Nepal Testimonial

by Rosie Sheppard

Nepal Teach & Trek: July 19^th – September 14^th 2026

This summer, I spent 2 months in Nepal, combining 5 weeks of volunteering through the Cambridge University Helambu Education and Livelihood Partnership (CU HELP) with a 2-week trek on the Annapurna Circuit. The financial support I received made it possible for me to take part in the trek as well as the volunteering, an experience that was both transformative physically and educationally informative. I immersed myself in Nepali community and culture beyond a tourist perspective as I contributed to education in a rural village, learnt from those I lived and worked with, and challenged myself physically and mentally. I’ve learnt a great deal about communication, resilience, community and myself.

Volunteering in Gunsa

I spent 5 weeks volunteer teaching in Shree Satkanyamati school in Gunsa, a rural village in the Panchpokhari Rural Municipality of Bagmati with CU HELP's Saathi Teachers Program. I lived with a local host family, sharing meals and becoming part of their life through cooking, washing and walking. Becoming part of the community meant I built deeper relationships and gained insight into the lives of the kids I taught. The whole community showed me incredible warmth and kindness, especially my host mother Basanti and her daughter. A distinctive memory was when I became sick one weekend and was throwing up in the night. Basanti quickly changed my sheets, boiled water and sung me to sleep. 

I taught English to Grades 1–5 (ages 5-11), teaching 5 classes a day 5 days a week. There was a significant range of ages and abilities within the 30 kids in a single class. This quickly showed me that effective teaching is about understanding your child and adapting how you communicate. The school had limited resources compared with the UK. I therefore relied heavily on creativity and interaction, using songs, games, drawing, flashcards, visual posters and other activities to make lessons engaging. I also used village-based examples and activities to make learning more relevant to the children's own experiences.

I found it rewarding to see how much the children responded to activities that encouraged them to participate rather than simply memorise information. Older pupils would often help younger ones, creating cooperation within the classroom. This made me reflect on how education can be shaped by its environment and resources, and how important it is to recognise the strengths that already exist within a community, not just approaching volunteering as an opportunity to change things. I also gave piano lessons for an hour daily after school to children from grades 6-10, in total I taught 40 children piano, from basic chords to twinkle-twinkle, the beatles ‘Here comes the sun’, the (very popular amongst both kids and saati teachers) ‘You are my sunshine’ and the best (and most complex) was the Nepali national anthem ‘Sayaun Thunga Phulka’. One of the most rewarding moments of my volunteering was when one of my pupils in grade 8, Ningma Tamang, performed the anthem to the entire school in morning assembly. 

The experience also challenged me personally. Communication was sometimes difficult because of the language barrier, and teaching a large mixed-ability class required considerably more patience and flexibility than I had anticipated. I learnt to pay closer attention to non-verbal communication, to adapt activities when something was not working, and to accept that plans sometimes had to change completely. Outside school, I learnt some Nepali, attended Buddhist worship, visited the Hindu temple multiple times weekly and became close to the community, particularly through spending time with my host family, Saati and local teachers and the kids. I’m so grateful for how welcome I was.

Annapurna Circuit Trek

The trek took from 31 August to 14 September involved walking from Jagat (~1600m) through Dharapani, Chame, Upper Pisang and Manang before crossing the Thorong La at 5,416 meters. We then continued through Muktinath and the Kali Gandaki region towards Tatopani, Ghorepani and Poon Hill before finishing in Pokhara. The trek was physically demanding, particularly at altitude. It required walking up steep inclines for ~20km a day whilst adapting to constantly changing weather (especially in the monsoon season) and terrain. Crossing Thorong La at 5,416 metres was a huge highlight along with an incredible 5am sunrise at Poon Hill a few days later. Despite experiencing acute altitude sickness at the summit point I relied on my partner and guide to get me safely down 200m until my head was clearer and I could safely walk independently. This moment where I genuinely felt out of control and terrified meant I placed full trust in my team, forming unique bonds.

As our trip was during the monsoon season, when flooding and landslides affected roads and communities, our plans had to change often, and sections of the journey involved dealing with disrupted roads and uncertainty. Seeing the devastation following flooding in Rasuwa was humbling and reinforced for me how vulnerable remote communities can be to environmental events and how easily transport, access and livelihoods can be affected. 

What I learned

The combination of volunteering and trekking taught me lessons that I could not have gained from either alone. In the classroom, I had to adapt teaching to different ages, abilities and resources. During the trek, I had to adapt to changes in weather, routes, transport and physical demands. I became much more comfortable with things not going to plan and learnt that acceptance and responding constructively is essential. Teaching children who spoke a different first language forced me to think carefully about how I communicated, being unable to rely on words alone. I became more conscious of visual cues, body language, tone and the importance of making others feel comfortable to participate. There were moments in the trek when I was tired and the physical challenge was considerable, but continuing required breaking it into stages and perseverance.

As a medical student I feel these lessons will stay with me as medicine is fundamentally about communicating with people with experiences and perspectives different to mine. My time in Gunsa reinforced the importance of adapting communication to the individual in front of you. Also, it reminded me that health and wellbeing cannot be separated from a person’s wider circumstances. The communities I encountered in Nepal demonstrated how geography, infrastructure, education and access to resources can all influence people's lives. Seeing this outside the context of a hospital or textbook has given me a broader perspective that I hope to carry into my future medical training.

Conclusion

My experience was far greater than my initial objectives to teach English and undertake the Annapurna trek. I was continually pushed outside my comfort zone and I return with greater confidence in my ability to adapt, communicate and persevere, as well connected to the communities who welcomed me into their lives. I am so grateful for your financial support which has enabled me to contribute to rural education, learn from a community different to my own, challenge myself physically, and develop skills and perspectives that I will carry throughout medical school and beyond. I hope that this report conveys not only what I did in Nepal, but also why the experience was so meaningful and the lasting impact it has had.