Establishing a Social Business for Education project to provide sustainable free, quality education in rural Nepal.
Coming from a low socioeconomic background in Nepal, even as a primary school student in Kathmandu, I dreamt of making a difference, through education, both to myself and to others in Nepal.
After over two decades abroad, I had finally decided to return home to work towards fulfilling the second part of my dream.
However, following an unfortunate incident not only was I fired from my job at the school, I was also jailed for allegedly insulting Islam.
Luckily, my friends around the world launched a massive campaign, and after only four days of initiating it, I was freed.
During my time in Qatar, I came to see, hear and read about the exploitation, abuse and sufferings of hundreds of thousands of Nepalese (and other Asian) migrant labourers in Qatar. I met a number of them languishing in jail as well. I discovered that their lack of education is the main reason for their suffering.
They came from low socio-economic background, just like myself. But unlike me, their poverty and lack of opportunities for education and work opportunities have driven them to Qatar.
Returning to Nepal on May 13, having decided to make a difference in the lives of others through education long before the ordeal, the first thing I did was raise over thirty thousand dollars.
Following the campaign, my friend Jayjeev and I have been running COMMITTED, an NGO dedicated to implementing holistic development works through education-related projects, project that improve infrastructure, resources and quality of education at Raithane School in Thangpalkot village, Sindupalchowk.
To make sure that the education program is sustainable, COMMITTED has initiated a Social Business for Education project: a Fishery, with funds (totalling about US$20,000) raised through other means. But, we need an additional US$45,000!
Once fully set up, a significant part of the profits from the business will cover all the expenses of the school. The remaining profits will be used for community development projects as per the Community Development Plan (CDP) the community will be devising with help from COMMITTED.
In the mean time, additional funds are required for resources, teacher training, infrastructure upgrades and other expenses, funds we were not able to raise in June’s campaign.
An additional US$15,000 is required to upgrade the school library and provide library management skills training to the school staff, to provide enhanced support for Science, English and Arts curriculum. A further US$28000 to complete the new school building, to upgrade the classrooms, to set-up rainwater harvesting system and to address WASH (Water Sanitation and Health) issues. And finally, not unlike all other government schools in Nepal, Raithane struggles to pay teachers’ salaries. In order to pay a decent wage to four school-employed teachers for the next two years an additional US$12000 is necessary.
COMMITTED therefore is aiming to raise a total of US$100,000 to provide free, quality and sustainable education to the children of Raithane School in Thangpalkot, Sindhupalchok, Nepal. These funds will support the education of 350+ students attending Raithane School in Thangpalkot VDC, a community with a population of over 3000–education that will give them the freedom to dream and chart their own destinies, just as it did for me!
We are looking for interested individuals to help us raise these funds by being a team member in this campaign. If you are interested, click here or on the image to the right for instructions on how to join.
This fundraising drive runs from November 18, 2013 through January 9, 2014.
Fundraising Websites – Crowdrise
