HELP - Himalayan Education Lifeline Programme

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.

Himalayan Education Lifeline Programme is a small organization with a big heart. I made the right decision by choosing this program two years ago when I left for India. Still to this day, I have amazing memories from my volunteer work teaching English in West Bengal and living with a local family for two months. It shows that Jim and Barbara at HELP have this charity at heart. One aspect of the program I really enjoyed was having to find, along with the school’s principal, a project to achieve during my stay and bring it to fruition. It’s so rewarding to see for yourself where your donation goes. I really encourage you to have a closer look at this small, personal organization where kind and helpful people will more than gladly guide you through an unforgettable journey.

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.