Village School Project – 2004 to 2010
Shree Mahangkal Lower Secondary School lies around 85km south east of Kathmandu, in the Kavre Palanchowk district near the Sunkosi River (Golden River). By bus it takes around six hours to reach the village of Thulo Parsel – Pakuwal.
Shree Mahankal Lower Secondary School Old Building
In Thulo Parsel is a diverse culture where many ethnic groups and religions can be found. There are Tamangs, Magars, Lohars, Brahamans, Chhetris, Damais, Thakuris and Majhis, to name a few, all living in this village. Most are uneducated and deemed to be of a lower caste in society. This was not being improved by the old school building that was crumbling and small and represented a poor environment for studying. This was particularly bad during the rainy season when students were unable to stay at the school due to the leaks in the walls and small scale flooding that would take place.
Magar Village in Pakuwal, Thulo – Parsel
Peace Nepal Treks were fortunate to have a client in 2004 called Mr. Rempt Van Der Donk. During his time in Nepal he was delighted by the Nepali people and wanted to do what he could to help. He visited our village and when he saw Shree Manahnkal Primary School he decided that this is where he could help the most. As a member of the Lion’s Club in Schoorl, Holland, he was able to garner support for the project in terms of finances and then two volunteers Mr. Remy Van Meel and Mr. Herre to start work on the construction.
Rempt Van Der Donk, (Member of Lion’s Club Schoorl, Netherlands)
The construction took around six months and we were lucky to have the help of our Dutch friends for around half that time. The impact these two had on the people cannot be underestimated, they worked long hours and showed great strength which proved to be a real inspiration for the local people who were also working on the school. Nobody wanted to let them down, and wanted to impress them in any way they could. The work became fun, rather than hard and tiring, and when it came for them to leave many people were very sad to see them go. On their final evening we threw a big party and gave them a traditional Nepali send off, which we think they enjoyed very much!
Remy and Herre
When the project was finished we arranged for some representatives of the Lions Club to come out and see the end result. They were so impressed with the new building that they decided they wanted to help even more and wanted to build the Lower Secondary School, Primary School as well as a small Health Post, all to be built over the coming years. This saved students a two hour walk every day, while those who needed medical attention also no longer had to try and walk this distance in a bad condition.
Students are Waiting with flowers to Well Come
What The Lions Club Schoorl, did for our school: -
They built the new Primary School building.
The provided funds for one primary school teacher between 2004 and 2010.
They built a new building for the Lower secondary School with three classes, a health post room, two pre-primary school classes and also six new toilets for the students.
They provide school uniforms every year for all the students as well as school materials.
Shree Mahankal Lower Secondary School, in Pakuwal
Sadly, from the end of 2010 our agreement will end and they will move on to new projects. This means that we must find a new way to provide school teachers, uniforms, teaching and learning materials from end of the 2010.
We have all been very impressed with the work of the Lion’s Club members and thank them for all their help and support. Throughout this time Peace Nepal Treks has supported and helped co-ordinate these projects and we will now be taking a more direct role. Through our business we will donate a percentage of our profits to keep providing for the children of our village and encourage anyone thinking about volunteering to come and see what goes on there and decide if they would like to be involved in some way. We understand the importance of education for our children and hope to give them a brighter future.
New Primary School Building Opening Ceremony Time
We do not work with any associations or government bodies; this project has all been done independently. If you have time during your stay in Nepal then just two days will be enough for you to witness the realities of village life, you will stay one night with local house since this is not an area where there are hotels or lodges. Nor is there electricity, but thankfully there is now running water.
Students
We welcome with open arms anyone who wished to help either by donating funds or coming to work directly with us. Please see video gallery slide show of photos we have from when the initial project began.
