Oda Village, Nepal
Indianna and I arrived in Oda on the evening of May 13th to volunteer with the Pradiya Foundation.
And it was QUITE the journey to get there.
From Chaukori we took a 8 hour bus to a small town closest to the India/Nepal border where foreigners can cross. (India and Nepal have a close relationship so citizens from those two countries can easily and freely cross the border whenever they like. They have a separate border crossing location for foreigners.)
From that town, there were a few points of stopping and walking – having to check out of India and then walk about 1 km in the “no man’s land” in between countries before reaching the immigration office to check into Nepal and get our visas. We officially crossed into Nepal that evening and took a rickshaw to the nearest town to sleep for the night.
We took another 10-11 hour bus the next morning (May 12th) to get a city called Surkhet, where we met that evening with a Pradiya staff member and one other volunteer.
The four of us then headed out the next day for yet another 8-hour ride (this time in a Jeep) through windy, mountainous, mostly dirt roads until we reached a stopping point where we got out to begin the 2 ½ - 3 hour hike to get to the village of Oda.
And it was 100% worth it.
I was connected to Oinak, the founder of Pradiya Foundation, before leaving for my travels and kept in communication with him about a volunteer opportunity while at Navdanya farm.
Pradiya Foundation’s mission is to “empower the people of India and Nepal to improve living conditions for people suffering from illness, poverty, discrimination and a lack of human rights” and they are currently working to empower the residents of Oda. Oinak’s family is from Oda .
Their current focus is on 9 young girls they have adopted into their care. These girls each come from their own challenging backgrounds and most of them don’t have any parents. So, they are in the process of building a home and community center for these kids — with capacity to easily expand as there are many more kids in this village and surrounding villages that are also in need.
They are working to change the education system, teach English, provide vocational training programs for the kids and other village members, practice and promote organic farming, and provide sustainable development to the village overall.
Most importantly, they are providing the means for these kids to have access to a full life of their own choosing. Oinak spoke of creating a savings account for each of the girls and is committed to providing the capacity for them to go to college if they so choose.
At the end of our Jeep ride, we were met by a group of badass strong women from the village to help us carry our things and the supplies we brought in with the Jeep. We made it to the village just before dark, greeted by the kids waiting for us and the other Pradiya staff excited for our arrival.
Learn more and support the Pradiya Foundation here! They are actively fundraising to cover the final costs for the beautiful home they are building for kids in their care.
