Project Update, April 2009
CAIRN Schools & Libraries
(1) In April, the CAIRN team opened their seventh School in Lamagoan. The existing school was run down with crumbling bricks and had insufficient classrooms.
The new school was constructed within three months and consists of four new classrooms and toilets. The primary school will help to educate up to 180 children from the ages of 5 to 14 years in pre-primary and primary grades (classes 1-8). Click here to read more about the school.
(2)Thomas’s Battersea teachers, Kirsty Smith and Heather Fraser laid down the foundation stone for a much needed Day Care Centre (Kindergarten) in Bhujung. This centre will accommodate at least sixty of the younger children of this village. The centre is located in the centre of the farming area (in the grassed area surrounding the tree) and will enable the children to be cared for whilst their parents go to work on the fields nearby. The construction will start following the monsoon in October.
(3) The location of the first CAIRN Library was confirmed at Pasgaun, following the extension of our NGO partnerships to include Room To Read. The construction works will take place between May and July, during which time, we will organise the logistics’ of getting over 3,000 books to this remote village by yaks and donkeys! With the support of the School Committee, we will shortly be identifying the two librarians, who will receive their training in September. The expected date of completion is October 2009.
(4) The hostel at Bhujung, sponsored by Thomas's Kensington will re-commence construction work in September/October. The project will also incorporate our second CAIRN Library. Expected date of completion April 2010.
CAIRN Educational Awards
A total of 450 children in the villages of Pelkachour, Samibhangjyang, Bhujung and Ghanpokhara (incorporating Midim Bhache) received their CAIRN Educational Awards during April and May, ready in preparation for the start of the academic year. The distribution included all of the children’s school uniforms, shoes, socks, school bags, books and stationery.
It was our second year of educational support in the villages of Pelkachour and Samibhanjyang (sponsored by Thomas’s Clapham and Battersea respectively). We had originally agreed to support 100 children in each village but during our last quarterly review, it was evident that an additional 50 children in Pelkachour were desperate for support with their educational supplies. These children and families were thrilled at being included into the CAIRN Awards programme.
In our new villages of Ghanpokhara and Bhujung (sponsored by Thomas’s Fulham and Kensington respectively), we faced the challenge of getting the educational supplies to more remote parts of Western Nepal. It took 10 donkeys and 29 porters to transport the supplies to the 200 children in Ghanpokhara and Bhujung.
One of the lessons that we have learnt is that a variety of medical issues frequently prevent our CAIRN Award recipients from attending school regularly. As the majority of our recipients are unable to afford medical costs, we have incorporated a nominal medical fund to accommodate travel expenses and medical costs.
CAIRN Communities
We are continuing to support 10 families with emergency food support packages in the Pelkachour and Samibhanjyang. These families were identified during our CAIRN Educational Awards quarterly reviews, as requiring additional assistance in order to continue their education.This food support is enabling the children to attend school fed and able to concentrate and also relieves the children of labouring duties before and after school.
During our project review, we confirmed that there should be a more sustainable solution to supporting the most impoverished children receiving CAIRN Educational Awards. Subsequently, we are working with our NGO partners to identify income generation programmes which would provide long term stability and financial support to these families. The current support will continue to these families until we have a workable solution, at which stage, we will phase out the current support being provided.
Whilst prioritising our CAIRN Educational Award recipients at Bhujung and Ghanpokhara, we have identified at least four new families who would fit the criteria for CAIRN Communities support. These families will form part of the trials for the income generation programme.
