Thank you! The most important words belongs at the beginning. “All the construction work has been completed,” Nepalhilfe Beilngries lets me know. The school in the village of Rama in the Humla District in the far west of Nepal has been completed.
Around 350 children from Rama and the surrounding hamlets in the municipality of Tanjakot now have a safe roof over their heads as they study, hopefully giving them a good foundation for their future lives. Nepalhilfe Beilngries had two school buildings built on a mountainside at an altitude of around 2,600 meters – with a total of twelve classrooms, a kitchen block and separate toilets for girls and boys. The construction was made possible by your donations for “School up – far west”!
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner supported the project
I launched “School up – far west” in June 2022. The top Austrian mountaineer Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner – the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen – supported me by also collecting donations for “School up – far west” at her public events. Here on the blog, you could follow the progress of the construction work at irregular intervals.
Logistical masterpiece
The project in Humla was a major challenge for Nepalhilfe Beilngries. It was the first time that the experienced German aid organization had built a school in such a remote area of Nepal. There has only been a gravel road leading to Rama since 2021. Previously, all transportation to the village had to be done on foot.
Now construction equipment and materials had to be brought to Rama, sometimes from far away, via the dirt road. Against all odds, the team led by Shyam Pandit, the program coordinator of Nepalhilfe Beilngries in the Himalayan state, managed to complete the school construction in just over two years – a logistical masterpiece.
And that brings me back to the first and most important word. A thousand thanks to all of you who have supported “School up – far west” with your donations. Thanks to Shyam for his tireless work. Thanks to Nepalhilfe Beilngries, especially Michael Rebele, for the great and professional cooperation. Thanks to the great Gerlinde for her support. Thanks also to the people in Rama and the surrounding area who helped with the construction work with impressive dedication. This was the only way the school could be completed so quickly.
And with this I conclude the “School up – far west” project. With great joy, because it has been successfully completed. But to be honest, also with a little melancholy. As always, when something comes to an end that I have put a lot of time, energy and heart and soul into.
In memory of Dhurba Shahi
I would like to dedicate the success of “School up – far west” to Dhurba Kumar Shahi. The young Nepalese sub engineer from Rama worked on the construction project – and frequently provided me with pictures from the building site. At the beginning of October, Dhurba and a young woman died in a mudslide near the village. Dhurba had only married seven months earlier and his wife was pregnant. Durba Shahi was only 25 years old.
R.I.P., Dhurba. 🙏
