We began this project in April 2015, providing safe drinking water for children at school following the earthquakes. Since then we’ve raised £30,000. Huge thanks to everyone who has supported us.
Our attention is now on exploring how we can support health care provision with our partner charity, Love Nepal.
KS2 resources for schools
Seeing the new library open and fully stocked was wonderful! New government funding means the children have a great selection of books to enjoy both at school and at home now as we continue to raise reading opportunities across the five local villages.
As resources improve the school community has grown. Children participate in district sports events too!
We were delighted to receive pictures of the finished building, jointly funded by the National Reconstruction Authority and Rebuilding Schools Nepal. The children, families and staff are thrilled to be in their new and fully resourced surroundings.
We were delighted to hear from Kamal in December that everyone in the village was well despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Kamal forwarded this video of the new school building progress, and we hoped the building would be complete by April 2021.
Khola Kharka Lullaby was written in the weeks following the earthquake and has been performed live at fundraising and music events. It tells the story of how two families from across the world made a friendship, leading to children from five villages in the Himalayan Mid Hills having access to education. It is a story of courage, compassion, possibilities, and the kindness and hospitality of strangers.
It was great to see the children with their backpacks this year. Kamal reports the School Leaving Certificate pass rate has moved from 30% to 50% in the four years we have been supporting the school. Huge thanks to The Derby High School in Bury, who created a film for the children investigating seed dispersal as part of the University of Manchester’s Great Science Share for Schools, after which the children in Nepal carried out their own experiments.
The tender for building a science lab, library and computer suite is underway. Rebuilding Schools Nepal will provide all the equipment and furniture for these classrooms, and waterproof rucksacks have been purchased so the children can carry their books to and from school.
We were delighted to see good progress at this visit, including the new toilets. We supplied stationery for all the children for a third year, a washing station was in place, library books were purchased and new furniture arrived. We enjoyed playing cricket with the children with the new bats and balls donated, along with chess sets.
Mike Tonge, CEO of Prestolee Multi-Academy Trust, has been a valued supporter of Rebuilding Schools Nepal since we began. The children at Prestolee not only raised over £1,000 for the school in Nepal, they also wrote letters for us to take out to the children there. Have a watch and see the smiles.
Helen and Rafik returned to the school and village to see the progress and gave out awards at prize giving. They saw the water supply in place and the site identified to build toilets. The school now had a computer and the Nepali curriculum software, and the purchase of a projector and screen was agreed to enable group teaching. Bamboo shelters were still being used as classrooms, so fundraising for the school build continued.
Stationery was purchased from funds raised by Prestolee Primary School in Bolton and provided for all the children. This encouraged them back to school even though they were still frightened about further earthquakes. Our long term aims are to improve attendance, the learning environment and resources, and access to higher education and professions.
After long hours of research, emails and phone calls, Helen and Rafik found Love Nepal, a UK based charity with experience of working in this area and a good track record of delivery. Their experience, an engineer located in Nepal and their attention to due diligence meant there was a clear way forward. A needs assessment was carried out, and 600m of water pipes were purchased and carried to the school by Sherpas to bring fresh water back to the school.
Nepal was hit by two earthquakes. Helen and Rafik waited for news. There was no internet connection at the village, and no news. At last a text came from Kamal: ‘Everyone is fine in the village… but homes and the school are damaged. We hope for your helping hands.’ Months of interrupted communication followed, roads were damaged, electricity was intermittent and travel was hampered by landslides. Helen and Rafik searched for a partner charity and began fundraising, aiming to develop a sustainable education programme for the children from the five villages the school served.
Helen and Rafik met headteacher Kamal Bikram and his wife Bimila whilst trekking in Ramechhap, Nepal. The school had no toilets, no stationery, few books and no IT equipment. The classrooms were dark and there was no provision for +2s (A level equivalents), so none of the children could study long enough at school to be able to access college.
If you’d like to know more about the project, or about working together, I’d be glad to hear from you.
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