Community comes Together to bring Students back to School

One of the main objective of Rukmini Foundation is to strengthen the capacity and the ability of its partner schools in Nepal. To bring about the positive change required within a community, it is imperative that the collaboration we have with the schools in the Pharping area is both supportive and effective. One of our partner schools in Pharping is Shikharapur Community School – a community based school registered on public educational trust which is aiming to bring quality education to the children of Pharping locality. Shikharapur not only focuses on academic criteria, but also seeks to broaden student’s mind by offering them extracurricular activities such as School Scout, Music Classes, Break dance classes, and Wyshu training.

School teachers and other volunteers work together to construct temporary Bamboo School

Following the devastating earthquake in April, Shikarapur School incurred a lot of damages to its infrastructure. One of the main school building suffered many cracks and it was deemed unsafe, while another building was so damaged that it had to be completely collapsed. The school faced a major dilemma, as they no longer had enough classrooms to teach their students. “There were not enough rooms for us to run the class,” Principal Binod Mahat explained, “It was a great challenge for us to give a safe and secure environment to our students.” Principal Mahat knew the gravity of the situation – not only did they have to provide temporary shelter for the students if they hoped to continue providing education, there was also the question of financing the reconstruction of the buildings.

A completed Bamboo structure that will be used as a class room for Shikharapur School

In order to continue session, the school had to build at least 16 temporary shelters to be used as classrooms. The building materials for these trusses included bamboos, zinc sheets for the roof, aluminum wire, tools and extra cost for labor and technicians. While Shikarapur School had funds to cover some of the cost, they did not have enough money to fulfill their requirements. Principal Mahat had a meeting with Rukmini’s Nepal team regarding possible funding for the much needed trusses, which resulted in Rukmini Foundation providing NRS 2,00,000 ($2,000) for the project.

New school ground for Shikharapur school that consist of 6 classrooms made of Bamboo structure

Once the money was received, the work began promptly.  The school received tremendous amount of support from community volunteers –teams from Shikharapur School, Shikarhapur campus, and staffs of Rukmini Foundation all contributed to the building effort. “It was the support of Rukmini Foundation that helped us to construct the bamboo trusts within time. We are able to resume the school on time. The students got their new school which is safe and secure where they can stay and study without any fear and even the teachers can teach without being scared,” Principal Mahat exclaimed, “Rukmini Foundation helped the school in many ways through girl’s education, music class and several other activities. We appreciate the help and support and we feel very fortunate to work with this foundation.”

Students starting classes in their newly constructed temporary classrooms

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

To support our scholars and their communities, you can give to: Rukmini Foundation Earthquake Relief Fund

The money you donate will go towards providing families who have become homeless with the goods they need to survive. Rukmini Foundation is also collaborating with the community schools and providing funding for temporary and reconstruction of school buildings, so that the children are able to continue their schooling. We are also looking into temporary residence options for families who have lost their homes so that they won’t have to suffer as monsoon season approaches.

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About Priti Bhattarai

With a Masters from London School of Economics in NGOs and Development, along with courses in Social Policy and Gender and Development, Priti brings with her the experience of both policy and development. She was born in Nepal, brought up in Japan, and has lived in England for eight years. Before moving to the United States, she went back to Nepal and worked on issues concerning Education for All and Gender Equality. Her work entailed creating awareness amongst the communities in rural Nepal on issues concerning both health and education, whilst striving for change in the country’s education policy. She recently moved to the Untied States and has become part of the Rukmini Foundation. With her previous experience working in Nepal, she has a great understanding of Rukmini Foundation’s mission and vision and will chair the Nepal Team Committee to work closely with our team on the ground to ensure progress, productivity and help forge new relationship with other entities in Nepal.

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