Ognjen Papic

Orphanage Volunteer
Summer 2003
Kathmandu, Nepal
Home Country: Canada

Although my visit of Nepal as a Cosmic Volunteer was brief, it left me with enduring memories of quiet peacefulness, mysterious beauty, and human good nature.

Nepal is very beautiful but also very different from my home country. At first, I felt so foreign to the place; streets are bustling with people, dust is in the air, cars and motorcycles are squeezing through narrow, unpaved streets, while the whole time careless cows and goats are roaming through the crowds. The city is full of life.

However, as soon as I made contact with Nepalese people, I was greeted with friendliness and affection, and felt an immediate closeness and connection with the country. People that I have never seen before welcomed me and smiled to me, and in the host family I was treated as one of their own. It didn’t take me long to make many new friends and to become a friend of many. Places might look different, but people are all the same at the end.

Every day I would teach English in an orphanage in Katmandu for a few hours. There, I was greeted every morning with friendly smiles and hugs from the kids, and beautiful flowers that they have picked themselves just for me. Needless to say, the work was very satisfying and rewarding.

Still I found enough time to visit many fascinating places; Bakhtapur with its intricate, red brick covered streets and soaring temples; Pokhara, known for its many crystal clear lakes towered by Anapurna peaks, and Swayambhunath, where the ancient temples house lively monkeys.

Busy streets of Katmandu are contrasted to the peaceful countryside. In Nagarkot I have done lots of hiking and at sunset I’ve watched the endless mountains and valleys fall in the shadow while fireflies flew around me and wind blew on my face, in moments of perfect stillness and tranquility. You are away from all your troubles, on the top of the world, literally and figuratively.

The best aspect of the trip to me was that I didn’t feel as a tourist at all. I lived in a Nepalese home with a Nepalese family, ate Nepalese food with my hands, played Nepalese games with kids, and in every possible way tried to lead my life according to Nepalese norms and standards. It was a simple life, but also a very satisfying one, and I loved it. Consequently, I felt as though I lived in Nepal, albeit for a short time. It was a new life for me, and it was full of excitement and adventure.