logo KHN Quake Volunteers

Eductional Program

 

Annual cost aprox. 3 462 €

 

Background

 

Impacts of the 7.8- earthquake on the 25th of April 2015 and it’s aftershocks:

  • 8 898 people (4 918 women and 3 974 men) died.
  • 22 309 people were injured.
  • The government stated that 6 022 257 houses had either been damaged completely or partially.
  • Aid organizations estimate that more than one million people are still lacking access to food supply and 500 000 people more would still require livelihood support. About 370 000 children are lacking access to save and temporary learning facilities.

What our partner organization “QUAKE VOLUNTEERS“ already has accomplished:

Quake Volunteers is a group of motivated, voluntary, young helpers which had been formed as a response to the big quake. Quake Volunteers have already been working in close relationship with further similar organizations. The team, consisting of 500 volunteers, has already been successfully implementing numerous relief actions including the establishment of schools and emergency shelter for widows, old and disabled people. Additionally they provided educational support to those children highly affected by the quake, childcare, women empowerment, psychosocial support, motivation camp for the young people and general cleanups.

Further planned actions:

The next step, as a response to the earthquake is to find a way to provide appropriate accesses to learning facilities for many children in the most severely affected communities. This will be done by working together with other organizations on a national and regional level. The focus will be set on communities which are displaced from their homeland, so called „displaced communities“. Especially children and poor local families in those communities will be supported. The aim is, to take care of the education of those children, who cannot visit a school and thus whose education is endangered.

Aim:

Our overall aim is, to enable the children in displaced communities to receive education and consequently to enhance the educational-level in the whole community. For this purpose, we are deploying teachers directly in the camps in order to help those children that were displaced from their homeland and thus were forced to cancel school to continue and improve their education.

Why is it necessary to support Displaced Communities especially in education?

 

Since the earthquake, young children have to deal with numerous problems affecting their daily life and have to live under not acceptable circumstances. Due to a lack of accessible schools or parental support many children were forced to quit their education.

Since the families living in those communities lost their basis of existence and have to fight for their livelihood, frustrated parents are usually unable to provide proper care for their children including their education. Without parental support, the future and career prospective of those children is jeopardized. This lack of prospective harms first of all the children themselves and also threatens the welfare of the whole community.

Educational Support in those communities is important:

  • Change to a new school with new teachers and new classmates is unfavorable and can cause many difficulties.
  • Some pupils are unable to visit school (too long distance); their education and career is highly unsecure.
  • The children are struggling to concentrate on their education surrounded by the overpopulated and temporary shelters in the camp.
  • The displaced parents are not able to provide proper care for their children and their education.
  • The productive time of the children cannot be used in a meaningful way.
  • Children are suffering under depressions, anxiety and constant tension.
  • The right to education cannot be ensured.

What can be changed when we support the education of those children?

Thus it is extremely important to support the education of children living in displaced communities in order to solve the problems mentioned above.

Following aims will be pursued through this program:

  • Education of the children can be continued even though they are unable to visit school
  • The children get sufficient support and guidance concerning their education. Voluntary teacher will take the role and function of their parents of those parents unable to fulfill their role due to depression and frustration.
  • The time of the children can be used in a meaningful way by enhancing education thus promoting their future prospective.
  • The children will gain mental strength and motivation.
  • Their right to education will be secured.
  • Teamwork and team cohesion will be promoted.

Implementation

If children are unable to reach schools due to long distances, our teachers will supervise them during the daytime and thus they can receive teaching inside the camp. Those lessons are based on the same learning materials as the official teaching in schools. For all relevant exams the children will be brought to school in order for them to receive state-approved grading.

Additionally, all children that are visiting a regular school will receive support with their homework and studying before and after school from our trained teachers. This also applies for children who are not visiting any regular school.

Activities:

  1. Volunteer support
  2. Volunteers (no teacher) will be deployed to manage everything. Especially the coordination between the organization “Quake volunteers“, teacher and the camp. Furthermore the volunteers will be deployed in order to monitor the activities and the project progress. Additionally the volunteers will visit schools in order to provide help if possible. We hope to being able to provide for each „education unit“ (consists of 20 children and a supervising teacher) one additional volunteer who takes on supervising functions as well.

Once a week “extra curricula activities“ will be organized. Those include a variety of competitions as well as the “child-club program“.

Since this project should be of only temporarily nature, the organization wants to encourage the communities to take on autonomous actions. For example this could be achieved by the deploying of older pupils to supervise and help the younger pupils. The major goal of the program is to create an independent and improved teaching-method.

1.Financial and material support (scholarship)

Those 50 pupils, who are most dependent on financial support (e.g. victims of girls-trafficking or sexual abuse, orphans, disabled children etc.) and who additionally show the necessary motivation for education, will receive the 50 scholarships available. It includes for example the cost for the school, learning materials, pencils, exercise books etc.

2. Psychological Support

Once a month there will take place a “motivation Day“ for all inhabitants living in those communities. The aim is, to help them to find their way back to a normal life and overcome traumas, stress and anxieties.

Community activities that create confidence and cohesion.

 

3. Child Club Program

The aim is to form a group of motivated pupils, which is independently responsible for a variety of activities. One example could be the establishment and management of a pupils-newspaper. Reasoning behind this is more than just learning, the overall community should act as a community. (Organize cleanups, maintenance, constructions if necessary)

  • Create a environment in which the education of the children and welfare of all members of the community is secured without reliance on external help.

For this purpose we are additionally planning to provide one library for each community (approximately after one year).

Working Area:

  1. Displaced Community of Hakku VDC, Rasuwa
  2. Displaced Community of Grang, Rasuwa

Selection criteria for those locations:

 

  1. Hakku:

Those communities are part of the most severely affected communities. Due to several landslides their former homeland and their belonging farmlands were destroyed completely. Now they are living in temporarily emergency camps, which are located far from their former homeland. (several hours by bus)

The inhabitants of this community are part of one of the lowest casts in Nepal (Tamang) that is dependent on farming and fishing to sustain their living. Besides the lack of education, an additional severe problem is the increased risk of girls-trafficking, child abuse and forced marriage. Additionally to this, many children lost their families due to the earthquake and thus became orphans.

  1. Grang:

Grang is facing similar problems as Hakku. One additional problem is that many children have no access to local learning facilities or quit school. “Quake Volunteers“ is planning to establish temporary learning facilities. If no adequate location can be provided in the village, they will build up a temporary, inexpensive building for this purpose.

Ancillary information:

The training of the teachers will be conducted by an expert and last three days. Afterwards there will take place a follow up training for one day every three months. Additionally, all responsible helpers (teacher, volunteers, and coordinators) are meeting once a month in order to discuss about the current state and eventually arising problems.

Teachers have to sign a contract for at least six months and receive regular salary.