Building Schools, Rebuilding Hope
Almost two years after the biggest earthquakes (magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.3) in the better part of a century shook Nepal and its resilient people, Lincoln School has continued to play a small, but profound part in the country’s rebuilding efforts. Knowing that we would need to revamp, or at the very least, reflect on our Service Nepal programs after this catastrophe, just like the Nepali people, our students, teachers and administration heeded the words of the Dalai Lama:
“Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful the experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.”
“Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful the experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.”
With hope and renewed energy, much good has now been accomplished. A collaboration with an organization called All Hands Volunteers (AHV), has seen Lincoln School continue to live its service-learning mission of “empowering all students to become aware of themselves, their community and the global environment. With this awareness, we foster the empathy, inspiration and ability to selflessly serve as compassionate global citizens and leaders who actively engage within their communities.” This active engagement has seen us fund and help construct new schools and 19 classrooms. This has directly impacted over 600 Nepali children. While working on these efforts last year, it became clear that more had to be done in the Sindupalchowk and Nuwakot districts, specifically focusing on health and sanitation, as well as water harvesting and purification.
Consequently, this year, our 10th and 12th grade students partnered with SmartPaani and AHV to work on projects that will harvest rainwater and provide clean drinking water and gender-appropriate toilets to more than 1600 children in schools such as Shree Kalyani Devi Secondary School, Shree Bachchhala Devi Secondary School, and Shree Prithvi Secondary School. Aside from upgrading toilet facilities, a water harvesting and filtration system is being put in place at Shree Kalyani Devi Secondary School and Shree Jalpa Yuwa Primary School. These projects aligned closely with student initiatives like PLUM (http://plumforall.wixsite.com/plum), where our students gave lessons to Nepali girls on what is a taboo subject - menstruation. The hope is that by providing clean and gender-appropriate toilets, young women in Nepal will continue to stay in school during their menstrual cycle.
Beyond this, our 11th grade students collaborated with an organization called Thrive to install a
a solar energy system at Shree Kalika Primary School, in Sindhupalchok and plans are being put into place to continue the solar electrification of schools and even villages next year. We are immensely proud of the work our students and teachers have done during these week-long expeditions; these are experiences that will have a lasting impact both on our own students and the communities we have served for a long time to come. Finally, we are immensely grateful to the almost 80 schools who contributed to Lincoln School’s Earthquake Relief Fund. Without this generosity, much of this important work could not have been accomplished. Thank you.
Luke Davis
Activities Director
Lincoln School
Kathmandu, Nepal