Project Update, September 2010
CAIRN Schools & Libraries
Our construction projects are going well but as with most NGOs' working in Nepal, the challenges of working in a developing country have been more evident over the last six months to a year.
The unstable Nepalese Government continues to cause political unrest with road closures and power cuts, resulting in delayed project implementation.
The bigger challenge however facing Nepal and the charity is that being a landlocked country, the impact of the sudden shortage of construction materials is having a massive knock on effect to the cost of materials and construction.
We will continue to monitor the situation and will modify our construction programme, if needed, at the end of this Nepalese school academic year (April 2011) .
CAIRN Schools
As we have extended our construction portfolio to include the new Marysandi region, foundation stones were laid down and construction has started on the next three school builds which will be taking place in the areas of Bumlichok, Bichour and Rainas Kundule.
All these villages are in a relatively remote and little visited area up the Chepe Khola, which is a tributary of the Marsyandi River between Gorkha and Besisar.
We look forward to these construction projects being ready for completion by April 2011.
The Old Nursery School
CAIRN Nursery Schools
We have completed the renovation of the existing nursery school at Pelkachour enabling the youngest children in the community to start on the educational journey.
The nursery school at Bhujung has also been constructed and equipped.
We look forward to implementing three new nursery schools over the next year (locations to be confirmed).
The Renovated Nursery School
CAIRN Libraries
The library in Bhujung will be ready for opening by the end of October 2010. We also look forward to a libraries being installed in schools at Sindhi, Duipiple and Gilung.
CAIRN Hostels
We are pleased to announce that the hostel at
Bhujung is now complete and open for the
older students, who are studying for their SLC's to stay in overnight.
CAIRN Educational Awards
This programme is now providing funding for 700 Nepalese children to attend school, across six villages, equipped with their educational supplies, for at least the next four years.
The CEA programme now includes:
- 200 children who started their third year of supported education in the villages of Pelkachour and Samibhanjyang
- 200 children who started their second year of supported education in the villages of Bhujung and Ghanpokhara
- 200 new children who joined the programme in the villages of Pasgaun and Simpani
Successes
- The overall attendance of the CEA students during the 2009/10 academic year was 79%.
- The advancement rate for students going into the next grade were as follows: Pelkachour - 78%
- There were 19 students who sat their School Leaving Certificate, of which 15 passed passed (79%), all
with a significantly higher pass rate than the children who were not receiving support.
Samibhanjyang - 89%
Bhujung - 76%
Ghanpokhara - 64%
We look forward to supporting another 200 children through Educational Awards from May 2011.
We have reviewed the CEA package and incorporated a number of small changes including replacing shoes for flip flops (chappals), inclusion of a rain mac, improving the quality of stationery provided. Another significant improvement to the support package is the provision of tuition to students in grade 8-10, in preparation for their SLC results. The tuition will consist of English, Maths and Science provided by local teachers three times a year. Key to the programme's success continues to be the attitude of the parents and the village community. This is now one of the key deciding factors when deciding which communities to support next. As some of our older students successfully complete the SLC, we are also now investigating what the next steps could be for some of our students.
CAIRN Communities
Goat Breeding Income Generation Programme
In the village of Pelkachour, 10 destitute families whose children have been receiving educational support were also receiving additional support through emergency monthly food packs.
This food pack programme was implemented as an urgent and immediate intervention to the high levels of poverty, with the view that a more sustainable solution was always required, if we were to achieve long term change and independence amongst the communities we operate.
As a result, we started our first income generation programme (IGP) of goat herding in Pelkachour.
In the short term, the project aims to improve the economical conditions of these 10 poorest families and in the long term to create a source of reliable income for parents to pay for their own children's education, and thus potentially eliminate the need for educational support within the villages, once they have become self-sufficient.
The families were given training on animal care and goat breeding through a local NGO, as well as receiving support to build goat sheds using locally available materials.
Each family was then provided with two female goats and food for the goats during the initial stage of the project.
The village was provided with a breeding buck and a stipend which would cover any necessary medical treatment and a goat insurance fund for any replacement goats.
The families are responsible for feeding, breeding, care and safe management of their goats.
We are pleased to share that some of the villagers have been successful with the goat breeding and have produced 4 baby goats so far.
The IGP loan will work on a 'pass on' scheme where income will be generated either through the sale of either goat meat or goat offspring.
Families must return a minimum of one goat within a year to the programme as part of their loan and this will be used to ensure the on going distribution of goats to other families.
Medical Funds
We continue to support a number of Award recipients whose educational progress is being hindered by medical needs.
One of our students in Ghanpokhara, who had been born without an eyeball has now received prosthetic surgery and can see again.
She is excited about what the future holds for her. Currently, we are supporting 10 children with their medical treatments.
Due to the levels of poverty that we are dealing with, we are sadly aware that we will come across increasing number of children with both chronic and acute medical needs in the future.
