Improving rural schools in Nepal

Many thousands of schools were affected by the earthquake in April 2015. Some completely lost their buildings whilst others sustained such serious structural damage that they were immediately condemned. Straight after the earthquake we were able to provide temporary structures so that learning could continue. However in the longer term it has enabled us to "build back better." This means funding earthquake proof classrooms and putting in toilets and taps where none existed previously.

The schools that we are supporting are in the Makwanpur district of Nepal. The terrain is extremely challenging meaning that getting government approval and organising construction work has been extremely slow.

In September 2016 I went to see reconstruction work at the "nearest and most easily accessible school I could visit". To see the school I travelled seven hours from Kathmandu to a town called Hetauda. From there we took a 4x4 vehicle for a further three hours. After that the road came to an end and we had to travel the final half an hour on foot, which involved taking off our socks and shoes and wading across a river!

It is this remoteness that has contributed to the delays but I am delighted to report, thanks to the generous donations of the Global Giving community, that the reconstruction programme is now in full swing.

In September I visited the Saraswati Primary school, who are receiving two new classrooms. At the moment they have three classes of children in one classroom (nearly 150 children in total) which is making learning almost impossible. The new earthquake proof classrooms will transform their learning.

I also visited the Praja Lower Secondary school, who received a new water source. This means new taps, drinking water, and hygenic toilets. The principal reported an increase of 30% in school attendance - which is fantastic! (Imagine trying to run a Secondary school without water).

It is a little known fact that the best way to prevent children from being trafficked is to keep them safe in school - and so practical improvements to schools in vulnerable areas can make a massive difference. Not only are children staying safe, they are also receiving a better quality of education.

THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed - your donations have made a very practical difference to extremely vulnerable children in remote areas of Nepal. But we need to keep fundraising as schools like Praja Secondary are also desperate for a new classroom. The work continues.....

After the devastating earthquake in April 2015, Child Rescue Nepal conducted a thorough survey of child trafficking in the Makwanpur area.  We are extremely grateful to an anonymous foundation who covered the costs of this extensive report.  The survey came up with very worrying results which showed that trafficking has increased post earthquake amongst the very vulnerable communities.  The survey suggested the following anti-trafficking measures: local radio awareness campaigns warning of the tricks traffickers play, village dramas to bring to life the reality of child trafficking and encourage debate and understanding among villagers, legal action against traffickers, poster campaigns, support for families of rescued children to prevent them and their siblings from being trafficked in the future, and rebuilding damaged schools to educate children and keep them safe.

With your generous support of this matched funding campaign we have been able to implement the majority of these anti trafficking measures.  In order to show awareness of the trafficking problems, we commissioned 30 drama workshops, which were well attended by over 3,600 villagers.  These workshops vividly portrayed the evilness of the traffickers and have made everyone more aware of the situation.

We have now had an evaluation done and it showed that our messages were really hitting home. People's attitudes to trafficking changed directly after participating in our workshops. But most importantly, when we went back six months later, people still remembered the messages.

For example before watching the anti-trafficking drama, 87.7% of people surveyed agreed with the statement that "Traffickers get hold of children by luring through dreams of urban areas, money and study opportunities." Six months after the survey, 97.3% agreed with the statement.

Also, before the drama, 78% of people agreed that "Familiar people or close relatives can be child traffickers" but six months after the drama, 97.7% people agreed with this statement.

Raised awareness of the tricks and tactics of traffickers is one of the most effective ways of keeping children safe.

We held an anti trafficking drawing competition,in which 38 community schools participated.  Some of the pictures will be used in a poster campaign.

We are currently running continual radio adverts on child trafficking on Radio Makwanpur FM.

The trustees of Child Rescue Nepal would like to thank you for being so very generous in this campaign which has enabled us to successfully campaign to stamp out child trafficking in the Makwanpur area. We would also like to thank GlobalGiving for fully match funding our donations.

Without support from you, we could never have achieved what we have, so on behalf of the children of Nepal, a big thank you.