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Iona's Trek for Nepalese Hostel's Eco-Project

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STOP PRESS!  Iona  reached the peak of Poon Hill...  all 3,210 metres  of it!   Well done Iona :-)

Lots of new photos, so please scan  lower down the page to see more. 

Here you see here with all the other eleven-year-olds in the hostel.

DIBYA JYOTI EDUCATION TRUST (Reg. No. 179263/074/075) is also familiarly known as EDUCATION EARTHQUAKE NEPAL as that is initially why it was set up, to provide urgent help for children who had been displaced by the devastating earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May 2015. As the years have progressed it has grown beyond that, to help not only them but others who have severe family problems.

It has all been organised by Juliette Cunliffe, a British citizen who has lived in Nepal for the last ten years and her Nepalese partner, Dibya Kumar Baral. Both live on the outskirts of Pokhara, where they have a small hotel.

Their current project is to complete the building and set up the sustainability of a hostel, which is currently home to 29 children between the ages of 6 and 14.
Location of the hostel

All children are in desperate need of our help. Some of them are orphans, some have just a mother (in Nepal a poor man can leave his wife giving no further support to his wife or children) and a few have both a mother and father, but in some cases the parents have disabilities.
Just a few of the children

Most children are Chepangs, which means that they are even below the caste system, making them known as 'the lowest of the low'. But we also have needy children who are members of various castes.
The children are delighted to have beds of their own, one dormitory for girls and another for boys
And they are proud to look after what they have got


Initially we rented premises for a hostel, but the land was sold last year, so we had to build a new hostel quickly to keep a roof over the children's heads. We have come a long, long way with the foundation stones being laid in June 2018 and now the children are all settled in, but much still needs to be done.
Children about to enjoy their first Christmas party in the new hostel
And definitely enjoying their lunch

Iona has now visited Nepal and has visited the hostel to meet the children. The next day she left for her four day Poon Hill trek where she reached the height of 3210 metres, having trekked 4 to 8 hours a day, passing through the characteristic villages of Ulleri, Ghorepani and Ghandruk. At the peak she saw see numerous mountain ranges, including Dhaulaghiri, Annapurna and Manaslu. What an experience for an eleven year old!

By doing the trek, Iona has been raising sponsorship to help these children, focusing on our Eco-project so that we can reach a level of sustainability as soon as possible.
The hostel is already well-stocked with chickens to provide eggs

We plan to grow our own crops and to have six cows with barns to provide milk for the children and fuel for biogas. This will provide cooking gas which is expensive here.



Apart from the economical and health reasons for our eco-project, we are anxious to teach the children as much as we can about how they can thrive successfully in adult life. We already have sponsorship for 4 cows and 2 barns, so we need to raise money for 2 more cows (£270 each) plus the 4 additional barns they will need (£30 each), and their fodder for the first year (£195 per cow). Then of course comes the biogas plant which is a big item in itself, costing almost £1,000 to purchase.




They came laden with wonderful gifts for the children

This is a dress that Iona had made herself, but has outgrown, so Samichya was the lucky recipient



Fay with one of the teachers


The children finally had to say'Goodbye' to Iona, Fay and Steve, but the memory of their wonderful day will live on forever.

The very next morning, Iona set off with her mother and Steve to conquer Poon Hill....




Many congratulations Iona...
and many many thanks to you and your family for raising funds to help the children in Nepal.
We are so, so grateful!

If you would like to learn more about this education project, please take a look at our Facebook Group page, called Education Earthquake Nepal (our number of followers precludes us from changing the name to Dibya Jyoti Education Trust).

Thank you for taking the time to read our ramblings and we hope you will enjoy following Iona's adventures and our children's progress.

Organizer

Juliette Cunliffe
Organizer

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