ネパール農村部の子どもたちに学びの楽しさを知ってもらいたい！

We are graduates of the Tokyo Medical Dental University, who studied health sciences such as nursing and medical technology. In 2015, we first visited Napel as part of the school program to learn about medical and health situations in Nepal. While we visited primary schools, hospitals, and health posts (clinics) that provide primary health care in communities, we saw many differences in health and educational environments between Nepal and Japan. Nevertheless, we were impressed by the Nepali people who were very kind-hearted, and they welcomed us very warmly, regardless of their limited resources.

 

The stay in Nepal was very challenging for all of us since the environment was very different from that of Japan. For example,  all of us got sick due to the polluted water during the visit (even though we were very cautious about the drinking water). In addition, transportation was another challenge because roads were not well-developed in the mountainous country and hence long trips in the region made us tired. Furthermore, we noticed infrastructure to be insufficient as we experience frequent power cuts, and water supply shortages, disparity of medical equipment and human resource in health sectors and schools. We realized there are a lot of barriers in order to improving the quality of health care and educational services in the country.

▼Why we started this project

 

There was a big earthquake that occurred in Nepal in 2015, causing a huge loss of people and property. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic which started in 2020 added more negative impact on the medical, educational, and socio-economical aspects of this country.

At the same time,  Dr. Begam (Public Health Inspector), who is the head of a health post in Nepal, and also supported the school program of the Tokyo Medical Dental University in 2015, contacted Dr. Sawabe (who was the facilitating teacher of this program) in June 2022, seeking some support for students of primary schools in his home village. According to Mr. Begam, there are a lot of students who dropped out of school due to economic burdens, and a lack of motivation. At this moment, all of us had in fact, already graduated from the University walking very different paths. However, we decided to get back together to raise funds for supporting those dropout students and children in Nepal.

 

▼The current situation in Nepal

There is a huge shortage of health professionals along with a less equipped, unestablished, and merely -functional health system in this country. One of the main causes is due to insufficient government funds for medicine/health. Both communicable and non-communicable diseases are prominent as well as a high maternal-infant mortality rate. Especially, many children tend to die of diarrhea and infectious diseases due to a lack of sanitation. Furthermore, one out of seven children aged 5 to 17 years, are forced to labor instead of going to school in Nepal, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). Some of the major causes of such child labor issue in Nepal is poverty and the influence of the caste system. Such children who are forced to work, are expected to support their families due to their poor economic background. They are not educated, hence unlikely to obtain a better job with a high salary when they grow up, leading to a vicious cycle between poverty and lack of education. Mr. Begam mentioned that around 10 % of schoolchildren drop out of school because of poverty, lack of motivation to study added by the unwillingness of their families to let them study. In Nepal, education by the government institution itself is free, however, stationary, uniforms, and other educational books are not free and need to be prepared by the parents. In fact, there are a lot of families who are not able to afford such added needs. Therefore, children of such families are at risk of suspending their schooling.

▼The request of Mr. Begam (the head of Nagarkot Community Health Center)

Mr. Begam proposed we launch the “Rural Kids Help Project” in support of educating children. Mr. Begam said, “A human’s life is built up based on the ‘good education.’ Unfortunately,  people here are deprived of basic human rights such as education and health because of poverty. I strongly wish to create an environment that protects child’s right to study, and live healthily with high health literacy.” Mr. Begam continued to convince Dr. Sawabe repeatedly and finally, Dr. Sawabe got moved by Mr. Begam’s persistent attitude and sincere request that he wishes to create hope for the future of those children in Nepal.

▼NPO Buddha Foundation.

Fortunately, we got some valuable feedback from NPO Buddha Foundation, which has been working for Nepal over a long period of  20 years. NPO Buddha Foundation has implemented multi-faced activities including medical support, industrial support, and improving gender equity. Among the several activities by the NPO, one of the leading activities was the “moving library” for school children, which had become the most popular activity in the country. At the time the NPO Buddha Foundation launched the project, Ms. Kyoko Matsuoka (a famous author of “ Children and Book.”) strongly recommended the NPO Buddha Foundation to start this project. The moving library has been reported to have visited more than 100 schools providing an opportunity for reading camp, distributing stationary, and rewarding a student who is good at reading a book. The experience shared by the NPO Buddha Foundation was impressive to us making us learn about the importance of interactive communication and culture rather than providing merely material support.

▼Aims of Rural Kids Help Project (RKH project)

Our Rural Kids Help Project ultimately aims at enhancing the joy of study for children living in a remote areas of the country, by enhancing health, encouraging education, and advocating the fundamental rights of the children.

 

▼ Challenges of this crowdfunding

The fund will be used for the following activities:

 

・Assist health camp and kids club at three primary schools in Nepal.

・Conduct a reading camp by using a moving library car.

・Provide necessary items such as stationery, education books, and sports items.

 

In order to achieve the above, we plan to support step by step for 3 years from now, after making a contract with a trustworthy organization in Nepal. The targeted 4 primary schools are Shree Shidhyashory Primary School, Baljyoti Primary School, Dipendra Primary School, and Nepal National Primary School, and the total number of students is 267.

 

The area, where these primary schools are located, is called “Pyuthan,” and is also the homeplace of Mr. Begam. Pyuthan, which is around 400 km far to the west of the capital city (Kath mandu). This place is also said to be famous for a Hindu temple, called ‘`Swargadwari temple` meaning gateway to heaven temple.  Pyuthan is a mountainous area, one of the poorest regions in the country. There are many students who are not able to continue to study due to insufficient needs such as stationery, and books that their parents cannot afford. Moreover, many children go to school barefoot, without any shoes. The children do not have any chance to read a book since there is no library room at any of the 4 primary schools.

We hope to collect funds to provide the necessary items and conduct relevant educational events for the 4 primary schools from this crowdfunding.

 

We look forward to your generous donation and support on this project for a “better future” for poor children that Mr. Begam is strongly wishing, for in Pyutham!

 

▼Vision and future collaboration of this project)

This project aims to provide educational materials and conduct relevant educational events at 4 primary schools in one of the poorest regions of Nepal, in order to improve the educational environment of the schools. This planned activity is consistent with SDG target goal 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” We expect the achievements of this project enables to create an educational environment where all of the children in the area are motivated to study and become better people in the future.

we recognize that there are many things we could do for creating a sound educational environment for children in such low resource country,   the contribution of this project may be only a small part as of now but in the future,  we hope to expand this project to support other areas such as providing water purifier, and necessary medical services (including health camp collaborating with local medical doctors), etc.

We hope to continue this activity considering what is best for the children and people based on their needs at the very moment.