Project Volunteer Nepal (PVN) is a Nepalese non-profit organisation aiming to fight the downsides of commercial voluntourism by creating awareness and by offering volunteer projects that really benefit local communities. Learn about us and get to know Our Team.
PVN is a small, local non-profit organisation registered in the Social Welfare Council of Nepal. PVN is not a subcompany of a foreign parent company and thereby not under control of a foreign entity!
All Board and staff members are Nepalese, making sure that PVN is going to maintain its status as a non-profit organisation by investing into social projects benefitting the poor and underprivileged communities of Nepal.
About us being more than a volunteering organisation
We are a local, social responsible volunteering organisation!
Our aim is to offer you projects where your help is definitely needed and where your volunteering work makes a real difference. Social responsibility also means that we are treating our volunteers as well as our project partners with the same level of respect. We will never patronise our international volunteers which then could lead to a widening of the social injustice towards locals.
Check out Responsible Volunteering and Our Five Basic Principles for more information about us.
Volunteering is for free!
The concept of volunteering is that people decide voluntarily to give something back to society. A volunteer should never pay excessive amounts of money to get the opportunity to do voluntary work – especially if it is not clear where the money goes to. Our organisation offers free volunteering opportunities. You only pay for the service that is offered around the volunteering program, i.e. food and accommodation!
Check out Free Volunteering and What We Offer You for more detailed information.
Accommodation for volunteers and travellers!
Our accommodation and service is available for everyone, no matter if you are a volunteer or a traveller. You do not need to apply for a volunteering program to stay with us. We offer a place where our guests will always feel home and where we live together as a family.
As long as you share our philosophy and respect the rules of the hostel, you are most welcome to stay with us.
Check out A Place You Feel Home and Living As A Family for more detailed information.
We conduct small and large-scale projects in development aid!
Our non-profit social organisation PVN cooperates with the German charitable organisation hamromaya Nepal e.V.. We act as an executive partner conducting, implementing and running their projects in Nepal.
We are also running small social projects to benefit local communities by partly investing our income and partly being supported by our partner organisation.
Check out Our Aid Projects and Our Project Partner for more detailed information.
Our transparency helps you to decide!
If you are considering to volunteer or only to stay with us, our transparency helps you to make the right decision. We are offering you a full glimpse into all the expenses that we have in order to run the hostel. Considering that all costs are covered, a certain share of the price you pay will be put into a social fund that will be used for our projects.
Check out Our Transparency and Where Your Money Goes To for more detailed information.
About us fighting Commercial Voluntourism
We always keep underlining that we are a local, social responsible volunteering organisation where volunteering is for free. The currently massive growth of Commercial Voluntourism has generated many for-profit companies offering very expensive volunteering programs to (generally) young graduates regardless their knowledge and skills. Commercial Voluntourism focuses only on customer satisfaction instead of focusing on those really in need. In some cases even staging an indigent project so that their volunteers feel needed.
There is a huge amount of literature, scientific studies and journalistic articles criticising the concept of Commercial Voluntourism.
We would like to encourage you to browse through some of the work that we have been putting into our List Of Literature.
By only focusing on the satisfaction of their volunteers and on their own profit, commercial volunteering companies accept anyone who signs in – no matter of qualification or background! Thus, enhancing neo-colonialism by showing local staff that any person without experience – even someone who has just finished school – can do their job just because they are from a Western country. How can a 18-years old teenager teach a class in Nepal? What qualifies him or her to replace a local trained teacher?
Volunteering is a serious job with loads of responsibility. A volunteer is a guest in the country. Cultural respect and a sense of mutual understanding is necessary if a volunteer wants to make an impact. Unfortunately, Commercial Voluntourism companies are not preparing their volunteers for the work and life in a developing country. Those companies do not offer sincere volunteering programs, but adventurous tourism packages containing social work as an extra experience.
Check out Who We Don’t Want To Be and The Danger Of Voluntourism for more detailed information.