A parent meeting was held in the school on the 8th January to talk about the key decisions for improvements to the school grounds. There were four that were to be acted upon. They were as follows:
- Making a bamboo fence to go around the school. This is for both safety of the children and to prevent people using the school grounds as a walk through.
- Making a two room bamboo building with a galvanized steel roof. This area will then be used as an additional teaching and learning area for the school.
- To start a fundraising programme in the community to support these two works.
- Formation of a 5 member fundraising committee to oversea this programme.
The fundraising committee was formed, and quite soon they began going door to door collecting the necessary funds to support these two works. They are hoping to have received enough money by 25th January. However, they have already collected 200,000NRS (Nepalese Rupees) and have bought 100,000NRS of bamboo. This has allowed some of the villagers with building skills, to begin working on this (see photos above and below); and the community and we are very grateful that they are doing this free of cost.
This kind of community spirit is so positive for the people who live within it, and continues to inspire us with our ongoing project activities.
School life is continuing well and attendance is high. The children are also getting a variety of food types within their khaja (lunch) as seen in the picture below. This nutritious meal is a really important addition to their school day, and health in general, and we know how important having nutritious food is beneficial for both body and mind. And this is one reason why we continue to support this.
The teachers are also having regular attendance and are making good use of the various resources they have, including the recently donated books. Our project manager also bought some additional materials for the school seen in a picture below; including an English Alphabet poster, some copy books and board markers.
Other news: A school committee member, Krishna Bahadur Bhujel has been appointed as a volunteer to help encourage children to arrive at school on time. This can sometimes be an issue within the school and is often due to family responsibilities / duties that are sometimes put first over school. But this is improving, and more and more families are realising the importance of their children attending school. But having that extra nudge is still needed for the moment.
Lastly, an application has been submitted to the district education office to support an early child development centre within the school grounds. If accepted they government will supply another teacher funded by them.
