CHARANG VILLAGE MUSTANG NEPAL

High up in the remote Himalayas lies Charang village in the "forbidden" Kingdom of Mustang Nepal. Formerly a restricted region due to its proximity to Tibet, the only access was by foot or pony, now it has a "road" which was opened 2015. To get to Charang it takes many days either trekking or by jeep from Pokhara even if you take some of the short cuts, by flying short distances to Pokhara and Jomsom, be prepared, they are subject to weather, making the journey unpredictable.

On my second visit to the village in 2019, I went to the village school, catering for children aged from 5 to about 14. It teaches arithmetic, reading, writing, English and Nepali alphabets. There are no blackboards, books, desks and chairs. In fact I could not see any facilities whatsoever. Fortunately, I had taken some small gifts of exercise books, children's books, pens, sweet and small dolls. The buildings surrounding a small playground are made of mud and stones and with the onset of climate change, there has been more rain and repairs are urgently needed. Seeing the plight of the school, I have offered to try and raise some funding for repairs to the roof of the main building and other things.

The school has been badly neglected, because of the difficulty of access and the cost of the Government permit at $500 for ten days, it has been ignored by NGOs who flood other parts of Nepal. The money from government funding is minimal. A donation of a few coins would make so much difference to these delightful children lives. A dry classroom is just a start.