PROJECTS
All started in 1993 with three sponsored children at the Morning Star School in Naudanda. Until 2006, all our activities were focused on this school. In 2006, the River Dale School was added as a private school, and in 2007, the public Gyjan Yoti School joined. This pattern continued almost every two years until 2023, the year of our parents Dagmar and Jörg's passing. To accommodate their last wish, we decided to invest the donations collected for their funerals, amounting to nearly €50,000, in the Hillside School. The investment aims to provide to the highly motivated students and the very dedicated school administration there with a strong foundation for the best possible education, similar to what is provided at the other partner schools.
Learn more about our schools below. We look forward to your suggestions and, even better, your involvement!
School projects
We assess carefully each school on-site for its relevance to the area, its suitability for developemnt, and its potential. We personally meet the school principals, teaching staff, and members of the school management before any support is provided.
Below are details about our partner schools in Nepal and information about our earthquake relief project in 2015: "Help for Self-Help – Rebuilding 73 houses destroyed by the Earthquake for underprivileged families at our schools."
The following schools were/are financially supported by the Nepal Children Overlack Foundation:
Our School locations
Earthquake relief project 2015-18
Project: Help for Self-help - Rebuilding of 73 houses destroyed by the earthquake for underprivileged families at our schools
The devastating effects of the 2015 earthquake had severe consequences, particularly in the mountainous regions, many of which have still not been fully addressed. Thousands of Nepalis lost their homes, and the situation in the developing country worsened. Nepal's main source of income – tourism - collapsed in 2015 and 2016, only resuming regularly in the summer of 2017.
This presented us with a new challenge. Jörg Overlack flew immediatelly to Nepal to personally assess the situation at the schools. Fortunately, there were no casualties at the schools, partly because the earthquake occurred on a Nepalese holiday. The structural damage to the schools was minimal. However, the homes of many students' families were destroyed.
Jörg Overlack recalls: “Our fundraising appeal published in several regional German newspapers for earthquake relief received an overwhelming response, allowing us to start a side project to rebuild some homes.”
For the construction of a total of 73 houses, materials and transportation were organized locally. The material costs for the houses were covered by our donations. The cost for one house was approximately €1,800. Our Team developed and provided a standardized building plan with earthquake-resistant reinforced concrete frame construction and masonry walls. The families had to organize the (re)construction of the houses themselves, supervised and supported by a dedicated construction engineer assigned by us. Thanks to the strong communities in the mountain villages, the construction proceeded quickly with a lot of local support. We received documentation for each individual house until the completion of all houses by the end of May 2018.
Students
Numerous outstanding students have been able to make a successful start to their professional lives thanks to our support. As of today, more than 500 children sponsored by us have graduated from school with a secondary school diploma or high school diploma and have started a self-determined life. About 50% of them are girls.
A 2017 survey of Morning Star Higher Secondary School, found that of the 137 students we sponsored up to that point who graduated with a secondary school diploma, 48 went to university, including four in Australia, the U.S., and Japan, while 77 of the students were engaged in other work, nine of them abroad.
Some exceptionally intelligent and dedicated students who have achieved extraordinary degrees have also received financial aid to fund their university education. Ultimately, however, we leave the decision about further support to the individual sponsors themselves.
We would like to share the following stories of our previously sponsored students with you.
