Community, Technology, and Sustainability in Nepal
- Accommodations
- Meals
- Excursions & Activities
- Get to Know Your Destination
- Study Abroad Advisory of Student Risk
- Student Experiences
Accommodations
In Kathmandu
Students will be staying at a hotel in shared rooms with attached bathrooms in the heart of Kathmandu. The hotel is located near many restaurants/tea houses grocery stores, shops, and banks.
At the Community Site
Students will be staying primarily in a hotel with hostel-like accommodations (doubles, triples, hostel rooms with shared bathrooms). For two nights in the community site, students will have a homestay with a Nepalese family.
Meals
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided for students during the program dates.
Excursions & Activities
Participants will visit key cultural and historical locations in Kathmandu and Pokhara, local university campuses, Nepalese NGO leaders and government officials focused on community development, and neighborhoods and villages associated with collaborative project activities. We will traverse the middle hills countryside while traveling between Kathmandu and Pokhara by bus and in day hikes and village walks in the community site.
Get to Know Your Destination
Nepal has been described as a “yam between two boulders” referring to its dynamic geographic, political, and cultural location between Tibet (currently occupied by China) and India. Within only 200 miles, Nepal stretches from the sub-tropical forests and lush farm land of the Gangetic Plain to the Himalaya, the highest mountains in the world. Its diverse topographic landscapes are home to a vast array of ethnic and cultural groups; over 120 languages are spoken among its 26 million inhabitants, who practice a mosaic of religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Shamanism.
With its small-scale agriculture, limited and landlocked transportation networks, and challenges in ensuring that all children have access to formal education, Nepal is one of the poorest nations in the world and faces many unique development problems. Environmental crises related to deforestation, flooding, climate change, and, most recently, a massive earthquake add to the difficulties of sustainable development. Nepal is also a place undergoing many social, political and economic changes. A Hindu Kingdom until the early 2000s, Nepal is now a parliamentary democracy and has a new Constitution. The country has experienced rapid urbanization and surging out-migration of young adults seeking work and/or higher education opportunities abroad. Information and communication technology has enabled unprecedented national and global linkages, and a new generation is serving as pioneers and ambassadors in this transformation. Nepal offers exchange students a unique and vibrant context to witness rapid social, political, economic and environmental change and learn from and with young local leaders.
Study Abroad Advisory of Student Risk
Participation in this UC Davis Study Abroad program requires travel to and extended living in a foreign location(s) abroad. UC Davis Study Abroad endeavors to reduce and mitigate risk wherever possible. However, the environments and risks associated with living in these locations are substantially different than those found during a regular course of study at UC Davis. All participants must download and review the following information prior to departure. Any questions should be directed to the Program Coordinator.
Student Experiences
Global Learning Hub Student Blogs & Articles
Check out student blogs, global learning, and student life across a variety of program experiences.
- Video Spotlight: UC Davis Study Abroad Nepal by Eileen Dobzynski
- Blog Spotlight: Namaste from Nepal by Liz McAllister