A Story of Hope...

Last weekend we made another visit to Nalang VDC in Dhading to Jaleswory Primary School. The construction of the building that you all so generously funded is now finished! White paint and blue animals now cover the outside. But there is more…

In the meantime the local education government and village have been in touch to update the local government of the building of the school. The community requested for the government to fund the building of the rest of the school (a side building with a teacher and meeting room). The government agreed and this part of the school, except for a layer of paint, is now also finished! We and the community were very happy about this progress.

We also received more donations in the meantime (thank you!!), and discussed future plans with the school community. On the short term, we are hoping to finalize new benches and tables. Ideally, wood would come from the community forest, but there is currently not enough wood to cut sustainably. We may have to buy wood on the market at a more expensive price. We also would like to build a fence around the school to keep out the animals and make a separation with the new improvised road that now carries a bus. Also, we would like to provide a new set of pens, notebooks, and a few books (school books are generally donated by the government).

In the more distant future, we would like to see if we could upgrade the school. Currently, the school is allowed to teach 1^st through 3^rd grades. It would be great if we could discuss with the government the possibility to teach 4^th and 5^th grades as well. In addition, we discussed the possibility to have volunteers stay and teach the teachers for short periods in Nalang. And it may also be possible to start scholarships for further study for a number of underprivileged children in the area. Alternatively, we may start the construction of a day care center for very young children in the area. Please let us know your thoughts on these ideas, and other possibilities!

We have an updated account of expenses. Please let us know if you would like to receive this.

As the title suggests, we were really content after our visit. Where before there was an old leaking hot and broken overcrowded shack there is now a concrete good looking spacious school. We had a small ceremony with loads of flowers and a tika to celebrate this effort. There were already more children at the school than there were when we visited, and the community greatly appreciates the improvements. Hope there may be more…

Here are some pictures.

Very best,

Lok and Wietse

Great progress in building

On January 23rd and 24th, Lok and I went to Nalang again to look at how the building of the school is progressing and to deliver a bundle of rupees for made costs (below an overview of the financial situation). We arrived a little late because we were involved in a small accident (only material damage). Unfortunately, this turned out to be a case example of how corruption plays out in Nepal (Nepal currently ranks 143/ 180 on the Corruption Perception Index). Within minutes of the accident at Tankhot, a group of people - who seemed very well organized - surrounded the accident site to pressure and control the traffic police's decision on the case. While walking out of the office there, we heard people complain out loud about the direct way in which an under the table arrangement was proposed.

When all was over, Lok and I took the chance to taste the local momo's on the way.

On arriving, both Lok and I broke into big smiles...the new building looks excellent (photo's on the blog, top right). New walls are supporting a new roof, and the carpentry looks great.

The next day we were able to see the work in progress; really good to see how the parents are engaged in one way or the other. What is left now is buying cement for plastering the walls and making the floor.

As I am writing, Lok calls me that Hari Ram has arrived to collect money to pay for the cement. So...hopefully more report on progress soon.

Below, please find Lok's report on the finances received and spent so far

_____________________________________________________________

Jaleswari Primary School (Banjagara, Nalang VDC, Dhading, Nepal) School Re-Building Projects: 2009/2010

Priority List:

1. 3 class rooms – re-building: works in Progress…

2. Benches of three class rooms.

3. Chairs for teachers and visitors.

4. Two more rooms for teachers and library … (to be built by next year …under condition/source of fund).

5. Meeting table and playground…

6. Other awareness programs /sanitation for the teachers and the villagers.

Cost estimations:

-- Walls and wages: Rs. 50,000 – done

-- Carpenters and woods: Rs. 30,000 – done

-- Fees to community forest: Rs. 1,000 – done

-- Roof + Transports: Rs. 35,750 – done

Others…estimated

-- Cement: Rs. 65,000 – approximately…

-- Sand: Rs. 40,000 – approximately…

-- wage contract for plaster: Rs. 30,000

-- Utility /door lucks: Rs. 2,500

-- Class room benches (15): Rs. 30,000 – approximately

-- Black-board (3): Rs. 5,000

-- Teachers’ chairs (5): ---- NA ----

-- Meeting table: ---- NA ----

-- Two more rooms to be built ---- NA ----

Source of fund (collected):

1. Funds collected in the Netherlands: Rs. 196,895 --

2. Fund Collected from Canadian guests(Neil and Gail) Rs. 48,000 --

3. Fund from Lok’s office Rs. 2,000 –-

4. Fund from another Canadian guestC/O Wanda Rs. 20,526

-Expenses - for the work in progress:

1. Cost for Car transfers (NOV.09): Rs. 3800 -(For Lok + Wietse to visit school)

2. Cash given to school (DEC.02) Rs. 30,000 –

3. Cash given to school (DEC.30) Rs. 50,000 –

4. Cash given to school (JAN.23) Rs. 70,000 –

5. Cost for Car transfers (JAN.23) Rs. 3800 -(For Lok+Wietse to visit school)

building has started!

Good news! Very generous donations for the school were received during the retirement reception of my father. He decided to celebrate this event by requesting those wishing him all the best to contribute to the school. Here is to a wonderful and fulfilling retirement period!!

More good news; the building of the new school in Nalang VDC has started. Or rather...the old school is no more. Last week, after collecting wood with the community forest user group, the old school was broken down. Since it is not too cold yet, the children are now following classes in the open. When this is no longer a good idea, neighbors have agreed to let the children go to class in their houses. Construction will start as soon as other materials have been collected and specialized laborers have been hired.

Thanks so much for all your efforts. We are all looking forward very much to see the first poles in the ground.

24-25 October 2009

Hi all!

Another update regarding the plans for a school in Dhading district...

Last weekend I went to Nalang village again to meet with the school committee and parents. Since our last visit - before the start of the monsoon - we have had rains, and Nepal’s two biggest festivals; Dasain and Tihar (the festival of lights). The next months (before it gets too cold) would be a good time for action, so Lok and I were hoping that we could speak about the school with the people involved to draft a plan of action. We also thought it would be good to have the action facilitated by someone from the village itself, and Lok’s brother Hariram would be willing to do this. He has lived there most his life, knows who is who, knows carpentry, and just finished building his own living space...

On Saturday I met Hariram at the road side, and on reaching the school we were greeted by 32 people; an active and involved mixed group of men, women, children, and adolescents, including 6 out of the 9-member school committee and the 2 teachers. Hariram did a wonderful job in getting across the message that we would very much like the school to be a joint small-scale project that is owned by the local community. The group responded enthusiastically by proposing that they would do all the work that is required (cutting the wood, carrying supplies, simple labour, etc.), but that help may be required to purchase some of the building materials (e.g. cement – stones can be found locally). “This is the school for our children.” “We will do what we can.” “ ... replies we were hoping for.

After asking regarding the group’s ideas on main priorities, renewing the building was felt to be the most important priority now. The current building was described as 16-years old, where the rain comes through the roof, where you are boiled by the heat if the sun is shining, and where the floor is “the same as for our chickens”. It seems that a few parents are already sending their children to boarding schools a few villages away, because of the quality of the current building.

Regarding the building plans, we estimated that we currently may have enough money to support 3 out of the 5 desired rooms. The group preferred to start with the 3 classrooms, and see later if a library and community/meeting/teachers room could also be built. Lively discussions and going around the building with the teachers’ ruler followed the question on what the school should look like. Basically we are talking about a cemented building with iron rod-constructed roof, 8 ft high on the sides, with a sloping roof with a maximum height of 12 ft in the middle, and 1 wooden door/ 2 windows per room - on the outside a veranda.

Hariram and I came back on Sunday to further estimate costs (not easy when prices are rising and most materials must be bought a few hours walk away). When I left in the afternoon to go back to Kathmandu, a few estimates were left. These will hopefully be done in the coming days. The group felt that the building may be finished

In short, we hope to start breaking down the current old building, and start building a new school soon.

Looking forward to your continued support, comments, questions, and reflections.

Nalang 14-15 June 2009

It took a little while, but Lok and I were able to go to Nalang village development committee in Dhading this weekend (June 13/ 14 2009) for an exploratory visit. It was a great pleasure to see Lok’s hometown, meet his family members, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Dhading countryside.

Some pictures of the visit can be found here.

Even though Nalang might be a beautiful place to visit, life is not easy.

Dhading district is located in Nepal’s central region, the same region where the capital is located. According to the latest census, the district has around 340,000 inhabitants. These inhabitants are somewhat mixed in terms of their culture, religion and language. The largest groups are the Brahmins and Chhetries (Hindu people who traditionally live in the hill areas), janjati (a diverse group of indigenous people) and Dalits (so called lower caste people). The majority of people are Hindu, but around a quarter is Buddhist.

The area has one hospital, two primary care centers, and five doctors. Unfortunately, only 44% of the population is literate, and only 43% of the population has access to a toilet. One out of twelve children dies before s/he reaches the age of five. Nalang, which lies in the middle of this large district, has no health post. The nearest hospital (the district hospital) is around three hours walking away for most people. Recently, the government has started placing poles to hang electricity wires, but most people until this moment do not have electricity.

To visit Nalang we followed the Prithvi highway, named after the king who unified Nepal in 1769, king Prithvi Narayan Shah . This road splits near Dhading where a large bridge leads over the Trishuli river (the Trishul is Nepali for the trident that the Hindu God Shiva carries, just like Neptune). The road winds its way up through the hills, where our first stop was at Lok’s sister's farmhouse. There we had a meal of dal bhaat – rice with lentils and vegetables -, ate fresh honey and milk, and discussed the monkeys who come from the forest to steal the fruits at her family’s farm. After around an hour more we arrived at the bottom of Nalang, the part which touches the road, from where our walk into the hills started.

We walked for around two/three hours until we reached the Sri Jaleshwari primary school. Still dripping with sweat caused by the high humidity of the rainy season we went to visit the school, which was empty on the Saturday holiday. The first impression I had was that the school very badly needs rebuilding. The stone and mud walls show strong damage, the tin roof has some very large holes, and in general the place looks old and feels very warm on the inside. Not exactly the best place to start your future in education.

Around another one hour walk got us to Lok’s house. Besides the sounds of the magpies and the occasional cry of a cow, buffalo, or goat, we suddenly heard a bulldozer. This bulldozer is currently used by the villagers to continue flattening of the hills in order to prepare for a road being built. Unfortunately, the bulldozer broke down a few minutes after we arrived.

After fresh bananas and yoghurt, the exchange of gifts with Lok’s parents, and a look around the lovely farm, we met one of Lok’s brothers; Ram. Ram was central in the establishment of Sri Jaleshwari school and was teaching there in the beginning. As he is the only teacher with a Masters degree in the area, he is now teaching in the higher secondary school closer to the top of the hills of the family house. With him we discussed more thoroughly how best to approach the school community about the plans to rebuild. As first steps we would like to discuss plans with the two teachers, the school committee, parents of the children, and other interested parties. Together with this group an estimate can be made of the costs of re-building parts of the school. Then we need to wait until the end of the rainy season before any building can start. We are still a bit careful in making too many promises, as the villagers of the community have suffered false promises from outsiders before. One of the central ways in which we would like to work is by involving people closely in building the school. For instance, by involving them in the planning and asking them to contribute labor. If the school comes simply as a ‘gift from foreigners’, then people might not feel a sense of ownership. We feel such a sense of ownership is necessary for people to keep taking care of the school and keep it in a good condition. At the moment, an important choice to be made is which part of the school to rebuild (i.e. the left part with library and office, or the right part with the three classrooms).

On Sunday we visited the school again, but now it was filled with the 57 children that learn there. One class was learning numbers, while in the other class the children were learning English. We talked briefly with the male teacher who was there. Most of the children are from the Tamang community, a mostly Buddhist ethnic group that is spread over north-central Nepal who have their own language (also called Tamang). Of course the children were just as interested in us as we were in them…

The way back was a much easier walk downwards. Although the Nepali terraced landscape makes farming very difficult, it is a pleasure to walk through the corn fields and observe the preparation for the rice planting. That will probably happen after a week or so, when the rains start in earnest.

As I wrote just now, I am very happy we visited. It was very good to see the school and some of the community around it with my own eyes. Also, it feels very good that concrete planning has started. I am looking forward to visit again in around two months, at the end of the rainy season to see how the preparation is going.