Help us rebuild schools in Nepal

Recently, we unveiled new classrooms at three different schools in Kathmandu District that were damaged by the 2015 earthquake. Together, more than 370 students have benefited from these improvements.

Since the earthquake, if school was in session at all, children have been studying inside “temporary learning centers” made of bamboo poles, tarps and metal sheets. Parents, teachers and entire communities were excited to finally have their children return to the comfort and convenience of permanent buildings for their classes.

The Santi School Project provided two classrooms at each of the schools: Ratomate Primary School, Pokharichaur Primary School and Bal Jyoti Lower Secondary School.

At each of the schools, enthusiastic members of the local community gathered for inauguration ceremonies to celebrate the opening of the new classrooms, which have been designed to be earthquake resilient.

We would like to thank you for your support of our efforts to renovate earthquake-damaged schools in Nepal and provide quality education through our teacher training programs. Even though the earthquake was nearly 18 months ago, it will take years simply to restore the thousands of schools that were damaged.

• Displaced students before our renovations (PDF)
  
• Now they have new classrooms. (PDF)
  

The earthquake of April 2015 destroyed nearly all of the buildings at Ghusel Secondary School, located in a more remote area of the Kathmandu Valley. Many different organizations visited to assess the damage, but the Santi School Project was the only one who returned up the hilly terrain and narrow rough road to help rebuild the classrooms.

The students at Ghusel Secondary School celebrated a new earthquake resilient building with two classrooms during an inauguration ceremony earlier this month. For the past year they have been forced to study under canvas tents, which more closely resemble an animal shed than a place of learning.

Restoring the school to a more normal routine is important, because it’s located in a more remote part of Lalitpur district. Within the village of Ghusel this is the only school that offers classes up to grade ten. Many students walk for a couple of hours each way to reach the school, including students from nearby villages, for whom this is the closest option.

The majority of the students belong to the Tamang community, an ethnic minority group.

The administration of Ghusel Secondary School, along with officials from the village development committee and members of the parent teacher association all offered their thanks for the new building.

We at the Santi School Project would like to thank you, our donors, for making this project possible.

Overall, this is one of 22 school renovation projects that Santi School and our local partner in Nepal are conducting after the earthquake. So far, six schools have been completed and handed over to their communities and three more are in the process of being handed over. Another 13 schools are in different phases of construction.

Government officials continue to approve of our work. In Dolakha, the District Development Committee and the District Education Office have been monitoring ongoing construction. Recently, in Lalitpur, the deputy district education officer participated in a school building handover program.

At Kshamawati Higher Secondary School in Dolakha district we have provided furniture, book corner racks, books, a photocopier and a printer for the school’s library.