Rebuilding the lost hopes

The persevering students in a school, so eager to learn and thrive, had to return back soaking wet because their school lacked a roof. Shree Dwarpaleshwor Secondary school situated in the rural Kavrepalanchowk had been running their daily classes in a temporary school where the students always feared their classes being blown away in the strong wind of the hills. It used to be a complicated decision for the parents: they feared the hindrance in their childrens' school lessons, but their soft hearts could not watch their children return back from school soaked in rain.

As of 20th January 2020, the happiness has returned back to the hearts and faces of the students, their parents and the teachers. With the support from 'Kids of Kathmandu' in collaboration with 'Sustainable Future', has constructed a 6-classroom building for the school. Prior to the construction of a second building, 'Sustainable Future' had already constructed a 5-classroom building; but since the rooms were not sufficient for all the students, the construction of a second building has evidently brought immense satisfaction and happiness to the school community.

The school has been constructed using the 'Rammed Earth Technology'. An environment-friendly construction technology does not only use sustainable local resources but has also depicted no compromises with the comfort of the students. Since the building remains warm during the harsh and windy winters and keeps the insides cool during hot summer days, the students have been presented with every important features in a classroom necessary to maintain their concentration during their class lessons.

Since the construction of the school building, the number of students has also increased by high tens. Some students even plan to enroll their friends in the school.

The school building which showed no motivation since the destruction after the 2015 earthquake, has relighted hopes in the hearts of the people in Mandandeupur Municipality.

Shree Dwarpaleshwor Secondary School
Mandandeupur Municipaity, Kavrepalanchowk

The World Between The Woods - Joshika Bhandari

Joshika  Bhandari presenting her story 

“ Mom takes these stuff away,” said Polly. Polly and her mom were cleaning her room. “ Sure dear, I will,” said Mom. It was late so they had their supper and went to bed. There was a dark circle in the room but she thought that because she was feeling sleepy, she was seeing that. So she quickly went to her bed. The next morning when she woke up she again saw the dark circle. She went closer to it and found it was a big hole. She was very curious about what was inside that hole. She asked her parents about it but they didn't know. She spent that day just thinking about it. The next day she couldn't hold herself so, she went inside the hole. She didn't know where the hole went.

The hole led the girl to an old science lab. Inside it was different kinds of rings. She wore it and vanished. For many days it was like a mystery for people as to where Polly went. She had a best friend named Evangelia. She went to her house and her room to look for clues to find her. At last, she saw that hole. As she was Polly’s best friend and was curious so she went inside that hole. “ Ah! What a dark hole. I bet Polly wore these rings.” Evangelia said. So, there she also wore the rings and got vanished. As they both vanished they came to the same place. 

Both of them were between the woods. There were more than fifty pounds in that forest. They both were curious about what was inside those ponds and jumped into it. They came out of the pond without being wet. Now they knew that every pond had a different world. So they went to every pond and enjoyed themselves. At last, only one pond was left. They jumped in the last pond and they found it very strange. It seemed that there was a big war going on. Nothing was left except a haunted castle. There was a big bell and a golden hammer. They both rang it and a tall beautiful lady statue came to life. She seemed to be kind and humble but she wasn't. They all came out of the woods again. 

The woman was a magician. She took the children to their original place. But they both found it very strange as they were in the future. The place was so beautiful and amazing that the woman wanted it as her kingdom. But the two children were not ready. They had an idea to get rid of the women. They led her to the science lab and showed her the magical rings. She wore all of them and then she vanished. The girls were happy now but wondered where the woman had vanished to.

*This story was presented as the final story for Katha Bunaun V, organized at Bhanubhakta Memorial Higher Secondary School. The story was also awarded as Best Story Award.

Prepared By: Joshika Bhandari

Facilitators: Monal Bhattarai and Sanskar Shrestha

Joshika Bhandari and her class with the facilitators

Canopy Nepal with a team of enthusiastic youths, is providing scholarships and interactive sessions and workshops to improve education system, little by little. The solutions provided by the experts are always implemented in our programs in the ways that fit them the best. 

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MY JOURNEY AT CANOPY NEPAL- VINAYSHREE KOTHARI (FACILITATOR, LEARNERS' HUB)

Vinayshree Kothari, Picture from Canopy Nepal Archives

Mahendra Rashtriya Higher Secondary School; this was the place which was a kick start for my Canopy Nepal journey. As I chose Education for my social work week, I got to meet Shreya Upadhyay Ma’am, the cofounder of Canopy Nepal there who not only taught us how to handle kids but also stood by the idea of making the mundane classroom fun through interactive learning. That was my first encounter in terms of working with the kids. Throughout the week, I could see a visible growth not only in the students but I also experienced gradual changes in myself too. The feeling of bringing even a slightest change in someone else’s life made me happy. 

Soon after, I decided to give this a shot. I quickly sent my CV and was called for an interview. Shortly, I was selected and was given an opportunity to facilitate for EIC classes in Vijay Memorial Higher Secondary School. The kids were very welcoming and made sure they put in all their effort to learn as much as they could. They used to stay back even after their exams and came to attend the classes during their holidays. This was heart-warming. I celebrated my first ever teacher’s day with them. I couldn’t express how happy and grateful I was. We used to stay after classes just to play games. This made my bond with them even stronger. It felt as if I was reliving my childhood. Similarly, facilitating in other programs helped me understand its dynamics and importance. This was a learning experience for me. I remember a kid who wrote that the best part of his day was “Working out with Vinayshree Ma’am.” I was on cloud nine. I along with my co-facilitator even managed to win the Most Valuable Player during Katha Bunaun. Apart from that, all the facilitators even performed for the kids on Graduation. The kids loved our performance. I always felt like a proud parent whenever the kids used to share their journey and how it helped them brush off their skills. It’s always overwhelming.

Vinayshree helping her student learn. Picture Canopy Nepal Archives

Bidding the kids goodbye is always heart-wrenching. It’s like an emotional roller-coaster. Seeing them sad and crying just breaks my heart. It makes me wonder how people get so easily attached. From being strangers to a small family, the journey is filled with lots of ups and downs but with positive and enriching results. Canopy Nepal has helped me channel my inner potential towards things that could possibly help these children learn and grow. Platform as such has the capability of bringing the best out of each individual. It helps us understand the areas where we could improve to bring better results. It gives me immense pleasure to be part of such a great initiative.

Author: Vinayshree Kothari, Canopy Nepal

Canopy Nepal is a team of visionary youths working in the field of education, skill and leadership development, diversity and inclusion. Canopy Nepal works in collaboration with like-minded individuals and organizations to achieve the targets of empowering the organizations’ beneficiaries with skills they need to bring about positive change in the community. 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 means of various programs.