box.
Yes, you can come to Nepal and visit the Children Home and the child that you sponsor, providing that you keep in mind you will be visiting all the children as well of course your own sponsor child. Any visit is conducted in consultation with Kira and the Children Home manager. Best is if you plan to come during school holiday times to enjoy an outing adventure with all the children!
Yes, Visas are required for foreigners (except Indian citizens) For the latest details on costs and application procedures visiting the Nepal Immigration website: http://www.nepalimmigration.gov.np/content/visa-info.html will give you the most updated information necessary. Generally you will need passport photo(s) for your application and also for any trekking permits, so it is helpful to come prepared with some in your pocket!
As with any overseas travel, insurance which covers your flights, personal belongings and health is highly recommended. If you are planning adventure activities such as trekking or rafting or any volunteering then we ask that you check that your insurance provider does indeed cover these “extras”.
The Lonely Planet guide is often way out of date, so be careful if you use this as a reference, even the most updated version. The simplest facts can be found here:
http://welcomenepal.com
Some overall basic facts about Nepal can be read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal
Current News Sources within Nepal:
http://www.nepalnews.com
http://www.ekantipur.com/en/
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/
http://nepalitimes.com/
Please note that in general a lot of information about Nepal that was available/published before April 25th 2015 will now be out-dated. Especially with respect to costs – some things may be cheaper but in general there is high inflation added to by the recent events and that will reflect in higher costs.
Some additional travel tips –
Water in Kathmandu is seriously not good! Take care to either use filtered water or purifying water tablets in the water, or boiling the water for 3 minutes. A very good way to have an independent supply of clear drinking water, at the same time protecting the environment, is a reliable water filter, like this one
https://sawyer.com/products/type/water-filtration/
Clothing – It helps to be clothing appropriate to gain the respect of the local people and not offend their views of what is appropriate, especially when we are in village environments. I give you here some guidelines: for women please wear clothing that covers your legs below the knees and ensure tops cover your shoulders and not show too much cleavage. For men please wear long trousers not shorts and wear t-shirt/shirt at all times, going without a shirt is not considered ok.
And for the best pizza ever, find your way to 'Fire&Ice' http://fireandicepizzeria.com/kathmandu.html they are awesome for when you want a break from Dahl Bhat! Oh and the best Dahl Bhat... well that comes from making good Nepali friends and being invited to their home for dinner!
Generally for an awesome - and potentially life changing experience in Nepal - I suggest you ask loads of questions as you travel along and in the old fashioned human way - observe, listen, feel :-)
Yes, we can highly recommend the services of Birendra Adhikari and his team at “Visit Nepal-Tibet expeditions & tours” http://www.visitnepaltibet.com/ for all your local travel needs, as well for trekking and other adventure based activities. Birendra also organises all our Hands with Hands Charity Treks. Birendra can arrange a German speaking (or other languages) guide if you require. If you have any interest in Tibet and Bhutan he is very experienced organising these tours, which require detailed support and can compliment your Nepal travels.
The mountains here in Nepal are an amazing experience – what the rest of the world calls mountains, Nepal calls “foothills”, the mountains here are truly something else. And to be respected, it does need good health and level of fitness to ascend the higher altitudes with safety. However... if you do then you may indeed taste what many say is a closer experience to god...