WHY

In Nepal Education is, averagely, at a very low level. In most of the mountainous regions of the country, where roads do not reach villages, there is a strong and impressive lacking in infrastructures. Schools are most of times four walls and one roof. Something very different despite of what we have in our mind. Sometimes no chairs, no benches, no desks, no blackboards...no educational tools...sometimes no books, no copybooks, no pen...no dresses...sometimes....nothing...and sometimes you do not have teachers...and when you have, if not real ones, you have people engaged to keep children and trying to transmit them...something...

We are really worry about next generations. What is the future in this country for them? In big cities or villages you can get nice schools (...sometimes we should discuss about some...). But what about those hundreds of thousands of children living in remote areas? We may think that most of regions in Nepal are "REMOTE". Time passes and little or nothing changes. Do parents of these children have faith in Education? If they have not already lost it, they are going quickly to loose it.

How may we blame them if the school is so far that children walk everyday till 4 hours to go and back from it, climbing in narrow and dangerous paths which are for a big part of year slippery for the rain? and walking so long way to stay in a classroom about 14 square meters (3.5m x 4m) with 35 schoolmates or more! how could we accuse them if the school does not guarantee to their children all the classes but just few because of classrooms lacking? Many parents said to us they send children to school only for the meal that school provides to students at noon through a UN food program.

Young men from the valleys today in Kathmandu say that during their childhood they had not interest for the school, that their parents did not take care of their education as always involved in efforts for basic survival, for which themselves where many times requested to accomplish duties (keeping livestock, working in the fields or guarding the house). They did only hope to leave their valley and move to the city, to find something they exactly did not know but appearing always better than their living condition.

Information on life in the city arrived to young people creating an illusion of a better life (we think that sometimes this is not false). So these young boys (for girls it is different as in Nepal society they do not move so easily) leave their villages and join friends or relatives in Kathmandu (most of times) looking for jobs especially in the touristic area. They are so many. They have no money to pay any kind of Education. It has already forever abandoned. But cities in Nepal are still full of problems. It is very difficult or impossible for them to be helped to find a nice way for their life. They are doomed to be the lowest part of the society. We think most schools in remote areas are so poor and undeveloped that children do not have opportunities not only to grow and be educated to get a nice life but, as for their dramatic survival condition, they can not even have that so beautiful moment that many children in the world have, a nice and joyful childhood. And we think it should be the basic right for all children in the world.

Here we have described some common conditions you can find around in Nepal, most of which also belong to our school and to the villages in the area we are working.