A Step towards Sustainability

Our lives which has been made so much easier by the accursed virtue is gradually progressing towards an imprecation. The resources on earth that made modern world possible is finite. It should have been long approached that it is our responsibility and the major need to practice sustainability in our everyday lives. We have come so far into the perdition that it is now an irrational concept to revert all the damage that has already been done.

The development activities that offer people several kinds of opportunities leading to community’s growth has done harsh environmental repercussions. The importance of environmental awareness has induced greener practice initiatives among businesses including construction companies. It is of primal importance that building construction projects surround and embrace the concept of sustainability which concerns with not only protecting the environment, but also with using economical and environment friendly materials, and encouraging efficient use of resources.

The new school reconstruction project by ‘Kids of Kathmandu’ uses sustainable and economical building materials due to the progression towards the understanding that it isn’t enough to just ensure that the resources are being used in an efficient way, but is now more crucial to understand the measures we use for our reconstruction activity in terms of the impact on the community, and the environment.

“With 60 percent local sand-mixed soil, 20 percent clay, 15 percent construction aggregates and five percent cement, Rammed Earth Solutions constructs sustainable houses without using any machines.” (Gautam, 2017) Since the main ingredient is soil, it is cheap and is locally available which means reduced cost of transporting construction materials to the site. The earth-built walls need not to be painted or plastered due to its unique final texture, and are non-toxic and non-pollutant. To add up to its value, rammed earth buildings regulate the indoor relative humidity which, in turn, produces comfortable indoor conditions.

The decision to work using Rammed Earth Solutions has introduced to sustainable earthquake resistant building technologies and materials which allows its focus towards factors such as indoor environment quality and sustainable building materials. With the already established system inclusive of a set of complementary facilities in each of its rebuilt schools, Kids of Kathmandu sets towards green building as a future for its school reconstruction project where the school pivots on renewable energy, while it has already been sustaining with water conservation measures and environmental sanitation initiatives.

Reference:
1. Gautam, Nikeeta. 2017. October 10. 12:23:56. Eco-friendly Building with Rammed Earth. New Business Age. Blog.

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Sujita Mahat is currently working with 'Kids of Kathmandu' as a Project Manager.

FESSHIP - ''Changing lives through education ''

Canopy Nepal is a team of visionary youths working in the field of education, skill and leadership development, diversity and inclusion. We seek to improve the quality and efficiency of education by focusing on the learners and reshaping the way they learn. One of our other goals is to increase equitable access to quality education, for which we are currently operating two scholarship programs. One of them is called FESSHIP. 

FONAI Education Scholarship Program (FESSHIP) is a scholarship program which provides educational support to underprivileged students to complete their secondary education and/or vocational training. The program takes care of their overall lodging and educational costs incurred in their schooling to complete their education without any obstacles which could prevent them from studying. The students are also given an option to vocational training as well. This way every scholar is ensured to have the required set of skills in their field of interest after they have completed their studies. Gaining educational and/or vocational training qualifications enable them to live independently and give back to their country.

FONAI has been very fortunate in securing a partnership with the Children’s Future Fund in Germany. With this kind of collaboration between like-minded organizations, the program aims to make quality education accessible to all youths of Nepal irrespective of their culture, race, religion or financial conditions and support them to live a dignified life.

With the synergized efforts of our partner organizations and FESSHIP team at  Canopy, these young people have been able to continue their studies and draw a better future out of their bleak present. The program is run by Canopy Nepal in partnership with Friends of Nepal Adelaide Inc. (FONAI) and Children's Future Fund (CFF) since July 2018 and is currently supporting nine students. Friends of Nepal Adelaide Inc. (FONAI) is a registered Australian charity founded in 2013 by a small group of friends who wanted to help raise money to build a school in Nepal. The organization started FESSHIP in 2016 and has secured long-term funding support with Children’s Future Fund (CFF), Germany for 4 FESSHIP scholarship recipients. This commitment from CFF has made it possible for the selected students to enter into undergraduate programs.

Children's Future Fund (CFF) is a non-profit organization founded in May 2012 in Mainz, Germany. CFF has the goal of supporting projects for the benefit of needy children. The organization focuses on sustainable development aid by supporting education. CFF started its program in Nepal in 2014 by supporting a children's home near Kathmandu. The continuation of this commitment resulted in the creation and development of the scholarship program (FESSHIP) with FONAI. CFF has long term funding support to cover educational expenses of 4 FESSHIP scholars with a primary focus in post-secondary education.

With the generous support of CFF and a strong collaboration between CFF, FONAI and Canopy Nepal, our scholars are now receiving a quality education in different educational institutions.

Written by: Deekshak Bhattarai, Program Manager of FESSHIP 

Edited by: Sabanam Thapa 

CANSHIP - 'Reaching the Unreached'

Canopy Nepal is a team of visionary youths working in the field of education, skill and leadership development, diversity and inclusion. Canopy Nepal aims at creating an environment where individuals have a choice to equip themselves with skills and abilities of lifetime importance. The organization intends to promote intercultural understanding among diverse groups by the means of various programs.

CANSHIP is one of the scholarship programs conducted by Canopy Nepal. It is operated in partnership with Nepali Children's Education Project (NCEP) Canada. Through the program, indigent students who are enthused about learning but are not able to afford it, are supported through the provision of stationery supplies, uniform, tuition fees, tiffin expenses. Currently, 52 scholars in different parts of the Kathmandu valley are being supported by the program.
The help provided to the students does not just limit to fulfilling the materialistic needs of the children but also overseeing their holistic well-being. The program has been tending the scholar’s well-being through regular home visits and one to one interactions during school visits to understand the household environment as well as their overall health.

Under the CANSHIP program, ‘Career Counselling’ is one of the most prominent programs designed to help students choose their most desired and suitable courses post SEE. Through this program, certain direction on what to pursue further ahead is visible to the children. This program holds the aim of creating awareness of different streams by explaining the relevance in Nepal along with its scope and possible challenges. They discuss the courses from which they can choose, and their alternatives in different fields such as management, humanities, science, and even music, etc. Moreover, this program simultaneously motivates children to pursue further academic qualification by providing them with in-depth knowledge about the courses.

Career counseling is conducted within 2 days, in a span of two-weeks. On the first day, children designed their ''Career Profile''. It is a creative method of self-assessment, where students analyze their own strengths, weaknesses as well as opportunities through different fun and engaging activities. Finally, on the last day, a panel discussion is conducted where individuals from different stream come together to discuss its horizon. This way the students can ask their desired questions and understand the different careers.
Meanwhile, including a family member has been on the priority during this program. They attend the program with their children to understand the scope themselves. They can also see the paths their children are desiring to take and be part of their journey.

The first session of Career Counselling was conducted with our six SEE appearing students from three different schools. The children had their own bit of fun but by the end of the day, they got a chance to get a clearer idea about their desired paths to pursue.

Here is what the scholars are aiming to pursue after the program!

• Sharmila wants to be a Nurse and go abroad so that she can pursue bigger opportunities in life ahead.
• Bikas plans to study Humanities to learn deeply about social issues and work in the public sector in the future, 
• Binu plans to study Science so that she can conduct scientific researches some day.
• Rabin wants to study Humanities so that he can pursue his passion in the arts field. 
• Sarita aims to become a Nurse and work as a Health Worker in rural areas and help needy people. 
• Ram wants to study Hotel Management to be able to earn his own income in the near future. 

Testimonials from Urishna Shakya and Shivani Rana, CANSHIP team members:

- "The one thing that sticks to my heart about the whole program is how the students, teachers and our team are knitted into a community. We are connected by our scholars' stories of their academic and extra-curricular achievements and also the challenges they face during the process. And to see that all of us are working towards a common goal of providing quality and holistic education to these kids makes it a lot more doable and exciting!
- Urishna Shakya

-’’CANSHIP is a platform to see enthusiastic students from different background pursuing good academic life, sound mental health, and good physical health despite their financial burden. I am really lucky to be part of this small effort to see a bigger impact on5 the future. ‘’- Shivani Rana