The School at Pokhari in Nepal has 6 teachers & approx. 150 pupils from the age of 3 to 13 years old.
A new road was developed to the school about 4 years ago. Up until this time most pupils walked to school with some taking one hour to cover the journey each way . Some pupils are still undertaking this daily challenge as they do not live near the road and have to walk through the jungle.
There is water in the village nearby but not at the school & this makes drinking water a problem as it has to be obtained daily from the village . The main difficulty is that the stream from which the water is obtained dries up at times of the year other than the monsoon season which is from May to September. Thus water is needed for about 7 months of the year. Naturally therefore water for washing & operating the toilets is also problematic .
The laying of water pipes to the school is too costly at the moment.
Although electricity has been installed it is not reliable & a recent electrical fire damaged the roof , several classrooms , the furniture inside them, computers and the library. The fire occurred at night so no one was able to put a stop to it.
The Head Teacher estimates that the damage caused has amounted to about £15,000 in repairs/replacement equipment. The Nepalese government will only sponsor a small amount of these repairs and insurance was not taken out or even available. At present the Head teacher has rejected the government’s offer of £1000 which he feels is derisory.
The main projects the school needs us to sponsor are :
1. Relaying water to the school.
2. Rectification of the current damage to the roofing in the classrooms affected by the fire.
3. Obtaining more chairs, tables , computers and whiteboards.
4. Installation of ceilings with insulation above above as most roofing is corrugated iron.
5. Installing solar power.
6. Erection of a boundary fence around the school.