What does "to meet" mean in Nepal? -- Maaaru Study Tour Participants Wanted

The mornings in Kathmandu begin with the scent of incense. Temple bells chime, flowers fall on the alleys, and people, cows, and dogs walk at the same pace. In this city we call a "tourist destination," life, prayer, and reality are intertwined with a density that the word "tourism" cannot keep up with.

And in that same city, there's a school that maaaru has supported, and a facility that NØDiE is looking to help. It's a support facility for people with disabilities, a place for girls living with HIV.

On June 9, 2026, we will head to this city for a 3 night, 5 day trip.

It's not for sightseeing or vacation. Nor is it a trip to "go provide support."

A place that is neither tourism nor support.

When people around us talk about going abroad, two questions arise.

"Tourism?" or "Volunteer?"

I've always thought that this dichotomy itself narrows how we perceive the world.

Tourism is an act of being on the receiving end of consumption. You see beautiful things, eat delicious food, take pictures, and then you return. What is exchanged there is money and memories.

Support is an act of standing on the giving side. It's the one who has something giving it to the one who does not. What is fixed there are roles and hierarchy.

Both are simply structures that keep the other person on the outside as an "outsider."

What maaaru's Nepal tour is trying to do is neither of those things. To meet the people there, not as a tourist, not as a supporter, but simply as one human being.

That in itself is the hardest thing.

The distance between "seeing" and "meeting"

This tour visits only places you would never be able to go on a regular trip.

A facility for people with disabilities, 30 minutes by car from Kathmandu city. An HIV facility in the direction of Banepa. A supported school where maaaru has built school buildings and toilets. And an orphanage that NØDiE is about to partner with. To confine them with the word "supported target" would be to ignore their concrete, everyday, and very much "living" nature.

What's there isn't a facility, a challenge, or statistics. It's children with names and staff desperately trying to survive. Yes, they are lives just like ours.

When "world poverty" or "education issues," which are heard as numbers on the news, become something with a face, they transform from information to experience. And that change is irreversible.

Once we've seen a person's face, we can no longer reduce them to an abstract number.

Knowing as an experience rather than information

We know too many things "as information."

In this era, you can read summaries of Africa's hunger, Middle East conflicts, and South Asia's educational disparities in seconds by opening your smartphone. However, knowing something and understanding it are two different things.

"Knowing" as in having information is simply a matter of keeping knowledge somewhere in your head. You don't have to change yourself. The distance between you and the world doesn't change either.

On the other hand, "understanding" as an experience inevitably changes you. After seeing the children's smiles, you can no longer see the world from the same perspective as before. The time spent at that facility quietly but surely seeps into daily life after returning home.

What this tour offers is precisely that "irreversible change."

It's not just sightseeing, nor is it self-indulgent support, but rather a 5-day, 3-night trip where you feel just a little bit different when you return.

To see the world with my own eyes

Nepal has the World Heritage site Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple), the Hindu holy site Pashupatinath, and the vibrant Thamel district. This tour will allow you to fully experience them as well.

The air of a country where prayer is a part of daily life can be truly felt. It is precisely because of this that tourism, encounters, the actual sites, and free time become interconnected within a single journey.

A journey to touch the country of Nepal with both hands, rather than a journey to a special place called "Educational Support Journey."That's right.

For a small group of 8 to 15 people on a 3-night, 5-day trip, we will explore this country on foot. Only time to see with our own eyes and feel with our own hearts is densely arranged.

I want to offer this tour to those who want to understand the phrase "world peace" not as a slogan, but as a collection of specific faces and names.

[Participants Wanted] maaaru × NØDiE Nepal Donation Tour (Departing June 9, 2026)

Schedule:Tuesday, June 9, 2026 - Saturday, June 13, 2026 / 3 nights, 5 days

Arrivals/DeparturesNarita Airport (using Malaysia Airlines)

Number of participants:8 to 15 people

Tour price¥348,000~ (tax included total) *Additional fee for single room: ¥20,000

First deadline:Saturday, May 9, 2026

Main places to visit

Disability support facilities in Kathmandu

・HIV facilities in the Banepa area

・Maaaru Support School (Ceremony Participation)

・Orphanage (planned recipient of NØDiE support)

Swayambhunath / Pashupatinath / Boudhanath / Thamel district, etc.

Click the banner below now if you want to take a trip to see the world with your own eyes.↓

https://hayashi-travel.com/tours/09jun2026/

Tour Planning: maaaru

Travel operating company: Hayashi Travel Inc. (Saitama Prefecture Governor Registration Travel Agency No. 3-1192)

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