UK charity faces 'reality' of restoring education in Nepal
Thousands of children in Nepal have been left without access to education after devastating floods.
A UK charity is confronting the immense challenge of re-establishing education in Nepal following a devastating flood.
Jimmy Lama, a Kathmandu-based charity worker for the Somerset-based organization School in a Bag since 2012, is spearheading efforts to deliver school supplies to children. He witnessed firsthand the destruction caused by the massive flood along the Trishuli River, near the Nepal-Tibet border, on August 26.
"Once the cameras leave, we're going to face the reality of how to restore education," Lama stated.
The flood has, to date, resulted in over 1,000 confirmed deaths and nearly 4,000 missing persons. Whole villages have been obliterated by a deluge of mud and water. Among the casualties, Lama reported, are as many as 20 schools that served thousands of children.
"There are just so many things happening at a time and, at the same time, people who've come down to a relatively safe place are now struggling for clean water. Food, health and sanitation are a big issue," Lama explained. "For hundreds of people who have lost everything, it's about temporary shelter, what's going to happen next."
Luke Simon, founder and chief executive of School in a Bag, emphasized that a key priority in assisting people after the disaster is to help families restore a routine for their children. The charity, located in Chilthorne Domer, near Yeovil, raises funds to supply essential learning materials to schoolchildren globally, including stationery, lunchboxes, and hygiene products that facilitate classroom attendance.
"It's really important that we start to consider getting children back into school," Simon said. "Schools that have been lost, schools that have lost everything, will find that really challenging but our school banks allow children to be taught in temporary learning centres so they can re-establish routine and carry on with their education, which is so important for them in the wake of disaster," he added.
The school bags themselves will not be shipped from Somerset. Instead, the funds collected from the charity's supporters will enable Lama to assemble approximately 3,000 bags in Kathmandu, which will then be hand-delivered to those most in need.
"Somehow, these families deal with disaster and they just move on, they are incredible," Simon remarked. "Jimmy met children who were in the flood and survived."
He elaborated on the challenges: "Because the infrastructure has been so damaged, you've got some families living either side of the river and where they used to just nip across the bridge to see one another and they can't do that now. The only way they can see each other physically is to get a helicopter across, so it's these things that are so crippling for the families but they are the most resilient people and the best people to deal with these sorts of circumstances."
The charity is preparing to launch a new appeal specifically to raise funds for children in Nepal, with all money collected in September dedicated to helping them resume their education.