The Story of Navaraj Basnet

Navaraj receiving the prize on winning the Quiz Competition

Navaraj Basnet who hails from Thangpalkot VDC studies in Class Nine in Shree Raithane Secondary School. He is an exceptionally talented kid. Last year he topped his class by scoring the highest marks in all the subjects in all the exams. His academic performance in class has been consistent and he has been topping his class consecutively for 3-4 years now. All of his teachers in school say that he is a very bright kid who picks up the lessons that he learns in class very quickly and raises interesting questions. His friends further say that not only is he a smart kid but that he is also very friendly and helpful. Apart from being very active in his class, Navaraj eagerly participates in extra-curricular activities as well. He performed extremely well in the quiz competition that had been recently organized in his school and was awarded with the title of ‘Best Performer’. Earlier when COMMITTED had organized the Star Reader Program, he had been awarded with the title of ‘Star Reader’ for having read the most number of books from the library as well.

Navaraj being awarded the prize for being the 'Star Reader'

Navaraj comes from a family with a weak financial background. His father is a farmer by profession who struggles really hard to sustain their family which comprises of Navaraj, his mother and his elder sister. His father also does odd part time jobs like carrying load and people’s luggage in order to be able to fulfill his family’s financial expenses. During the earthquake, their house similar to the majority of houses in Thangpalkot VDC, Sindupalchok was severely damaged. Navaraj and his family now live in the temporary house that they have built. COMMITTED has been supporting Navaraj by providing him with a academic scholarship since the last three years. Through the scholarship, Navaraj’s school tuition fees are entirely covered for the whole academic year. 

Ongoing Construction of Taltuleshwory School

The construction of three new blocks at Shree Taltuleshwory Primary School in Thangpalkot VDC, Sindhupalchok district is almost complete. Here are some recent pictures from the project site. The three new blocks will constitute six class-rooms for the primary school. Some plastering work remains to be done. Also the interior walls and the exterior walls of the blocks need to be painted. After the completion of the three blocks we are planning to commence with the second phase of the construction.

The newly constructed blocks of Taltuleshwory School

In the second phase of the construction, considering the funds that will be raised, we are planning to build the following components:

1. Toilets and Drinking Water Taps
2. Kitchen and Dining Hall
3. Playground for the children including a Basketball Court.

The two new blocks of Taltuleshwory School

With the addition of more funds, we also plan to improve the library at the school and the reading room for the children.

Our Project Coordinator monitoring the progress of the construction

Reconstruction of Taltuleshwory School - Rekindling the spirit of the children

Shree Taltuleshwory Primary School was established in 2052 B.S in Thangpalkot VDC, Ilaka 12, Ward no. 3 of Sindupalchok district. We have been supporting this school through our School Improvement Plan since 2011 A.D. The powerful earthquake that hit Nepal on the 25^th of April and the recurrent aftershocks severely damaged the school.  Since it was a Saturday, thankfully there were no children and teachers in the school. Due to the earthquake, classes were disrupted for over a month.

The damaged structure of Taltuleshwory School

For the 176 students of Shree Taltuleshwory School, life was never the same again after the earthquake. Most of them lost their homes due to the devastation and are now living in temporary houses made up of wooden frames and CGI sheets. In Thangpalkot Village Development Committee (VDC) the death count was 45 which included 11 students and 2 teachers. Some of these students were from Taltuleshwory School.

The severely damaged structure of  Shree Taltuleshwory School

The Children of Taltuleshwory School

Since the school structures including the class-rooms and other critical facilities were destroyed, the children and the teachers were hesitant to return to classrooms. Hence creating a conducive environment for the children to return to the classrooms was very critical. Temporary Learning Centres (TLCs) were constructed for the schools where classes are being run since 31^st May, 2015.  The construction of a new and permanent structure for the school is now underway and is going to be complete by March.   We are hoping that this effort will rekindle the spirits of the little children and give them a sense of security. It has been really long since these students have been attending classes in the TLCs and a newly constructed earthquake proof school structure would mean a lot to them. With the generation of additional funds we are also going to add a dining room and a playground for the children.

Reinstating the Fishery as a Social Business for Education and Community Development project in Raithane

We are currently engaged in the reinstatement of our Fishery as a Social Business for Education and Community Development project at Thangpalkot V.D.C, Sindupalchok District. The earthquake in Nepal on 25^th April, 2015 disrupted the fishery project which was carrying on successfully at the two nursery ponds in Raithane, Thangpalkot. The boundary walls of the ponds were completely damaged by the earthquake causing the water from the ponds to seep away. Apart from the walls, the earthquake also caused a severe damage to the monks and shutters. With the assistance of funds from the German Embassy we will be repairing the monk and shutter and the walls of the nursery ponds.

The two nursery ponds at Raithane

The monks and shutter installed in both ponds are interconnected to one another by a pipe to manage water, and for harvesting requirements. In order to restore the project, fish feed will also be supplied and cage nets provided. The boat of the pond that is in a bad condition will also be repaired and repainted. Income generated from the fish ponds will be utilized to pay for the deficient operational costs of Shree Raithane Secondary School. Since the earthquake completely disrupted this fishery project, we believe this initiative will help to reinstate it. Moreover, like before the project will not only aid financially constrained households to take up fishery as an income generating activity and thus assist in poverty alleviation but also assist in improving literacy at the school.  

 The monk and shutter of the nursery pond being repaired

The boat being repaired

How We Are Rebuilding Earthquake Ravaged Taltuleshwory Primary School

The powerful 7.8 Richter Scale earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25^th, 2015 and its recurrent aftershocks severely damaged Shree Taltuleshwory Primary School of Thangpalkot VDC, Sindupalchok District. Classes were disrupted for over a month affecting the 176 students of the school. With COMMITTED’s help the school is currently running as Temporary Learning Centers (TLC).

 The floor being laid

Moving forward, after the consolidation of the requisite funds, the construction of Shree Taltuleshwory School has been initiated and we are making steady progress. The permit process with the Department of Education, the District Education Office Sindupalchok, and the Social Welfare Council were also acquired before construction commencement. The new structure being built is earthquake resistant. The school buildings will be single storied with framed steel structures. This is because our assessment of many earthquake affected schools indicate steel framed structures to have handled the recent earthquake better, with minimal damage. 

The Site Plan of Taltuleshwory School

Also, pre fabricated material and light weight cement sandwich wall panels are being used which have proved to be earthquake resistant, upto a magnitude of 8.5. Not only is the structure designed to be earthquake proof but the use of  the wall panel material (EPS polystyrene grain) makes it sound proof and its calcium-silicon fire resistant quality makes it fire and water proof as well. The schools which were destroyed during the earthquake in Nepal were weak structurally and we see this as an opportunity to build stronger and better schools, to educate the students of Thangpalkot village.  

The pillars that have been set up

Construction in progress

The front elevation of Taltuleshwory Schol 

Inu Pakhrin shares her Star Writer Program Experience

Inu Pakhrin, a student of Taltuleshwory school shares her experience of the Star Writer Program

Inu Pakhrin, aged 12 studies in class five in Shree Taltuleshwory School, Thangpalkot VDC, Sindupalchok. There are five members in her family including her mother, father, and two sisters, one elder to her and the other younger than her. Her parents work as farmers in order to earn their livelihood. Inu shared her experience of participating in the Star Writer Program organized by COMMITTED. She expressed that she really enjoyed reading ‘Treasure Island’ the story book that their class had been assigned and that her favorite character in the book was Jim Hopkins. She shared that she found the program quite interesting as this was the first time that she had participated in such a program. She was happy that she got the opportunity to read a story book written in English guided by her English teacher as she used to read only Nepali story books earlier on. She said that from now on she would visit her school library more often and try to read other story books written in English.

Since before this she had not read an English story book completely, Inu shared that she found a lot of the words and the sentence structure in the book quite difficult to understand. She was advised to get a dictionary to help her find the meanings of the difficult words and now she has been continually using it.  She spends her spare time in learning the meanings of different words and its pronunciation. She feels that students get encouraged to develop the habit of reading through such a program and is glad to have been a part of it. The book report written by Inu after finishing reading Treasure Island was also chosen as one of the best book reports in the class by her teacher. Kudos to this star reader! 

Construction of Artificial Pond and Introducing Hatchlings

In June 2014, further expansion work was carried out on the fishery program. (Click here to read about it.)

Here's a video of the activity.