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.
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.
Community Leader and School Founding Donor Passes Away
Spring has brought Helambu the gift of education thanks largely to the generosity and leadership of the woman pictured to the left. Referred to affectionately as “Evee”, Pasang Lamani Sherpa, charity president Dorjee Sherpa’s aunt, was the donor of the lands upon which now stand Gangkharka’s first boarding school. She passed away this week from an unknown fever. She was however, able to live long enough to see the school completed and the students and teachers arrive to begin classes. The school will be her legacy for as long as it stands, as will the good its students will do for their country years after they graduate. She will be missed by her family and neighbors in Helambu, as well as the volunteers who were lucky enough to share tea with her.
The next few months will see great advancement and milestones in development for Helambu. Construction will soon begin on a micro-hydroelectric system that will provide power to the boarding school, the village of Gangkharka, and other nearby areas. This will be a consistent and environmentally-friendly source of power that will allow for multi-media lessons at the school. The importance of this cannot be understated. In this remote area, where there are not even roads, the people of these communities will have regular access to electricity, as opposed to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital city, which now enjoys as little as four hours of electricity everyday.
School begun!
Following the completion of a construction process that began in September, the first wave of students in Gangkharka’s new boarding school arrived in the village from Kathmandu. The students were thrilled to return to their home region after living and learning at a private school in Kathmandu. Now closer to culture and family, they will have access to a quality education that will simultaneously encourage the preservation of traditional practices and lay the foundation for the skills they will need to keep their villages pristine and prosperous for generations to come. For now, there are 55 children enrolled at the school with another 35 to follow soon. Their ages range from as young as 4 to 11.
UK nursing team visit
Sally and Pearl at one of their clinics
Pearl Wight and her nursing colleague Sally Bambridge, both from Arran Memorial Hospital on the island of Arran, Scotland visited the region for a 5-week period in October 2008. As well as bringing in medical supplies to the Baruwa health out-post, they undertook a number of health camps in villages throughout the region.
The clinics were fast and frenetic, with Pearl and Sally seeing up to a hundred patients between them on certain days. Their experience was invaluable not just in seeing at first hand the lack of services available but also in helping to gain insight into the health needs of the population.
Construction of the school begins..
From a dream that started many years ago the construction of the school and boarding facility finally started in September 2008. For the next six months there will be over thirty labourers working away to complete the building work, with an estimated completion date of Spring 2009. Without Western luxuries such as electrify or petrol driven machines, the school will be built completely by hand. A permanent squad of twelve labourers will remain on site with many others involved in portering the building materials from the valleys below.
Fresh water supply installed at Baruwa clinic
New water supplies arrived at the Baruwa health our-post in April 2008. Fundraising by Pearl Wight and friends enabled the purchase of a 1000 litre and a 500 litre water tank which in turn provides the building fresh water. Prior to installation, water had to be carried in buckets some distance.