Rockingham man's help a gift to Nepal

Rockingham resident Andrew Dejong has a new perspective on life after spending three months rebuilding a school in Nepal.

Mr Dejong planned to volunteer for three weeks in the village of Devitar, a few hours north-east of Kathmandu, but wanted to see the project through to completion so extended his trip.

"I was lucky as I am self-employed which puts me in a position where I could stay on," he said.

"Other volunteers were hoping to stay longer but had to return home for work commitments."

The 26-year-old was born and raised in Rockingham and now works as a software developer when he is not travelling overseas.

"I have spent the last eight years travelling but this was my first time volunteering abroad," he said.

"It was an incredible experience, tough at first, but I loved every minute."

Mr Dejong travelled to Nepal in July with volunteer organisation Greenlion, who organised his trip and connected him with the right people once he arrived.

"I was the first volunteer to get there so for the first week it was very tricky as I didn't speak Nepalese and I was practically sleeping with the goats and the chickens," he said.

"Once the other English speaking volunteers arrived and we built our accommodation it was much easier and my Nepalese improved as I was using it every day." Mr Dejong worked to rebuild the village school which had been reduced to rubble after the earthquake in April.

"The earthquake happened on a Saturday so luckily there were no children at the school," he said.

"We spent the first month sorting through the rubble, separating stones from rocks.

"We then spent the rest of the time reconstructing the stone walls, painting, rendering and putting up partitions in the buildings."

Mr Dejong said he would definitely volunteer again and planned to return to the village in Nepal next year to visit the children.

"I encourage anyone to give volunteering overseas a try, it's an incredible experience," he said.

"Travelling to Nepal really opened my eyes and I was able to see what these people have got and what they haven't got and their attitude just amazed me.

"They are happy and smiling and even after such a terrible tragedy, they just got on with life and started to rebuild."