Nepal Trip: April 2024
Dear Friends of our Nepal Children Overlack Foundation,
This year we traveled to Nepal for the first time without Dagmar and Jörg, officially following in their footsteps. It was an emotional trip as we returned to many places that have connected us to them and reminded us of them since 1992.
Over the course of five days, we visited eleven schools with Krishna and had in-depth discussions with all the principals. We were told about the development of their school over the years and talked about their plans, prospects and challenges. We were impressed by the deep gratitude we received from all the schools. Everyone is aware that without Dagmar and Jörg's support, they would not have reached their current status.
Our schools have achieved impressive academic results in recent years and have held their own in the regional rankings. This is a testament to the effectiveness of our support and the hard work of the principals, teachers and pupils. We are proud to be part of this success and will continue to do all we can to ensure our schools maintain and improve their performance. With falling birth rates, there will be more intense competition between schools in the future. We have therefore communicated to everyone that the quality of school education will be one of our most important goals in the future.
As a family, environmental protection is particularly important to us. For this reason, we have spontaneously made €500 freely available to each school (the average monthly salary of a teacher is €350) if they plan and implement environmental protection measures such as workshops, waste collection campaigns etc. by next year and provide photos to prove it.
The education of girls and young women has been very important to us from the very beginning. This is not just about school education, but also about the lack of sex education. We got to know an organization that is explicitly concerned with improving young women's knowledge about menstruation and infant and young child nutrition: sochai.org. In Nepal, 50% of all children under the age of 5 still die due to malnutrition. A reason to take care of it.
There is currently a program through the German Embassy that enables Nepalese to complete an apprenticeship in Germany and then gain work experience here. This year, two girls from the Morning Star School that we support will be making their way to Germany in August to complete a cookery apprenticeship. What a step! We met both of them and are looking forward to hearing about their experiences. Learning German from zero to B2 level within 1.5 years is not easy and shows their commitment. We also conducted four interviews with young people who want to do the same, but can't afford the cost of language courses due to their lack of experience.
We also conducted four interviews with young people who want to do the same but cannot afford the costs of language courses due to family backgrounds. We therefore decided to reimburse these fees of €800 to three of them who are having a particularly hard time. One of them comes from a family that has worked in a brickworks for generations. His parents worked hard for his education. Now he wants to do an apprenticeship as a bank clerk in Germany so that he can support his parents, who are in poor health, in the future.
The signing of the contract with the principal of Hillside School was a special and emotional moment. It was Jörg's express wish that we invest the donations for Dagmar's and his thanksgiving service in this school, our latest project.
The condition of the school is similar to that of our first school 30 years ago, when we were first in Nepal. In the first phase, the old, dilapidated boarding rooms are currently being converted into classrooms in order to be able to continue teaching during the second phase, the demolition and construction of a new part of the building. The new construction will begin in the fall and will include a new dormitory for boys and a new dormitory for girls as well as two rooms for computer and science labs. As the school currently has neither a science lab nor working computers, this investment will enable us to provide much-needed information and support.
The dormitory facilities will be particularly helpful for pupils with long, sometimes 1.5 - 2 hour journeys to school and will save them this during the week. The school will bear 20% of the costs and, in return for our investment, will take in and support children in need free of charge. This investment will not only substantially improve the quality of education, but will also help the school to remain competitive in the future.
Attached you will find a short report on each school. It is clear that our help and support is getting through, but is still needed. There are still many young people in need who, without our help, will not receive a good education and will not be able to develop to their potential.
We would like to thank all of you who have supported and accompanied Dagmar and Jörg for so many years. That is incredible and motivates us for the future.
Speaking of the future: without you, without your continued support, we can only achieve so much.
We rely on you to continue helping us to improve the lives of young people. We hope you will continue to place your trust in us and help us to do good here.
We hope you will continue to place your trust in us in the future so that we can do good with your help.
You probably already know that we have many success stories. The most recent is that of Shiva Bhandari, one of our very first students, who has just completed his PhD in Biomedical Physics in the USA and is dedicating his doctorate to Dagmar and Jörg out of gratitude for their support. He knows he wouldn't be where he is today if they hadn't supported him back then and laid the foundation for his incredible career.
We can all be proud of that.
Best regards
Bert&Marc
with Federica, Bibiana, Sandra, Philipp, Kim and Luc