In January i'm leaving to Nepal for 4 months to offer my services to an orphanage there...i've never done anything like it and i'm excited/nervous/scared about the experience. Has anyone ever done this in another country? Can you tell me what it was like?
Wow - that's awesome! I've volunteered at orphanages in Russia and South Africa. It can be incredibly heartbreaking, especially at some of the poorer places that don't have any money. They were some of the best experiences I've ever had, though! The kids we met in both countries were so beautiful, and most of them were so happy, despite the tough circumstances they lived in.
One in particular we visited in Russia was for AIDS orphans, and the conditions were pretty bleak there. The nurses wore masks all the time, and never held the babies, so they had never seen a person smile before, and they had not been held much. It was so hard to leave the kids we met there, as we all got so attached to them.
I wanted to adopt one of the baby boys that I was with the entire time, but I was too young and of course didn't have the means to care for another person, let alone myself at that point.
It's not always hard. We had a lot of fun playing games with the kids, teaching them English, learning their languages, etc. I think the good times far outweighed the hard parts. I hope you have an amazing time! Take lots of pictures.
