Help us rebuild schools in Nepal

This summer we’ve been strengthening our working relationships and support of several small community schools, like Jana Jyoti Primary School in Kavre district. Our plan is to spend more time in classrooms and increase the number of our school visits and field trips for students.

Publishing more original children’s books also will bolster our ties with our partner schools. Our first three books have become favorites among students when it comes time for read aloud. Teachers as well as parents are always on the lookout for quality children’s literature with beautiful illustrations. 

As part of our search for new stories, we hosted a 2-day writing workshop in late June at Bal Jyoti School in Dhulikhel, Kavre district. Fifteen teachers from 11 schools participated. The workshop included sessions on reading aloud, browsing books, and story writing along with group discussions and workshops to share individual stories. We have a good feeling that one story in particular that was first written during the workshop will make a great book.

One of the reasons we value our relationship with schools like Jana Jyoti is that teachers and students there engage in experiential learning using their community as a source of inspiration.

We encourage the teachers at Jana Jyoti and all of our partner schools to develop a teaching pedagogy based on inquiry and discovery, which we know from experience that children find fun and engaging.  

Teachers can use our children’s books not just to encourage reading but also as a way for students to document the inquiries and discoveries in the stories. It helps that the attractive illustrations in the books are more engaging than school textbooks.     

We look forward to sharing more details soon about future field trips. 

Your support is crucial to help us strengthen our relationships with children, teachers and parents in the rural communities of the Kathmandu Valley. Thank you for helping us spread the joy of reading!   

Students, teachers and parents absolutely love the three new books that we have published and distributed to our 50 partner schools in Kavre and Nuwakot districts in Nepal.

The books are a key part of our read-aloud program. In our previous report, we detailed the original, culturally appropriate stories written by some of our teachers.

You know you’ve created something good when it’s used so much that schools ask us for extra copies. And that’s exactly what has happened.

But don’t take our word for it. Here’s testimonials from a student and a teacher about what these books mean to them:

Sushma (3rd grader at Jalpa Devi School, Nuwakot) 

“I come to school to play. I would spend the whole day outdoors if the teachers let me. Lately, I have begun to like reading. I like simple and short books like “Kasto Suhayeko” (“Looking Good!”) because the sentences are short and the images are too funny. I don’t have the time or the patience to read long stories.” 

Parvati (Teacher at Nepane School, Nuwakot) 

At our school we have a daily routine of reading “Kati Mehenati Mauri” (“Busy Bees”). There are some beehives in the vicinity, so some students are aware of the lives of bees; they are read aloud to at school and they in turn read aloud to their parents. It’s not a surprise to hear some villagers tending their farms while humming ‘bari maidan ghumera auchin bhun bhun garera, dharke mauri somati’ (the refrain of the poem). 

Thank you for your support. We're busy now finding new stories to bring to life for our communities.