Easyfundraising
When you do your shopping on-line, perhaps for food or for Christmas, please set up a click-through way of donating to Q. Learning Nepal Trust CIO: it costs you nothing but the retailers give us money.
We have been thinking of different ways to fundraise for the 10 new desks needed in Hangdewa (to seat 20 children costing £35 each). This is a simple, easy way to help us raise funds without directly sending us a donation. When you shop at all of the major retailers such as John Lewis, eBay, Argos, ASOS and Booking.com you will then be giving money to buy these desks. You have to register by clicking on the link
A little icon appears at the top of your browser, then each time you shop you click onto the icon that will then take you to all the available shops. You shop as normal and they say ‘thank you’ by giving a percentage of your money to us. Plus, once you’ve signed up and raised £5 in donations, Easyfundraising will give us an extra £5 donation. Please register using this unique link – just click to sign up and always shop via the Easy Fundraising website and those few pence will go a long way in Nepal to buying new desks.
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/…/qlearningnepal…/…
Student Numbers Are Increasing
New desks are needed because there are over 200 students at the Schools in Hangdewa for the first time. Last year, the Nursery intake was 16 boys and 15 girls at age about 4, as well as some disappointed families. This year, only 17 boys and 3 girls. The alarm bells rang. Nepal is a very unequal, patriarchal society. The villagers are short of money, with Covid 19 bringing many fathers back from the Middle East where they work often as labourers and security officers. Families will move heaven and earth to make sure their boys have a good education, but less so for girls. The parental contribution for a child is about £8 a month with the true cost about £20 (the difference is made up by grants from Q. Learning Nepal Trust CIO in the UK). So the Schools’ Leadership Team sent out search parties to find out where the little girls lived who were not in school. Some are in poor families whose incomes are affected by Covid 19, particularly minority ethnic Limbu families, and others from the lowest caste who are the ‘hard poor’. They have all been given sponsored bursaries and all are now enrolled in the school: with 17 boys and 13 girls in Nursery. If you know anyone who would like the gift of hope for Christmas, please do sponsor one of these little girls who are engaging with a life-changing journey through the schools.
https://www.qlearningnepal.com/sponsor-a-child/
We have added an extra class at the top of the school and will add a further one next year. All children in these two top classes receive a free education, text books and uniforms. Only 75% of boys and 57% of girls in Nepal receive any education and the aim is to keep children in Hangdewa in a quality education that will enable them to lift themselves – and the village – out of poverty. By keeping them at the school, it increases the chance they will go onto further education, even university and into professions. There has been not a single girl marry under the legal age of 20 since Q. Learning Nepal Trust CIO has been funding schools in Hangdewa (since 2007), which compares with a possible 35% under 18 and 10% under 15 in the rest of Nepal.
The schools’ alumni includes students in medicine, nursing, radiography, law, computers, engineering, teaching and more. Here is Biplove Paudel who should be back studying computers near Kathmandu and, whilst waiting for Universities to reopen, is helping at the senior school.
Last Month’s Competition Was a Book Review
Children from the top 3 Classes (5,6 and 7 – ages roughly 11 upwards) and school leavers entered. There were fantastic essays and drawings from many entrants.
Winners were:
Ujjwal Dahal
Prajina Karki
Anupa Bhattarai
Semihang Maden
Arpan Bhattarai-
Ashika Bhattarai
Feshan Udash
Shesehang Maden
Soni Fago
Suman Bhattarai
Kindle
We are hoping to collect lots of old and new Kindles to preload with books to take out next time we visit. With vaccine news, we are hopeful that we may go in late Spring. Having fostered a love of reading books, these Kindles will help keep up with the children’s enthusiasm for new ones – beyond the tiny library of paper ones taken over in suitcases. If you can donate a Kindle please contact jo.thurston@qlearningnepal.com
Extra Curriculum Activities
You are probably well aware of the success of the Ambassador programme…each child is mentored by a Westerner and not only swaps (monitored) emails and photos but also has extra English book reading and conversation sessions. These have been so motivational that many Ambassadors, chosen mainly for their English fluency, have improved in all subjects and gone up a place or more in their classes. We would love to extend these opportunities to more children. If you know anyone who would be willing to join our amazing set of Mentors, please tell them about us. Our Mentors now fund 25% of the Q. Learning Nepal Trust CIO’s obligations – £20 a month makes a life-changing difference to the children. www.qlearningnepal.com/sponsor-a-child/
And this term there is a new English language choir. With the purchase of a keyboard, and some recommended songs suggested by choir enthusiasts in this country, together with access to YouTube, the senior school is making a start with ‘Some of My Favourite Things’ as sung by Julie Andrews in a Sound of Music. If you have any suggestions as to what else they could sing, please tell us lesley.warburton@qlearningnepal.com
Bit of Good News
Nearly 5 years ago, the school was incorporated into a Nepalese charity. Today, we learned that, as the ‘Q. Learning Nepal Trust CIO Registered Number 1192365’, we are officially a UK charity. Very good news. We owe a lot to Bates Wells who gave their pro-bono time over 9 months to helping us achieve this coveted status! If you need London City Lawyers, we can certainly recommend them. Now we are registering for Gift Aid and will keep you informed.
Thank you to you too for all your support, past, present and continuing. We couldn’t do all of this without you.
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