The Girls Education Project in Rural Nepal

Pat, the ambassador of Nepal Village Foundation, visited Nepal with her ex-pupil, Niamh. Niamh is only seventeen and Pat is a retired art teacher. They spent three weeks to inspect the project and, to motivate the girls to do better in their class. For this, we organised four workshops to meet all the 101 girls in the scheme. We began the workshop with a drawing and then played a word formation game followed by a question and answer session.

The drawing: As soon as the girls got a colouring pack, they began to draw their favourite animal, flower or art. Despite the language barrier, they drew brilliantly. The girls were treated with a toffee for their brilliant work. Drawing is not a usual activity in the local schools, but almost every household have a couple of flowers painted on their front wall as a decoration. The drawing activity worked well to eliminate much of the hesitation and, it enabled us to engage better with each other.  

The word formation game: After the drawing, we started with a word formation game. English is the weakest subject for most pupils in the local schools. Therefore, many of the girls struggled to form English words. So, we put a volunteer in each group to support the girls that helped to accelerate the game. The main purpose of the game was to teach some English words to the girls, and it did work okay.  

The question and answer: To find out about each other and about the cultures, we began with asking questions. Frequently asked questions from the girls were; what you eat in England? Do you have children? How old are you? What is your favourite colour? Do you like our village? How long will you stay in our village? Will you come back again?

By the end of these all, the girls became friendly with Pat and Niamh and, they found very difficult to leave the village. This was the first time, we spent lots time with the girls, and it truly worth doing it. Many girls from the poor families want to be a nurse and teacher. We delivered a very clear message to convince the girls that we are with you and, with you all the way. We are here to support you in whatever way we can. We also briefed them about the way everything works in the organisation and, if help is needed how and who to approach.

Niamh also mentioned to the girls that an education could open many doors for you to do whatever you want to. Girls in the community do not have a similar freedom as of boys. Overall, Pat and Niamh’s visit to the project was very productive, and it created a ‘yes we can’ environment for girls in the community. A similar visit by many other well-wishers, time to time will keep the girls motivated. It will also promote cross-culture learning.

Fundraising: 101 girls from the poorest and Dalit families are in the scheme which costing £5050 annually and, still £980 is needed to keep the girls in school for the year. If you can afford then, please sponsor a girl today. It costs only £50 to keep a girl in school for a whole year, providing uniform, study materials, school fees and support.

• PDF copy of the report (PDF)