Send a Girl to High School with a Bicycle Gift

Dear Generous Donor,

Namaskar and a warm greeting from Nepal!

With your kind support through the project loved and donated by you 'Send a Girl to High School with a Bicycle Gift' Janaki Women Awareness Society (www.jwas.org.np) with the latest lot of bicycle distribution event has reached to 140 poor high school girls in southern Nepal. Your support has contributed in achieving the major objectives of ending child marriage through increased participation of girls in schools and keeping them there until  they complete their higher secondary education.

Today it is my pleasure to share you the voices of Khusbuda (15) and Ragini (16) from Baidhyanath Devnarayn Public Lions Higher Secondary School, Dhanusha.

When I met Khusbuda, 9^th grader (was in grade 8 while she received a bicycle) and Ragini, 10^th grader (was in grade 9 while she received a bicycle) in their school at 6:30am they both were dressed in Kurtha Salwar and have just arrived the school in their bicycles. They both are from Mukhiyapatti Musharniya, a neighboring village from the school and used to walk 6 KM (both way) 1.5 Hr each day before they received the bicycle for their school as they have no high school in their village.  In my question how much time does it take you to arrive the school now in the bicycle, their reply was 15 Minutes. I again asked what difference has the bicycle made for you: And their reply was something like this in the points (a) We have never missed the school there after (b) We have never been late for the school (c) We have time to participate in extracurricular actives held in the school (d) Friends, neighbors in the village, teaches at school and even parents at home treat us differently as compared before (e) We feel capable and stronger!

There after I met Social Teacher of the school Mr. Safi and enquired about Khusbuda, Ragini and other 18 high school girls who were distributed bicycle each in the Christmas of last year. He said all the girls have improved their studies while they were promoted in the upper class in a way or the other. Their participation in school activities has increased and most of all school attendance has improved significantly. He further said two girls (Not bicycle recipient) in the grade 10 in the school have already been married at the age below 16 despite the school efforts to stop married them earlier and requested  all the stakeholders cooperation to stop child marriage forever.

This all has become possible from the donations made by you for the project. With your support during the reporting period we have held two bicycle distribution events on 20 and 26 May, 2017 where total 40 bicycles were distributed to poor high school girls. 20 were distributed in Secondary (Technical & Vocational) School, Mulabari Bhiman, Dhanusha and 20 were distributed in Aadarsha National Secondary School Lalgadh, Dhanusha.   

We heartily thank all the donors and really appreciate and value your every donation for the cause - increasing access of girls in the high schools and ending child marriage.  We invite you to Nepal, the country of Mount Everest and encourage feeling closely in person the impacts made by your donation and see the smiling school girls coming to the school in the bicycle provided by you and the changes it has made in their life. We would be more than happy to coordinate and arrange your visits to the recipient school girls, schools and her family.

Please feel free to contact me for more details.

Thank you.

Bishnu K. Bhandari

Program Coordinator (Project Leader for Send a Girl to High School with a Bicycle Gift) https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/send-girls-to-higher-secondary-school-with-a-cycle-gift/

Contact No: 00977-41-523576/520652, Cell: 00977-9854027765

Email: jwas@ntc.net.np   

Janaki Women Awareness Society (JWAS), Janakpur-4, Nepal (www.jwas.org.np)