Disaster Response Nepal Project #20339

Earthquake Relief: Rebuilding Schools in Nepal

by Educate the Children

Earthquake Relief: Rebuilding Schools in Nepal

Project Report | Sep 22, 2015
We could not have done it without you!

By Lisa Lyons | U.S. Director

Pokhare Lower Secondary School temp classroom

The earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May, 2015 - and the numerous and sometimes severe aftershocks - absolutely devastated thousands of schools in Nepal. In the area where Educate the Children has been working since mid-2014, all 30 schools with which we've been partnering were effectively destroyed. Not only did buildings crack and crumble, but the classroom furniture and school supplies inside were lost as well.

ETC has a decades-long history of working with schools, administrators, teachers, and parents to improve education in rural Nepal. This experience and these connections served us very well as we strove to get the kids back to school as soon as possible, because their ability to attend and complete school is crucial to their healthier and brighter futures. So far, with your generous help, we have:

Supported the construction of temporary classrooms at all 30 schools
Provided replacement school supplies and classroom materials/furnishings (such as white boards, desks, etc.) at all 30 schools in our current project area plus several more schools in villages where ETC worked in previous years
Developed a plan to make the temporary classrooms more suitable as medium-term learning spaces - better for the winter weather - because permanent rebuilding of schools is likely to be a very long-term process

Because we were able to respond quickly and effectively, more than 3,000 children were able to return to school within a couple of months after the disaster.

As always, we thank you very much for your interest and support. We truly could not do it without you!

Grade 10 students in their temporary classroom

Pre-primary class, Gujarpa Lower Secondary School

Links:

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Jun 24, 2015
June update: Getting Nepal's kids back to school!

By Lisa Lyons | U.S. Director

Niko Bhumi Higher Secondary School, pre-quakes

Although it sometimes seems as though years have passed, in reality it has been only two months since the massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated Nepal, and a month and a half since the second 7.3-magnitude quake. Since then, Educate the Children's Nepal-based staff has been very busy indeed, helping ensure that kids can get back to school.

ETC has provided building materials and technical/logistical support to eight Dolakha District schools for temporary learning centers (TLCs), including Niko Bhumi Higher Secondary School (photos attached). All 30 schools in ETC's current project area were badly damaged or destroyed. It is our goal to support TLC construction at all 30 of these schools, as well as at 26 schools in the other Dolakha villages where we worked from 2008-2014, funding permitting.

ETC has provided school supplies and classroom/recreational materials at eighteen Dolakha District schools, to replace those lost when schools and homes collapsed. Again, we will support all 30 schools and all 3,000+ students in our current project area in this way, and (funding permitting) will also provide similar support at other schools with which we have worked in past years.

Last but not least, our fantastic Education Director Mr. Laxmi Basukala has written a book, soon to be published, that will be distributed to as many teachers and kids as possible. The book is designed to help the kids cope with the psychological trauma and lingering effects that many of them have experienced. Professionally developed resources of this kind are scarce in rural Nepali villages, and we congratulate Mr. Basukala for having conceived the idea in the first place and for having followed through with it so quickly, especially given everything else he has had to do recently.

We are very grateful to you, our friends and supporters, for making this work possible. Conditions in Nepal are not "normal" at present, and probably will not be for a long while to come. That said, it is so important - not only for the students and their families, but also for the well-being of these communities as a whole - that the kids can resume their interrupted educations and get on with their lives!

Niko Bhumi HSS, post-quakes - same camera angle

Diligent pupil studies at home (photo: M. Turin)

Links:

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May 18, 2015
Rebuilding Schools in Nepal: May Update

By Lisa Lyons | US Director

A ruined classroom

Early last week, three of ETC's staff members were in the Dolakha District, going from village to village and assessing the situation (including the condition of the schools), to determine how ETC can most effectively help the quake victims. They had managed to catch a ride on a passing Jeep and were on their way to visit the next village on their itinerary when the second major earthquake struck on May 12th. One staff member reported as follows:

"Suddenly, we heard a huge hiss sound and saw vibration of trees along the sides of the road. We all became...horrified as the quake struck...and [we] jumped from the jeep to the road. We could not walk for around half an hour because of severe pain [in] our legs. After this we saw dust everywhere produced due to several landslides and damage of houses....There is no [longer] any house having roof and wall. "

The schools in rural Nepal have fared as badly as the homes. Unsurprisingly, the oldest and least structurally sound have been the most badly damaged, whereas the relatively new buildings and some that had been improved are not as badly damaged. Sadly, many of the schools I visited just three months ago were among the hardest hit. These were schools at which ETC had planned to make significant improvements over the next few years.

All children need and deserve safe places to learn. Some of their schools will probably be beyond repair and will need, in effect, to be reconstructed from the ground up. Others may be easier to repair more quickly. In many cases, temporary school shelters will be needed to help children get back to as close to a normal life as possible.

In the aftermath of this second quake (which, according to many, was technically an aftershock - of magnitude 7.3!), ETC is committed to finding the best way to help Nepali children resume their interrupted educations. Your support of our work is very important and greatly appreciated.

Please visit our website to see the latest photo essay about the condition of several schools in Dolakha District.

Links:

Schools in Dolakha: Pre- and Post-Quake Photos

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