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.
