HOSTEL IN NEPAL

THIS FUND RAISER IS NO LONGER ACTIVE

URGENT FUNDS NEEDED

FOR LAND ON WHICH TO BUILD CHILDREN'S HOSTEL IN NEPAL

Having lived in Nepal for 9 years, I have grown to know the country since my first visit almost 30 years ago. Since the devastating earthquakes of 2015, Nepal, one of the world's most beautiful and yet poorest countries, has needed all the help we could give.

Our current project has been to rebuild Gauri Primary School at Talagau, on a hilltop overlooking Pokhara's Phewa Lake. In addition we have been renting premises which we converted to a hostel for children affected by the earthquakes and those with dis-jointed family situations. However, it has limitations in size and location and no longer fulfils the children's needs, added to which, making the situation even more urgent, the owner is in the process of selling it, so we shall have to move out.

The children's school is almost finished, now they need somewhere permanent to live.

A very kind anonymous donor provided most of the funding for us to build a hostel nearer to Gauri School about which we were delighted. At that time we understood that Community land would be available upon which we could build and this would have cost little. We began work on creating the iron structures that were needed, but to our dismay, we were subsequently told that although we could use the land, the government had decided we would not be allowed to connect water or electricity, making it of no use to us at all.

The outcome is that we now need to purchase land, several small adjoining pieces, from five small land-owners. We have put down a deposit, enabling us to start work as the village community is very supportive, but the balance will need to be paid very soon - and it's a lot, totalling £32,000.00 which we are hoping to fund through this Go FundMe plea. The area amounts to 4 rupinee of land (just under one acre).

In Nepali land measurements, each rupinee is made up of 16 aana, so each aana in this plot costs £500.

The figure frightens us, but somehow we need to raise it as we have no alternative, or these children will be out of a home. This is because the building we have been renting for them to live in has been sold by the owner so we have to vacate it in just a few weeks. 

Please, please help us to achieve our goal for these children, either by donating or by circulating the Go Fund Me page to your many friends, or maybe even both ;-)  

With your help, somehow we shall do it.

This photo was taken on June 20th, showing the land being levelled for the hostel, as well as showing the proximity to the school.

We had to work quickly as the children urgently need a permanent home. So by June 25th foundation work was well underway.

The photo below shows the dormitory block on the left, next to which, but out of sight on this photo, is a toilet block which is nearly complete.

Nearest to us is the study block, and behind that the kitchen building. This photo was taken on August 10th.

Since then the study block has been slightly amended, so that the poles are higher and the roof less sloping. It will be partially open sided, with a low wall on two sides and a complete wall at the end, so it can be used for a whiteboard and projector screen.  

The following two photos were taken on August 19th. The plastering is now well underway, and the kitchen is beginning to take shape...

Once the building is complete and the children have moved in, we have exciting plans to make the area eco-friendly, and to grow almost all our own produce. In their free time, the children will be encouraged to help with this, which will enable them to learn new skills which could come in useful.  

Here are the children who will be living at the hostel...

By now, you are probably wondering why such happy, healthy-looking children need our care, but the following pictures tell their own story and the reason why we exist.

Here are Pradip, Sunita and Ramesh when they arrived with us in July 2016; the other photos of these same children were taken in early 2018. What a difference!

So now we have come to the end of the children who will be moving to the new hostel. There are 27 of them and the original premises were only designed to take 16, so you can see that as numbers have grown it has been a bit of a squash.

Sadly we have had to turn many children away, but there will space for just a few more for us to help when the building is complete.

 Below are the staff who live in at the hostel...

Donating via GoFundMe is simple, but if anyone wishes to contact me directly for more information, or to arrange donation of funds by some other means, you will be able to locate me by simply Googling my name, Juliette Cunliffe. Alternatively please visit our Facebook Group page, Education Earthquake Nepal, which is constantly updated so you can follow our progress and where you will see photos of the children and their activities.