Earthquake Relief: Rebuilding Schools in Nepal

Schools in Dolakha District, Nepal are about halfway through the school year, which begins in the spring and runs through late winter. The more than 4,000 children enrolled at these schools are making good use of the classrooms, supplies, and equipment that ETC - with your very generous support - has built and provided in the time since the earthquakes.

So now that the monsoon season is over, what are ETC's plans and hopes for the rest of the school year?

For one thing, we'll be building six more two-classroom buildings. These run just under $7,000 each, including furniture and supplies. Those that were built during the past year and are in use now were SO greatly appreciated by the students, teachers, and parents. They are safer and in most cases much nicer than pre-quake facilities, and they are certainly more weather-proof than the temporary facilities erected within a couple of months after the earthquakes.

Every school also needs better toilet facilities. These are important for public health, to prevent the spread of germs and communicable illnesses that so frequently keep children (and teachers!) out of the classroom.

Finally, every school needs such everyday items as first aid and stationery supplies and educational materials (maps, charts, books, etc.). We provide these on a year-round basis.

Your past generosity has been so helpful to so many children, who certainly deserve the best possible environment in which to learn and grow. We will be very grateful for your continued support, and we invite you to take advantage of the terrific GlobalGiving gift matching opportunity on Giving Tuesday (November 29). Your gift of up to $1,000 (or £600 if you participate via GlobalGiving UK) is eligible to be matched at 50%!

As always, we thank you very much for your interest in ETC's work.

Links:

• ETC's website
• ETC's Facebook page

Summer is monsoon season in Nepal, and that presents some logistical challenges for our work with schools. The trails and roads can be temporarily impassable at unpredictable times. Buses (already infrequent) run even less frequently. And the ground can be saturated and unsuitable for building, even when we can get the materials to the sites.

That said, ETC's dedicated staff members never rest on their laurels! In the three months since we last reported to you, our generous supporters, we have:

• Provided construction materials for new toilet facilities at four schools in Dolakha (VERY important for public health!).
• Provided 160 complete sets of desks and benches, as well as white boards, tables and chairs, bookshelves, and cupboards at ten schools in Dolakha and the Kathmandu Valley.
• Provided fencing around the grounds of Shree Siddeshwor Lower Secondary School in a busy area of the Kathmandu Valley, for the safety of children on the school grounds. This fencing replaced what was damaged in the quakes - you can see a "before" picture of the school and grounds below.

You'll note that we mention Kathmandu Valley schools. Although our current project area is in Dolakha, many hours by bus from the capital, we retain strong relationships with schools in our former project areas in the Kathmandu Valley. They know and trust ETC, and turned to us for support in the aftermath of the earthquakes. We are very glad to be able to support many of our former partner schools, as funding permits. And at this time of year, it's easier for our staff to bring supplies and materials to schools in the metropolitan area compared to the distant villages, so now is the best time.

Come the fall and winter, we'll be building quake-resistant two-room buildings at six Dolakha schools and undertaking other construction and renovation work at many other schools, so stay tuned for more information.

As always, we thank you very much for making all of this important work possible. 

Links:

• ETC's Facebook page
• ETC's website