Welcome to Another Brick in Nepal
Mahendra School progress
Building of Mahendra School for Deaf Children is underway in rural Eastern Nepal. Here we share updates and photos of the ongoing work and of Nepali culture.
Latest update 10 January – further progress on roof trusses and plastering!
Earlier updates on the Mahendra School project here
Background and mission
In 2015 two major earthquakes struck Nepal, killing 9,000 people and destroying over 900,000 homes. Along with homes, 5000 schools were destroyed and many more damaged in this terrible catastrophe. In rural areas, government help is limited and many small villages have no capacity to rebuild.
Another Brick in Nepal (ABIN) was established to address this issue in a practical way. Our goal is to re-build schools in rural areas as we identify those most in need, not just those damaged in the quakes but any school facility which is unsafe and unsuitable for the students housed there. In 2017 we funded the re-building of our first school in the village of Aapchaur. This elementary school was built by locals, using locally supplied brick, meaning the money we had raised went back into the local economy. The school opened in January 2018.
We have also funded the replacement of two classrooms full of furniture for Yagyamati Secondary School in Kathmandu, after there were no funds remaining to furnish classrooms rebuilt by the government. We completed building our second school, Sharada Secondary School, in the Sankhuwasava district of Nepal. This school has over 450 students and their two-storey building had been deemed “unusable” post-earthquakes. ABIN raised $50,000 to help complete the re-build of this school. Sharada was completed in August 2020.
Him School was our third re-building project. Him is in a very rural area and cannot always be accessed by road, due to the destructive monsoon season. We worked very closely with the local community who had managed to raise some funds themselves to repair their small school. ABIN was able to commence building in October 2019 and, despite the turmoil in 2020, we completed Him school in December 2020.
Our 4th school is currently under construction. The Mahendra School for Deaf Children i n Kandbhari, is a special project. The school offers tuition and board to all the deaf children of the region, some living many hours from the village. We are rebuilding a school building, dormitory, kitchen and bathroom facilities for the students. Students currently have to share beds, and live in poor conditions in a building badly damaged in the quakes.
We are now raising funds to construct our 5th school. Every penny we raise goes to Nepal to help the children receive the education they deserve in safe, suitable conditions. If you would like to support us in this mission please donate below (tax receipts available for all Canadian donations).