Volunteering and setting off to a third world country for six months may look normal and simple for one person, yet for another it can be the biggest step in his life so far. I am in between those opposites.

Two years ago, when I left university in Holland I had never imagined myself being here, sitting in the shade of a tree, staying with a genuine Nepali family together with 30 children who also stay here; they live to far away from the school this family runs. So how did I get here? What were my reasons, dreams and expectations and most of all, have they come true? Let me tell you my story, a story of good luck, being at the right moment at the right time, following a blueprint of life that I am not totally aware of.

The main reason that I am sitting here is restlessness. After receiving my masters in business management I worked for a year when the feeling slowly came to me that this was not what I wanted. My world didn’t revolve around money, career and a nice house. After a year I had lost my contract and was applying for the position of text writer in an advertising company. Being a writer is my biggest dream, and this was as close as I was going to get with my background. The solicitation went very well and it looked like life was taking the direction I wanted. At the same time, however, I still wanted to travel but didn't have the guts for it. A call came from a company were I worked before, if I would like a good paying job for half a year, helping them out. And there I could see it, two paths, one of making a career in Holland, one of working for half a year and then having the time to travel. So I decided to jump into the unknown.

I decided to go to Nepal, for its culture, religions, and nature. I came to the conclusion that when I really wanted to know how people live I had to work, volunteer there. I came across Spiny Babbler via a Dutch-Nepalese organization. I did not want to become a teacher, nor did I want to help in a shelter-home, simple because this doesn't fit my background or character. An organization that has it roots in the arts however, seemed perfect for me. And now I'm here, working as a researcher and helping out with various cultural programs for kids in need, brightening their minds through the imagination of the arts.

The biggest part of my work at the moment is research. In Nepal there is no catalog or summary work of the main artists. Information is scattered and the “old masters” who helped bring in contemporary art into Nepal are maybe a few years away from never telling their life stories again. Because of my Western education, which evolves around analyzing and logical thinking, I can profile them well and most of all quicker. I am not being arrogant, that is the way it is.

For a while I thought I was given an advantage I didn't deserve. Meeting famous artists of Nepal, talking to them, interviewing them, visit their studios having tea and small chat with them. Later on I discovered that I have been given an opportunity; the opportunity of helping to document and preserve the minds of some of the greatest artists of Nepal. Perhaps even lay my own bricks in the foundation of a better future for new and gifted young artists.

As you have read, my background wasn't really in arts and sometimes I miss that. But interviewing is a skill, and writing as well, so this did make me feel somewhat qualified for the job. The daily team I work in is small but there are a lot of Nepali youth volunteers in the people at risk programs. I don't think I've met them all yet, but talking and working with them has given me great pleasure.

Spiny Babbler arranged for me a place in a school nearby their office. This means I'm nowhere near any tourist place and can completely indulge in Nepali culture. And how different that is from my own. It was a nosedive that ended in crash-landing on a planet called Nepal. But the people who found me, are really wonderful and understanding. After three weeks I already feel part of this family, which has been taking care of me after the rough ride on culture road. I owe them a lot, more then I can explain I think. Best I can say is that I am glad that I am not in a three star hostel in Thamel tourist area. Maybe I will do that later on my journey just for the sake of exploring what it is like.

So this is my story, I can't tell you more because you have to be here to understand what I have written. But if you want to do volunteer work in Nepal, and are looking for something off the beaten track, then Spiny Babbler is your place. With their research, education, people at risk programs and cultural investigation it makes them unique and the only organization in Nepal that does work like this.

Namasté.