Volunteer Your Skills in Sikkim

The 2 months I was able to spend with the great people in Tagging, West Sikkim will stick with me for a long time. I think often about going back and about how they are doing at the school. It gave me a great opportunity to build my skills, to do something meaningful, learn from kind & wise people as well as explore the local environment. I searched around for an organisation that I felt I could trust and I settled on HELP because of the way they ensure the community benefits from your trip. They're a great organisation and their work continues to make real change.

I wanted to do something useful after law school, before I would dive into corporate life. I still can't believe I just found HELP on Google when I was browsing for idea's. Immediately the feeling overcame me that this was just what I was looking for. HELP was the perfect organisation: small, idealistic, adventurous and not charging thousands of euro's. Before I knew it, I was sitting crammed up in a jeep into the majestic mountains of Sikkim. Being immersed in Himalayan culture was one of the most special experiences in my life (having traveled quite a bit), one that I cherish deeply. It is an experience that takes you out of your usual comfort zone, opens you up and penetrates your hart in a spot which you have never realised was there (excuse the sentimentality). I think this feeling can only be achieved when you stay in a remote village, in a culture that is so different from your own, for a longer time, teaching the most eager kids I have ever seen. The natural scenery around the school was stunning. Every day I woke up in my hard and uncomfortable bed (you will get used to it), listening to a Buddhist chant from a nearby temple, birds chirping and the first kids that were playing outside of the school. It is an organisation and experience which I can't recommend enough. Please take these few months of your life. You won't regret it for sure.

Living with my host family in Tathung, a tiny, remote village in West Sikkim, was one of the most mind-blowing, rewarding, eye-opening experiences of my life. I had an amazing time teaching every day during the week with a range of ages and levels, and was completely immersed in school and village life while I was there. My host family were so kind and generous, and it was really hard to leave them and the children at the end. HELP was also a fantastic organisation to deal with and couldn't have been more different from the typical voluntourism experience. I felt well supported and prepared, and their genuine care and appreciation for the people​ and education in the area just topped off the experience. I could not recommend this experience more highly, and would go back in a heartbeat given the chance.