Dentists’ Visit
Dear Friends and Supporters,
We would like to thank everyone who answered out appeal over the past few months and donated funds to our school. Your support helped the school a lot – we were able to buy some food before the monsoon season. Thank you everyone, you are really making a difference!
Last few months were quite busy at Pasang Memorial Community Boarding School. Few weeks ago, we had a dental heath camp at the school. Dentist volunteers from Sushma Koirala Memorial Hospital in Sankhu visited Gangkharka and gave check-ups to all of our students. For most of the kids, it was their first dentist visit in their lives. There was a long line to the check-up room. Everyone was brave and some of our pupils, who had dental problems, were very happy to have their teeth fixed. Big thank you to the great team of Sushma Koirala Memorial Hospital!
Urgent appeal for your support
Act Now! Donate!
Please donate to the basket fund on Wide Awake’s website
Pasang Memorial Community Boarding School needs $8000 to buy food before the monsoon rains wash away the roads and make it impossible for us to send any more food. Without the money the school may have to close. There are few other schools in the region and many of them are already full. 100% of all donations go to the project. The children at the school come from historically marginalized ethnic groups and really deserve a chance at an education.
Please contact us at vecgangkharka@gmail.com for any more information about the project, donating, etc. If you would like to sponsor a child, please contact us. We appreciate the support you can provide in these hard times.
Share this with your friends!
500kg of Clothes & Toys Distributed!
Last year, our Polish volunteer organized a fund raiser in Warsaw. She collected over 500 kg of clothes, toys, blankets, bed sheets and books. On Thursday, March 11th, we distributed some of the clothes, shoes and blankets from the shipment among our students. It was a great event at our school and all the kids enjoyed their new pants, shirts, jackets, hats and gloves. Some of the kids were cold at nights and they received blankets. We decided to keep some of the clothes and distribute them after the beginning of the next school year in April and before the next winter. The toys decorated some of the classrooms and will be distributed among children and used as teaching aids. Everyone at the school was very excited and it was a great day for all of us. You can see a very short movie here.
We would like to thank all the contributors and Agnieszka, the volunteer who made it happen.
Over 300 Treated in Helambu Health Camp!
November was a busy month here at Helambu. We had a visit from Helambu Project UK team who conducted a health camp in the school and nearby villages. Four medical professionals, translators and other volunteers donated their time by coming to Nepal and giving all our students free check-ups. With generous donations from Helambu Project UK, Krzysztof from Poland, Wide Awake and others, we were able to provide medicine for the check-up and for the next three months at our school.
Dr Mike from Helambu Project brought letters and gifts from the students of Banchory Primary School who have generously supported our school in the past. Students from Gangkharka were happy to see the beautiful banner from their Scottish peers, read all the messages and try on Scottish jimmy hats and kilts. We will make sure the friendship between the students of Banchory Primary School and Pasang Memorial Community Boarding School will grow, despite the great distance between them.
VEC has Gone Nomad in the Press
Check out this informational article about volunteering with our school in Nepal. GoMad Nomad Travel Mag is the magazine for those who want to get off the beaten path, and really experience a new place. It was the perfect place for VEC to promote its volunteer and intern opportunities. We hope this article piques the interest of potential volunteers who may want to come to Gangkharka, and play an active role in its development. A special thanks to Anna, one of our volunteers for supplying the photos!
A New Partnership
Now you can make secure, tax-deductible donations to our school online at www.wideawake.org. Wide Awake International is an organization that promotes the work of grassroots NGOs from around the globe, and VEC is honored to be among those chosen. Donate to a project of your choosing, and watch videos from the school. Just over a year has passed since we built Gangkharka’s first school! Help us keep up the momentum.
Over 100 Winter Jackets Donated to School
Nimi Sherpa is VEC’s friend and advisor, and holds several distinguished posts, including President of Nepal Sherpa Women’s Association. She just organized a great gift for the students of Gangkharka Boarding School from her nephew, Sonam Sherpa. He is the owner of Everest Hard Wear company and he recently donated 120 down jackets and windstoppers for our pupils and staff. The clothes make a perfect present for the kids before the chilly Himalayan autumn and winter. The total value of the donation is 135.500 NPR. Photos from distributing the jackets coming soon.
Polish Party Fundraiser a Smash Hit
On August 6th, Agnieszka, our Polish volunteer, introduced VEC to Poland by organizing a fund raising party “A Parcel from Poland to Nepal” in Powiekszenie club in Warsaw. Over two hundred people came to donate over 500kg of toys, school supplies, clothes, blankets that will be shipped to kids at Gangkharka’s boarding school. Everyone enjoyed the beats of Masala Sound System and DJ Burn Reynolds and those who donated were presented with a poster designed and hand made by Twozywo Art Group. The party raised over 900 USD from ticket sales and donations, all of which will go directly into the VEC Boarding school. The party was our first attempt to raise awareness in Poland about VEC and Nepal, and we are thrilled that everyone had such a great time participating. We hope it’s the first of many events to come.
New School New Name!
The boarding school in Gangkharka is pleased to welcome a new Tibetan language teacher to its faculty. He is a Buddhist monk associated with the Tibetan Government in Exile, which has expressed a desire to collaborate with us on future projects that help preserve Himalayan cultures. VEC will also file its name as Pasang Sherpa Memorial Boarding School, in memory of the donor of the schoolgrounds.
Food prices in Nepal have increased drastically in the last week, requiring that even more of our budget be allocated to purchases until the school’s garden yields crops. However, word is spreading about VEC’s work, and the district government, along with many in the Sherpa diaspora are expressing their support. Several families who once left their villages in Helambu have now voiced a wish to return to the region, and build in Gangkharka.
Future Plans for the New School
At the moment, there are 104 students studying at their new school in Gangkharka. A further 26 are studying in Kathmandu. In addition to a standard Nepali curriculum, the students are also taking Sherpa and Tibetan language classes. We are applying to the United Nations to help supply food to our project, while expanding the garden and farmland in order to accomodate the recent increase in the population there. Our goal is for the school to be self-sustaining in terms of the food provided to the students. The planning phase completed, we are also fundraising for a eco-friendly hydroelectric system that will provide a local source of energy for the school and two nearby villages.