Improving rural schools in Nepal

School Reconstruction

After the massive earthquake in 2015 in Nepal, EBMF committed to rebuild 22 community schools in Makwanpur district.  Out of 22 schools reconstruction, 17 are already completed as reported in April 2017.  

Reconstruction work has been done in co-ordination with the District Education Office (DEO) and approval of Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA). In the reconstruction plan, EBMF supported classroom construction, toilet construction, drinking water, fencing, maintenance and general repairs. 

When the reconstruction programme is finally complete, 3861 children will have benefitted through 22 schools. Reconstruction support has been provided in an extremely rural area of Makwanpur district where mostly Tamang and Chepang indigenous communities live in challenging situations.

Research shows that children who are attending school regularly are much safer from the tricks and tactics of traffickers. Recent findings showed that 80% of trafficked women had never had an education - so the link between education and staying safe is very clear.  

Recent achievements:

1. 354 children directly benefitted from 5 schools
2. Permanent earthquake resistant classrooms have been provided. 
3. According to school records, enrollment rates increased by 10% after new classroom built
4. Pupil dropout rate has decreased compared to the previous year

Challenges during reconstruction work

1. Construction work was delayed because of local elections.
2. Scarcity of skillful mason and labour in the village
3. Remote areas mean it is difficult to deliver construction materials

Despite these challenges, we were recently able to complete the construction work at the following schools:

Kalidevi Primary School-Khairang- Tarling - 2 room classroom
JanJagriti Primary School- Sarikhet-7 - 2 room classroom
Bhumeswori Primary School- Sarikhet-8 - 2 rroom classroom
Nawjiban Primary School-Raksirang-8 - 4 room plastering 

Primary School-Khairang-6 Loja is 85% completed but construction work has halted due to the monsoon season. 

We would like to thank all our donors who have helped us to rebuild these classrooms, raising standards of education permanently and keeping more vulnerable children safe in school and out of the hands of traffickers. 

Thank you so much for supporting the ongoing work of Child Rescue Nepal.

We have just received this update from our colleagues in Kathmandu that demonstrates how we have been working to prevent the trafficking of very vulnerable children in Nepal. 

Radio Message Broadcasting

We have been regularly broadcasting anti-trafficking message through local FM radio in Hetauda. The Jingles are broadcast five times a day. According to the Radio Makwanpur, their coverage is in six districts e.g Makwanpur, Bara, Parsa, Sindhuli, Sarlahi and Lalitpur. This means that up to 1,100,000 people are listening to Radio Makwanpur. The radio jingles are prepared in typical Nepali dialog which is very popular and effective to deliver anti-trafficking message in larger scale. The main theme of this jingle is to spread messages about the importance of education and that you should not trust unknown people as well as general risks of child trafficking.

Legal Action against Traffickers

We have been working to protect children from trafficking for a long time and legal action against traffickers is one of the core components of our programme. There are two reasons for doing this: firstly to stop them trafficking children again and secondly to spread the message amongst middlemen that trafficking is a serious crime against humanity. 

Street Drama on Child trafficking

Street Drama is an effective tool to deliver the message against human trafficking. Especially it is effective in rural area where large numbers of trafficking case persist. There were 30 dramas performed in 10 villages in the Makwanpur district. We conducted interviews with the audience before and after drama shows and the results showed significant increase in awareness levels. The drama was observed by more than 3,000 people.

Poster Competition

This was organised in the close coordination with District Education Office and the Esther Benjamin Memorial Foundation. The theme was anti-trafficking. The drawing competition was held at Lead Resource Center (LRC) and Siddhartha higher secondary school. A total of thirty-eight participants participated from thirty eight community schools. Two professional experts of drawing and EBMF representatives were in the jury team. After the programme, prizes were distributed for the winner and certificate for all participants. The main objective of the programme was to spread the Anti-child trafficking message, provide a suitable platform for students from various community schools to show their aptitude and prepare for publication of anti-child trafficking materials.

School Reconstruction  

According to Disaster Report - 2015, more than 5,000 schools were damaged by the massive earthquake in 2015 in Nepal. Among 14 earthquakes affected districts, Makwanpur is one of the most affected districts. Across the Makwanpur District 747 school buildings and 2,390 class rooms were damaged and thousands of students were affected. (Source: District Education Office Makwanpur). In order to continue to provide education, many organisations were working to rebuild schools and their environments. EBMF is one of the leading partner organisations with the District Education Office for rebuilding schools in Makwanpur district. For this purpose, EBMF have committed to reconstruct 22 community schools of rural Makwanpur. Reconstruction work has been done with the recommendation of DEO and approval of Nepal Reconstruction Authority. In the reconstruction plan, EBMF supported classroom construction, toilets construction, drinking water, fencing, maintenance and repairing. In March 2017 a three day field visit was made to inaugurate newly constructed schools in Dhiyal and BhartaVDC.  

Supporting the Families of Rescued Children

We have been regularly providing intensive support to children who have been reunited with their families after being rescued.  All together 17 children have been receiving support from us. Out of 17, five have been recently reunified with their family. These children are regularly going to school and happy with their families.