Joining Together to Rebuild Nepal

Each year we take time to celebrate the work of the past year, and plan for the year ahead. In 2016 we had some great successes especially in Nepal (but also in Kenya and Rwanda). We completed three new buildings (6 classrooms) and were able to also install a computer classroom in the girls' dorm in Salleri. These projects typify what we're trying to do if you look beyond the actual "output" — the output may be a classroom or a computer lab, but that's not all there is there.

In the classroom buildings that we're working on, we're working hard to BUILD CAPACITY of the community to take on their own development work. Each community has a mentor to build a "School Building Committee" which is the leadership council that learns how to take on projects, manage them, report on them, complete them, and celebrate them.

Likewise with a computer lab, it's far less about the computers themselves than BUILDING CAPACITY for the girls who learn about computers and can take that skill into future jobs.

So as we reflect back on 2016 and our work at building capacity along with creating projects that break down barriers for girls' education, we can celebrate and begin to look forward.

In 2017 for our work at Rebuilding Nepal we are looking to build capacity for our organization so that we can do even more work moving ahead. We are looking to cross-pollinate our work in East Africa with the Women's Entrepreneurial Training Program (WETP) into Nepal. The program works with women to help develop their business skills to start, run, manage and succeed at their businesses. These kinds of trainings have shown to increase household/family income and have positive effects on health, education, sanitation, and access to water.

Creating transfer of these programs from East Africa to Nepal isn't a singular or simple process. We're looking ahead already to implementations in Kenya so that we are ready to transfer the programs to Nepal for the teen students in the dormitories and others who are interested in creating new pathways out of poverty. Business Training for women and girls in rural areas can be a high outcome endeavor — it's education, it's empowerment, it's povety reduction.

And at the end of the day this work delivering PROGRAMS in addition to PROJECTS is what Edge of Seven is moving toward. We're moving forward and ahead in creating capacity for women and communities to raise themselves out of poverty. Step one is continuing to build schools and buildings that support these communities. Step two, is to build programs that fit alongside the infrastructure that mutually benefit each other and create collective impact.

Either way, the girls', women and communities where we work are being built up — as are we. We thank you for your continued support, donations and words of encouragement. We know that building capacity for all the constituents in our world is important especially in the challenges of today's world. Please stay tuned as we change the world ....

Links:

• Supporting Girls Education on Global Giving

Eighteen months after the 2nd of two earthquakes in Nepal the challenges keep coming. You may be feeling a bit scattered or full of trepidation after the recent election in the US if you're one of our American donors. There is a bit of a sense of an earthquake (metaphorically) as things have been truly shaken up and we're not sure what will happen next.

But in Nepal where we're working on very fundamental issues of justice, education, women's rights and girls' education we can tell you that progress isn't lightning quick. We make a little bit of progress each day, month, quarter and year. This past year we worked hard to finish the schools that had the highest priority and we're now looking at the next set of schools to get girls back into the classroom and learning.

It isn't a big, exciting, dramatic piece of work. We build wall by wall and a person by person to build their capacity to take on whatever their next challenge is in the rural, remote villages where we work. We work in the Solukhumbu of Nepal east of Kathmandu and south of Mt. Everest.

We have identified a list of approximately 35 buildings in this area (all school buildings at this point) that need to be rebuilt or scraped and built over -- this time using the government approved, earthquake-resistent model that we're using now. Yes, it's more expensive than previous models, but it is government approved and is highly resistent to the tremors that may be felt over the lifespan of the building.

This fall we're putting the final touches on the buildings completed over the last year. We're including electrical wiring, furnishings and the small touches that help to create a sense of pride and ownership in these community owned buildings. And think about how these buildings build community as well. We work with local partners to lead and train the community where we work. Each community has a new School Building Committee led by villagers who are ready to take the next steps in leadership, ownership, commitment, and long-term focus.

Because we care so much about replicating each locally controlled and locally led School Building Committee we're working very hard right now to  complete our End of Year Campaign. The campaign has a number of parts and we'd love for you to join us. Here are some of the things that you can check out and support girls' education by doing -- and know that we're using Global Giving as our platform for the giving because it gives you and us the confidence that donations are being managed well.

So check out these great opportunities:

• GIVING TUESDAY -- on November 29, please make a donation through Global Giving onto this project (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/eof7communitydevelopment/). No fees this day and we can access $500K in matches just for making a donation this day (matches for each donation 50%)
• Colorado Gives Day -- on December 6, please make a donation through our website to help us access multiple matches in their special fund of $1M. www.edgeofseven.org
• Throughout December -- throughout the month of December we're sending all our donors to Global Giving to help us fund the next set of schools we're building in Nepal. And as a special bonus if you set up a new recurring donation Global Giving will match the first donation 100% -- yes double that first recurring gift! https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/eof7communitydevelopment/
• Educate a Girl -- special Documentary Screening of "Educate a Girl" on December 13, 2016 at the Posner Center for International Devleopment in Denver. We're going to have a special holiday gathering of supporters and staff and preview this great documentary. See https://eagscreening.eventbrite.com for info and tickets.

We're so excited for you to join us and support girls' education in whatever way you can. Even small donations of $10 are greatly appreciated since several of the matching and bonus programs that benefit us are based on whether we can get only 30 new donations! Any amount helps --

So while it may seem as if there was a disturbance in the political equilibrium in the US, there is still a great deal of work to do where the real earthquakes have occured in Nepal. This also gives you a great way to make some positive change for some very real people who need our help. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions about our work in Nepal or in East Africa.

Links:

• Eo7 Year End Campaign on Global Giving