The Trip

This five week training programme runs through November and December and 10 Nepali women from the Nepali Girls Kayak Club (set up by Inka) will be selected based on their interest to work as a river guide and their passion to pass on their skills to other Nepali women. These women will become role models to other women wanting to be part of the white-water industry in Nepal.

The aim of this training programme is to produce 8-10 female professional river guides to work on the rivers in the Nepali white-water industry as raft guides, safety kayakers and kayak instructors. During this 35-day programme the girls will acquire skills in:

- White-water kayaking on class III rivers

- White-water raft guiding on class III rivers

- River rescue

- First-aid

- Communication skills, including how to communicate professionally with colleagues and clients in both Nepali and English

- Cooking for large groups on the riverside

- Setting up camp with tents and shelters

- Planning and Preparation of commercial trips

- Leadership skills

- Equipment maintenance

- Kayaking competition rules and regulations

The main instructor Churamani Aryal is a certified river guide instructor from NOLS and will assess and certify the girls at the end of the programme. Two other professional river guides will be there to teach together with him as well as girls from all over world.

In the first part of the training the girls will be joined by a group of International female kayakers from all over the world. On the Sun Kosi all the women will work in teams, kayaking, cooking and setting up camp together, which will help with team-work and be a great chance for the Nepali women to practice their English skills which is an important part of working in the tourism industry in Nepali. The goal at the end of the trip is to have all the ladies competing in the Peak UK Himalayan White Water Challenge. This is a respected and prestigious International kayak competition with a lot of media coverage locally and internationally. It has taken place for more than 10 years but this year will be the first time ever Nepali women will be entering the competition.

On the second part of the programme the focus will be on developing raft-guiding and leadership skills. The team will spend a lot of time learning how to guide a raft and rescue clients on the river taking turns kayaking guiding the rafts. There will also be two full days of first-aid training with the Red Cross. This part of the programme will also include how to plan and prepare for a commercial trip, and by the end the girls will be planning, preparing and guiding a group of tourists on the lower Seti River with guidance and supervision from the instructors. The last day of the programme will be a kayaking trip on the upper Seti River where the girls will strut their stuff using the correct kayaking techniques and safety skills.