Since the devastating earthquakes that shocked Nepal last April and May, the Manisha UK team has been busy liaising with our Nepali schools and team, organising fundraising events such as the Everest Challenge, and planning how we can help most effectively. 

Fundraisers at the Everest Challenge Indoor Rowing event in 2015. 

Over the last month and a half we've visited all our schools in Nepal and made agreements on how best to help them. At five of our schools, the help will be in the form of new classrooms. At four others, rebuild isn't required and minor repairs have already been carried out, so Manisha UK is providing new furniture, carpets and other building upgrades. Nava Durga Primary School in Pipaldana was rebuilt, with new furniture, just last year and, in part due to the quality of the new building, received no damage so nothing new was needed there. 

 Agreements being signed at Amrit (left),  Jandeep (centre). Community members reading the agreement (right). 

New classrooms are being built at Amrit HSS (2 rooms), Himalaya Primary School in Mahachap (4 rooms),Jandeep SS in Dumre (4 rooms) and Gyanodaya HSS in Olkhaldhunga (1 room) in the Palpa district. Our twin school in Gorkha district, Shree Bhagawati Himalaya HSS, is only miles from the first earthquakes epicenter and suffered huge destruction. We have agreed to fund four new classrooms there, and they are also receiving help from other charities, including Oxfam. 

That means we'll be helping to rebuild a total of 15 classrooms in 5 schools, providing classrooms for around 300 children each year. 

We've also ordered 45 tables and 62 benches, as well as carpets for more than 10 classrooms, which will benefit more than 200 children each and every school day. 

Of course when I say "we'll be rebuilding", I actually mean you, and the communities we work with. This work is only possible because of the generosity of our supporters and especially the children at the twin schools in the UK, who made such fantastic efforts to raise the money that will pay for so much of this work. The communities we work with will also make large contributions. We provide approximately 70-80% of the funds needed for the building work, and the communities have to agree to provide labour or raise money to make up the difference. By working in this way, we know the communities we help our completely committed to providing quality schooling to their children, as well making our funds stretch further. 

On behalf of all the children, teachers and parents at all our Nepali schools, I would like to say a huge Thank You to everyone who has donated and fundraised to make this work possible.  

Temporary classrooms at Bhagawati Himalaya, in Gorkha. 

Classes have to stop when the weather is bad. 

You can keep up to date with the progress of building work, furniture delivery and our teacher training program by following us on Facebook and Twitter.