ROTA's achievements in Nepal
- Schools in 3 mountainous villages were directly benefited
A delegation from Qatar-based NGO Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) returned last week from a volunteer trip to Nepal. Forty volunteers from 6 schools of Qatar, together with ROTA staff, visited Nepal to offer educational support to three primary and elementary schools located in mountainous villages.
The first project was conducted in the village of Chitwan, where ROTA donated funds needed for the construction of the Pre-school Samjhana Muna Bal Bikash Kendra. The volunteers painted the walls of the school, donated toys and educational material and played with the kids. "Through ROTA donation our kids will have the chance to go to school rather than playing in the streets. This will give them an opportunity for better life", said the Principle of the school, stressing also the fact that the closest school is in 1-hour-walking distance from the village.
The second project took place in the Shree Bhomeshowr Secondary School located on the Dampus Mountain. There are 320 students from 9 villages studying in this school, but there are only 12 teachers to cover all educational needs. The volunteers, that had to hike for 2 hours to get to the school, helped in painting the school's library, donated books and other educational material and conducted educational workshops. Amritgautam, a 12-year-old Nepali student, said: "I am so happy meeting you all! I never dreamed of having the chance to play and share cultural knowledge with anyone outside my small village! It enables me to hope that my life will get better and thus I'll never forget you."
The third project was conducted in the Shree Balkalyan Primary School in Pokhara area. It is the school that suffered in the past by the loss of own of the pupils that drowned in the river located by the school, as there were no barrier there to protect the children. After having built a fence and a library, ROTA and its volunteers returned now to paint the school and the library, conduct several workshops with the students and spend some fun time with them. Commenting on ROTA's visit, Mrs. Susti, a Nepali Doctor said: "We really appreciate the fact that Qatari students came to visit the underprivileged students in Nepal and do with them different activities; all the people here think that Qatar is one of the oil countries where many Nepalese work as labourers; a Qatari NGO's efforts towards the improvement of education in Nepal was something unexpected. We hope that other countries too will follow ROTA's great example, and offer to us a helping hand." In the same school, ROTA offered also one-year-salary for an English teacher, which could not be covered by the school.
These three schools will benefit over 400 students, but as one of the locals commented, they will also serve as community centres, benefiting indirectly the large communities of the Himalayan villages.
This trip was a unique opportunity for Qatar to extend a hand of friendship and support to Nepal, and taught a lot to the Qatari students that participated. Mohamed Al Nasser from Gulf international School said: "I'll never forget my experience with ROTA. I had a chance to see another part of the world and I realized that there are people who are suffering from not having a chance to go to school. I would like to continue helping those people, and I wish I will have the chance to participate again in future volunteer trips."
