School Environment Improvement Program - Nepal

Nearly half decade passed away since we had first launched our training program for the local youths and student in Mirge VDC of Dolkha District towards the implementation of School Environment Improvement Program in schools. Since then, lots of meetings with relevant stakeholders, training for local youths and students, monitoring visit and excursion program has been organized in order to capacitate our stakeholders of our program. With lots of ups and downs, discussion with locals during implementation of programs, new concept and strategies to improve the condition of school environment, we now have been able to view many changes in the school and in the community. With passing time, the local representative expressed their views of our program as follows:

Mr. Dhurba Pakhrin (Nature Club Facilitator Teacher – Majhgau Lower Secondary School) says “Usually, the children from Tamang Community are pretty shy in nature. They do not interact freely with new faces. But, through various extra-curricular activities regularly implemented in school and community, the students are very open with new people as well as now-a-days interact freely with other people. In other words, the speaking capacities of students are greatly enhanced through the activities of nature club in school”.

Mr. Bomhari Dahal (Principal, Kalidhunga Higher Sec. School) expresses that “I found a lot of behaviour changes, activeness and willingness to take responsibilities among students before and after establishing nature club in school. The students after operation of nature clubs are well disciplined and well behaved along with their active involvement in improving school environment to facilitate learning in schools. The students regularly organize various programs in school as well as in community thus helping us towards reaching out to community members and conveying our message to them as well. In general, the operation of nature club  supported us a lot in improving the learning environment as well as the relation with teachers and students our school”.

Ms. Kalpana Dahal (mother of a student from Kalidevi School) expressed her joy of her son’s educational improvement as he started to keep himself clean, tidy as well as initiated preserving local environment nearby her house after his involvement in nature club established in school. She shared that everyone in the community also appreciates her that her son shares other children about need to change the environmental issues and she feels proud that her son is involved in various activities through Nature Club.

We would like to thank all our supporters or donors who support for Mirge school environment improvement project. Because all of your small supports joining together is making positive changes in the school and students behavior.

We Thank You for all of this changes, achievements and accomplishment in the school and community. Without your support we would not have made any difference in the community. We’d like to thank YOU for your continuous support to us. Updates on our activities are also regularly posted in our Facebook page, Blog Posts, Twitter and in our youtube channel. Please subscribe and share our activities. We look forward towards your valuable suggestions on our activities. Please help us promoting our activities through your social networking sites as well.

Thanks & Regards,

Angel Chitrakar

Sr. Program Officer

ECCA

The month of September and October has been busy organizing programs related with safe drinking water and herbal garden in school and community by the nature club members of Kali Devi LSS, Kalidhunga HSS, Majhgau LSS and Laligurans Bright Future Boarding School. During this period, the students actively participated in training programs in school, door to door programs in community and activities related with herbal garden in school.

Mr. Bipin and Mr. Sobhit (both from ECCA office), facilitated two days training on Safe Drinking water for the nature club members of schools on 2nd & 3rd September. The program targeted the nature club members and teachers of respective school to use and produce chlorine solution in their daily life as well as strengthen the management of Nature Club activities in school and community. 48 participants including teachers and students benefited through the training program towards proper management and implementation of chlorine and the chlorination technology in their school and community. During the training program, all the students were actively involved towards the development of six month action plan focusing on uses of chlorine in drinking water and in school environment of school through strengthening activities in their school and communities.

As a part of several activities to be implemented within the six month planning, the participants came up with brilliant ideas like cultural program to conserve Nepali culture, herbal gardening to make the school environment green, school cleaning activities to make school environment neat, clean and free of diseases, wall magazine to increase the writing capacity of students, door to door activity to aware the locals about clean drinking water.

Since 2010, after the implementation of Mirge School Environment Improvement Program in various schools, we are feeling very proud that students on their own are now capable of initiating and implementing programs and activities on their own in their schools and community through nature club. Appointment of Ms. Manamaya as ECCA staff has also played a supportive role towards monitoring and guiding activities of child club at field level.

On various dates of October, the nature club members were busy organizing door to door activities in their community. Achieving the objectives to aware the community members on safe drinking water, the nature club members were also able to create a harmonious relationship between community members along with some income through selling WATASOL (chlorine solution) in the community.

Reviewing our involvement of our project in Mirge till date, we have found the nature club members are more active in schools, the teachers more responsible towards their activities in school and parents more supportive towards the schools initiation. We Thank You for all of this changes, achievements and accomplishment in the school and community. Without your support we would not have made any difference in the community.

We are also very happy and proud to share that ECCA has been awarded with “Nature Conservation Award” from National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Nepal.

We’d like to thank YOU for your continuous support to us. Updates on our activities are also regularly posted in our Facebook page, Blog Posts and twiter. Please subscribe and share our activities. We look forward towards your valuable suggestions on our activities. Please help us promoting our activities through your social networking sites as well.

Thanks & Regards,

Angel Chitrakar

Sr. Program Officer

ECCA

As the September slowly settles down and the weather gets chillier, the leaves turn a lively color before its farewell. As an old Nepali saying goes, you are conscious of the days passing and the leaves turning green to brown, but don’t realize the passing of each year. As each leaves turn its color, we count the developments and progress that have been felt in the schools and students in Mirge, Dolakha.

Since the inception of this project, it is safe to say that many lives have been changed in the member students of the nature clubs. Their involvement in the nature club have engaged them in different programs and introduced them to ideas that have brought positive changes in them. One very good example can be their involvement in the 3^rd National Children’s Club Conference organized by ECCA in April. Many students had left the program with new experience that was educational and gave them a motive to initiate something new and pass the knowledge they have to their compatriots.

As ECCA believes that students should always keep in touch with their talents and learning abilities, it is planning to host a friendly competition among four schools. The competition will seek the best proposal regarding new and innovative nature club activities that can be conducted by the students. The best of the four will be rewarded cash prize to make their proposal into reality. The four schools are: Majh Gaun Lower Secondary School, Kali Devi Lower Secondary School, Kali Dhunga Higher Secondary School and Laliguras Bright Future English Boarding School in Mirge.

As students in the nature clubs of the participating schools have previous experiences of being in a proposal competition, ECCA hopes that the winning nature club will have the most efficient ideas brought on the table. With students who are active in the nature club interested in seeing the best for their school, we can hope for no less!

Like each leaf makes the autumn count, your every donation matters and makes a huge impact. We express our gratitude to you for the constant support that you’ve become throughout this endeavor. We assure you that none of it has gone to waste and we will continue to ensure the progress.

We’d like to ask you to like our Facebook page to get updates regarding our activities, if you’re into tweeting, follow us on Twitter. Also, read our Blog to get more ideas about projects and stories. Feel free to write us and send your valuable suggestions and comments regarding our works as well.

Sachi Mulmi

Media Coordinator

ECCA 

ECCA organized 3rd National Conference on Children's Club from 11th to 13th April, 2014 at premises of Laboratory School, Kritipur, Kathmandu. A total of 120 child club members and 35 adults (Teachers and observers representing different NGO's/INGO's) from 18 districts were participated in the conference. The objective of the conference was to create a single platform for children's clubs to share their knowledge and experience on different issues along with the sustainability of clubs through strengthening their self sufficiency. The program also expected to expose children on various environmental and social issues such as climate change, children rights, health, school environment, water and sanitation etc. During the conference period, various activities such as Knowledge Market Place, Plenary Sessions on different topics, Group Discussion, Games etc were organized in order to create an environment which will help the participants to learn and share during the event.

Among the participants, a total of 6 participants from Dolkha - Ms. Chandika, Mr. Subash and Mr. Punya (Teacher) from Kalidhunga HSS and Ms. Sachana, Mr. Sundorjhe and Mr. Dhurba (Teacher) from Majhgau LSS were supported to participate in the event. The students expressed that participation in this event is a life time experience for them as it is the 1st ever conference that they had participated through representing their club. The event was a memorable for all the students as well as the teachers as there were lots of learning's and networking with the participants with other clubs.

Mr. Punya (Facilitator Teacher of Kalidhunga Nature Club) expressed that Knowledge Market Place (KMP) has been a real new experience for him. He is really inspired by the way of expression and activeness presented by the students from other nature club in KMP and got himself determined to motivate the members of his nature club to take them into a new height of self expression and activeness.

Through the participation in conference, the students also exchanged contacts of friends from different clubs and expressed their willingness to contact each other in near future. The stories from other nature club members, classmates, seniors and juniors, on various issues and activities through nature club were the most important learning's that they had in the conference.

All the participants supported for their participation in this conference expressed their regards to all the donors and supporters and expressed their determination towards using their learning's from the conference in their school and community through their nature clubs.

We would like to thank YOU for your continuous support and believe in us. Because of YOU, we have been able to bring changes in the education and learning of students of Mirge. We look forward towards your support in the days ahead to come.

Updates of our activities are also regularly posted in our Facebook page and Blog Posts.

We are also look forward towards your valuable suggestions and comments on our work.

Thanks & Regards,

Angel Chitrakar

Sr. Program Officer

ECCA

Mirge, Dolkha. When it comes to skill development and exposure of students in different topics, the activities organized by Nature club established in school plays a vital. Student expresses their feelings and understandings in different issues through organizing different events and activities from nature club in their school and communal peripherals. The activities organized will also help students towards developing different skills required in their day to day life. Hence, in order to motivate the students for continuity towards organizing different events and activities in their schools, frequent monitoring, follow-up and mentoring to the students needs to be done.

As a continual support activities for the nature club members along with enhancing their skills, two days Wall Magazine Preparation Training was organized on 20th and 21st February at Majhgau Lower Secondary School. A total of 45 students participated from 4 school were provided with an in-depth knowledge regarding the preparation of Wall Magazine. All students from each school worked as a team during the training towards preparing a set of wall magazine. By the end of the training program, students exhibited the wall magazine they had prepared during the training program.

In order to provide safe drinking water for students in every classroom, 3 sets of Jar dispensaries along with water jars were also distributed to all the participating schools. This ensures the provision of safe drinking water in the classroom.

As ECCA is working with Nature clubs and focusing in the holistic development of children, we are organizing 3rd National Conference on Children's Club on April 11-13, 2014. We are targeting to gather above 200 students representing children's club from various region of country. This program aimed to create an opportunity for the students to share knoweledge and understanding on different issues related with climate change, child friendly local governance, club sustainability, school environment and safe water.

With this information we would like to request you to support our program in order to create an opportunity for the students of Mirge to participate in the event.

We would like to thank you for your continuous support in our program to support the schools of Mirge and bring changes in the life of students in Nepal. We look forward towards the same type of support in the days to come ahead. Please like our Facebook page to get updates regarding our activities and follow us on Twitter to get our tweets. We are also looking forward towards your valuable suggestions and comments regarding our works as well.

Angel Chitrakar

Senior Program Officer

ECCA