A RADNORSHIRE man is to lead a team of 20 volunteers to Nepal as the country continues to recover from the huge earthquakes that killed 9,000 people and left millions homeless in 2015.

Michael Cunningham, who lives in Llandeilo Graban, will be heading out to rural Nepal on Wednesday, September 19 on behalf of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).

The team will be helping with the international effort to restore the country’s water supply, sanitation and education system.

Michael was recruited by the Raleigh ICS, which is led by VSO.

Although the mission is 90%-funded by the UK Government, Michael has been busy raising his own contribution of £800 towards the cost of the trip.

After submitting his application, he had to travel to London for an assessment, where he was identified as having leadership potential, and he has also attended a gruelling training weekend in Doncaster where he helped guide about 90 volunteers.

While out in Nepal he will be leading a team of 10 volunteers from the UK and 10 volunteers from Nepal.

He was inspired to apply for a role with VSO because his father, Alan, was a VSO volunteer in Sierra Leone, helping to set up a music school there.

Initially he was unsure whether to travel on a mission to Nepal or Tanzania, but eventually he chose Nepal because his mother, Erika, a former teacher at Gwernyfed High School, has been there and she told him about the “wonderful people” in the country. Part of the role of a VSO/Raleigh ICS volunteer is to raise awareness of both organisations before taking part in an overseas mission.

Among the awareness and fundraising events he has taken part in were a sky dive, “jumping out of a plane over the Gower (peninsula)”, on Saturday, September 1, a charity dinner at a Nepalese restaurant and a Nepalese picnic in Bristol, near where he used to live.

Excited about his forthcoming trip, Michael said: “I will be living with a host family in a small house in rural Nepal, without electricity, a toilet as we know it, and have been told to take a foam roll matt as living conditions will be very basic.

“I will be leading a team of 20 volunteers, with a Nepalese counterpart to help with water, sanitation and education. Possibly the ‘Livelihoods’ project as well, however we will be placed where our skills are needed most.

“We will be building toilets, digging wells or putting in water systems and educating communities about (the need for) hand washing and women’s health, and also helping them to build livelihoods if they need to create a more sustainable food system or sustainable businesses.

“We will be treated like locals, however we will have access to water sterilisation tablets to keep us from water borne diseases until we have made their water safe, and we have built toilets to keep the water systems their hygienic.

“Raleigh ICS and VSO will provide materials, logistics, medics if needed, food and water, and essentials.”

Michael, who has experience of working with a team from his time managing Erwood Station craft centre, said: “Being from Rural Wales I am hoping to be more at home in this rural setting than many of my volunteers from the UK and Nepal who may have never been to a rural community before.”

Michael said the decision to consider volunteering had come in the wake of a snowboarding accident three years ago which made him reevaluate his life and seek out “more fulfilling opportunities”.

“I am now ready for the next phase of my life, and this is the perfect opportunity to take a break before that happens. Indeed it may well be that I enjoy it so much that it becomes my life!

“This project is really particularly important to me as my Dad did VSO in Sierra Leone and was the first person they let go back three times in a row! My father always encouraged me to help others.

“In this age clean water, sanitation and education should be a basic human right. I enjoy travelling but I want to immerse myself in a culture and give back.”

To donate money to Raleigh ICS in support of Michael’s trip txt MCNE50 to 70070 and your amount (eg. £1.00 or £10.00 etc).