NepalVGF and UNICEF

Projects

May 2014

Nepal is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People’s Republic of China and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India.

· The capital city of Nepal is Kathmandu.

· The Himalayan Mountains in Nepal are the tallest in the world. Mount Everest rises to 8 850 meters.

· People speak Nepali.

· The local food is usually a rice dish.·

About Nepal

· Many Nepalese are unable to read and write.

·The majority of Nepalese live in small rural villages in the countryside where village schools rarely offer classes higher than the sixth grade level.

·There are lots of people who don’t have enough money to send their children to school. Children have to stay at home to help or they go to work to earn money for their family.

Education in Nepal

A traditional Nepalese village.· There is no running water or electricity.· Many villages do not have toilets.· Their goats, cows and chickens are tied up outside the front of the house.· Houses do not have doors.

Meeting a local familyThis family live in a small village near the boarder of India. Mrs. Atal’s husband is an elephant driver in a nearby park. He earns 270 dirhams a month which he spends only on himself. This means that Mrs. Atal has to work to earn money to buy food and support the family. She has a job mixing concrete in the next town and is paid for every hour she works. If she works for 8 hours during the day she is paid 15 dirhams. This is not enough to buy rice and meat and often the family will only eat rice for their main meal.

There are 5 children in the family. The oldest daughter is married and has moved to another village. The second oldest daughter has been sent away to work for another family because Mrs. Atal could not afford to feed her. The younger three children help out in the house by cleaning and collecting fire wood. They attend the free local village school which is funded by UNICEF and us! Babita (photographed in the white shirt) is in year 6. This will be her last year at school as her mum can not afford to send her to high school. Babita told us that she would like to be a tailor when she grows up. Mrs. Atal is very pleased that Babita has a dream for her life but she said that this will never happen as they can not afford the training and a sowing machine.

Project 1Urban Out of School Program for working

children and deprived communities in ChitwanThis afternoon/evening program provides the

opportunity for free basic education to children who have to work during the day either in a nearby town, or in their home caring for their younger siblings, collecting fire wood and cleaning, while their parents are out earning money.

The money we donate pays for:· The teacher’s training· The teacher’s salary· Books and pencils for the children.

This is the classroom where the lessons take place. The children helped to build this room as part of a project.

Project 2WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene)

Rastriya Lower Secondary School (Yr4-8)The focus is this area has been sanitation and

hygiene. Through funding like ours this school now has separate toilets for girls and boys, hand washing facilities and programs and boreholes for fresh water.

Clean water is pumped up from the ground using a manual borehole pump. The man in the white shirt is pumping the water up.

The green buckets are then filled up with clean water for the children to wash their hands with.

The student council monitor the program.

Project 3Early Childhood Development CenterThe ECD project is aimed at training teachers and parents to make a positive difference to the care, emotional support and social development of the

young children in disadvantaged communities. The money we give is used for training the teachers and

providing resources. Teachers are taught how to make school fun for the children.

This Year 1 class has 50 students and 1 teacher. The teacher use to make the children sit down and copy the work off the chalkboard. She has been learning how to make the lessons fun for the children by giving them activities and letting them work in groups. When the children are having fun they want to come to school and learn.

Our money is being used to help UNICEF programs and projects in Nepal, India, Vietnam, Philippines and Papa New Guinea.

You can find out more about these projects we are supporting by visiting the VGF and the UNICEF websites.

https://www.varkeygemsfoundation.org/AsiaSchools

http://www.unicef.org/education/index_61263.html

Each of these countries also have their own UNICEF page you can look up for more specific information on each project.

A few more photos……Working with children in a classroom.

Dancing with local Nepalese in their village.

Tea time at a local cafe.Group photo with the local villagers.

Receiving our thank you picture from the children.

Students waiting to welcome us to their school.

The school ‘staff room’ under a tree.