Rebuilding remote schools were no one else would

The earthquake of April 2015 destroyed nearly all of the buildings at Ghusel Secondary School, located in a more remote area of the Kathmandu Valley. Many different organizations visited to assess the damage, but the Santi School Project was the only one who returned up the hilly terrain and narrow rough road to help rebuild the classrooms.

The students at Ghusel Secondary School celebrated a new earthquake resilient building with two classrooms during an inauguration ceremony earlier this month. For the past year they have been forced to study under canvas tents, which more closely resemble an animal shed than a place of learning.

Restoring the school to a more normal routine is important, because it’s located in a more remote part of Lalitpur district. Within the village of Ghusel this is the only school that offers classes up to grade ten. Many students walk for a couple of hours each way to reach the school, including students from nearby villages, for whom this is the closest option.

The majority of the students belong to the Tamang community, an ethnic minority group.

The administration of Ghusel Secondary School, along with officials from the village development committee and members of the parent teacher association all offered their thanks for the new building.

We would like to thank you, our donors, for making this project possible.

Overall, this is one of 22 school renovation projects that Santi School and our local partner in Nepal are conducting after the earthquake. So far, six schools have been completed and handed over to their communities and three more are in the process of being handed over. Another 13 schools are in different phases of construction.

Government officials continue to approve of our work. In Dolakha, the District Development Committee and the District Education Office have been monitoring ongoing construction. Recently, in Lalitpur, the deputy district education officer participated in a school building handover program.

At Kshamawati Higher Secondary School in Dolakha district we have provided furniture, book corner racks, books, a photocopier and a printer for the school’s library.