Bring Interactive English lessons to children in Himalayan villages

Based in the foothills of the Himalayas, This teaching programme in North East India focuses on primary school education in small villages in the Himalayan foothills. We partner with over 10 different schools which are located in the Darjeeling District, with fabulous views of Kanchenjunga and the eastern Himalayas. These are small community based schools with little resources. Volunteers live in traditional Nepalese villages while helping with English classes and extra-curricular activities for local children, who come from poor and under-resourced farming communities.


Your role: Volunteers are expected to teach English and can incorporate other subjects according to their own areas of interest, including sport, music or drama. Children are aged between 4 and 16 and class sizes vary depending upon the school.

Resources are minimal and sufficient numbers of teachers are often lacking. Consequently, there is a great need for support and input from GapGuru volunteers who bring energy, English and fun to the schools. They compensate for deficiencies in basic resources and can make a real difference to the quality of the children’s education.

Previously, volunteers have found themselves involved a number of extra-curricular activities at their schools (including sports, music, drama, dance or other academic lessons), as well as providing personal language tuition or teacher training for local staff. There is emphasis on extra curricular activities in order to provide a rounded education to children.

The projects are well organised so that volunteers can make a good contribution in a relatively short amount of time. Pre-departure briefings and continuous support by the locally based manager helps with preparation and enables volunteers to maximise their contribution as well as their own enjoyment.

What you gain: In addition to the satisfaction of making a difference to the lives of the children, many volunteers feel they gain enormously themselves from their placements. Often sited in this context are increased self-confidence, teaching experience, and the enjoyment of living a simple, mountain lifestyle for a little while.