PARTNERSHIP, COMMUNITY AND LIFELONG LEARNING
In your hands
JoshuaHudson (Year 12) reports on a project helping to bring educational facilities to rural Nepalese communities
I n April 2015, Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake which killed 9,000 people and injured 22,000 more. Over 800,000 buildings were destroyed, including homes, hospitals and 5,000 schools, and many of these buildings have not been rebuilt, resulting in long-term homelessness, with sick people being unable to be treated and educational standards within the country decreasing. In a country where the importance of education is not emphasised, this has had serious consequences. Children have been unable to go to school due to the lack of school buildings, and because they have been needed to help rebuild their homes. The government, with the assistance of charities, has been quick to combat the problem of the lack of schools. However, they have focused on schools within the cities or large towns, which are easier to access, meaning that schools in remote areas have not been getting enough attention. In addition, there was still a culture of people not caring about sending their children to school. In Your Hands was set up to help combat those problems. The primary aim was to build schools in rural areas that the NGOs do not go to, and then to help establish a culture encouraging people to understand the importance of education. In Your Hands has now set up six schools across Nepal. These schools are all rurally located, and since In Your Hands has helped them, they have begun to thrive. In February of this year I was part of a group which went out to visit these six schools. The journey was difficult due to the schools’ rural locations: there are no paved roads, and access is not easy. Once there, we saw
the positive impact that had been made in each location. One school now had running water and toilets, another had computers, courtesy of a school in Bangkok, and a third had free school meals. The free school lunches have had a huge impact at Gorkha school: 80 per cent of the students here come from the lowest caste in Nepalese society, and the free school lunches and free school uniforms help encourage parents to send their children to school.
27
Made with FlippingBook Annual report