About Gre Community Homestay
Gre Village Community Homestay is a cooperative enterprise, wholly owned and operated by the local villagers. Each homestay host contributes a portion of their earning to the Community Homestay Fund. The fund supports projects the benefit the whole village — like safe water infrastructure, waste management, clean cookstove construction, school improvements, and more.
Our Primary Goals & Mission
Economic Development
Most villagers rely on seasonal or international work to put food on the table. Our homestay aims to cultivates lucrative tourism industry that will bring jobs and opportunity to the village
Sustainable Travel
Gre is a special place because of the natural beauty and rich culture. We’re must protect both as we grow so that Gre remains a wonderful place to live, and visit, for generations to come.
Cultural Preservation & Exchange
We love Gre and are proud of our Tamang culture — but most young people are forced to move away or even go abroad to find work. This puts the village and our way of life at risk of extinction!
Empowering Women
Homestay businesses provide an ideal opportunity for women to earn an income, build confidence, gain independence, and increase their status. Women often already have strengths in relevant areas, like caretaking, cooking, resource management, communication, and carrying out of cultural traditions.
Our Story
It all began in a little village at the base of the mighty Himalayas….
Nima and Dhalia Tamang welcomed a group of tourist into their home. Over tea Nima told the group how in April 2015 Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake, and Gre village was one of the hardest hit. Every home crumbled, and even years later many people were still living in temporary shelters.
He told them that most families in Gre are subsistence farmers, or rely on seasonal or international work to put food on the table. But some families, like Nima’s, have managed to save up enough to build new homes. Safe homes — that won’t crumble in an earthquake. They dreamed of opening their new homes to travelers as a homestay, to share their culture and cultivate a lucrative tourism industry that will bring jobs and opportunity to the village.
Before the travelers left, Nima asked them for help — advice, guidance — to make their homestay a success and bring jobs, industry, and opportunity to the village.
Little did he know that among the group were leaders of a nonprofit, Girls Empowered by Travel. As the group trekked on through the stunning Himalayans, Nima, Dahlia, and everyone they met in the village kept popping back into mind. A plan was formed to organize a volunteer trip to support the village. Six months later, Girls Empowered by Travel returned to the village to lead a training workshop and help officially establish the Gre Village Community Homestay.
Today, with the support of Girls Empowered by Travel and our partner travel agencies, Gre Community Homestay welcomes visitors from around the world to experience the very best of Tamang culture and Himalayan village life.
Have a question?
Send us a message in English, Nepali, Russian, or Spanish and a representative will get back to you shortly.