Nepaltrip: 09. - 22. April
Participants: The entire Overlack family (10 people), plus 11 interested friends.
We would like to inform you in advance that our children Bert and Marc are now taking over the management of our Nepal children's project after having been involved for many years. Sandra, our granddaughter, who has been on the foundation's advisory board since 2021 and actively supports us, is also getting involved.
On this trip, we were able to visit 9 of our 10 schools and many of the sponsored pupils, while also checking the structural condition of the schools and our project investments. The main focus of the trip, however, was to visit potential new schools that are in urgent need of help in the form of investment. These are the schools Ghandruk, Hill Side and Kalika.
Himalaya School, Gorje
The 1st and 2nd construction phases, which have been built one after the other since 2020, were inaugurated here. The 3rd construction phase with a solar system will start in September 2022. This school will then be able to accommodate 400 more children and meet the demand in grades 8-12 from the catchment area, as it is the only school that offers education up to grade 12, the Nepalese school-leaving certificate.
Morning Star Higher Secondary School, Naudanda
After a very warm and friendly welcome, we were able to discuss the effects of the coronavirus with the school management. Unfortunately, there are many children in this school in particular who can no longer pay their school fees because their parents have become unemployed due to the corona-related slump in tourism.
We will examine the individual cases and help!
Brahma Rupa School
This public school has developed into an absolute model school. Following our investment in a new school building in 2016, the school authorities have added two more buildings and expanded the school's focus. As a result, 3 subjects can now be offered here in the Nepalese Abitur. In addition, three teachers financed by us (for English, IT and mathematics) also contribute to this success. A very successful concept.
Ghadruk
This school below the Annapurna massif on the edge of the road to Annapurna Base Camp has a huge catchment area. Students from Pokhara University have documented the catchment area and the children's routes to school for us, covering distances of up to 2.5 hours (one way).
Tourism is the main source of income. There are mainly simple hostels for trekkers. However, the area is suffering from people moving away because they cannot find any prospects here.
The school has approached us with 2 plans:
a) the establishment of a kind of hotel management school in or after the upper school, so that the demand for hotel and catering specialists from the surrounding area can also be met here, but also so that the rural population can be trained accordingly and
b) the establishment of an overnight accommodation facility (hostel) for pupils from far-flung areas, so that they are spared the long journey to school. We have also recognized that the existing building needs to be renovated and prepared for undisturbed teaching, especially during monsoon periods.
Shree Kalika Basic School
This is a village school run by the community. What makes it special is that it offers lessons in English, which many other public schools are unable to do. This is only possible thanks to generous financial support from individual villagers. However, lessons take place in very simple buildings. Rooms for the staff room, science lab, library and computers have to be doubled up as there are not enough classrooms available.
We have decided to offer this school our support for a package of measures consisting of the renovation of the existing buildings, the addition of 2 more rooms to a building and the construction of new, adequate sanitary facilities. We hope that this will be another school for our project that impresses with a special attitude on the part of the school management and the villagers.
Hill Side School
The school with the biggest renovation backlog is Hill Side School, which historically has the most difficult starting position. It was closed under the Maoists as it was a private school and was only reopened 12 years ago start operating again. The school impresses with its two dedicated brothers, who share the school management and are very ambitious in terms of providing the best possible education. This school is also a mammoth project over several years, which we can only carry out with a strong partner with great ambitions. We will therefore first have the school draw up a renovation and new building concept and then present this to interested sponsors.
It became abundantly clear to us once again that the visit of our schools and the associated control is and remains a very important factor in our success is and remains. Many thanks to Vijay for his many years of friendship and his perfect tour guiding.
Let's keep up the good work!
We are always looking for sponsors and financial support for our new projects. We look forward to your interest and will be happy to provide you with further information.
Your Family Overlack
Dagmar&Jörg
Bert, Federica, Sandra&Philipp
Marc, Bibiana, Kim&Luc
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