Shree Saraswoti School Project

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015 killed over 9,000 people and injured another 22,000, According to the Nepalese government figures,475 out of the 545 schools in the remote Sindhpalchok district were completely destroyed. The children are currently trying to learn on Temporary Learning Centres(TLCs) made of corrugated iron which are hot in the summer, freezing in the winter and wet during the monsoon season. The Department of Education has committed to reconstruct 15 schools, one of which is the Shree Saraswoti Basic school which was totally detsroyed along with 95% of the village.

The rebuild will involve constructing a six room, two story school frame structure building with hollow concrete blocks for in-fill walls, along with horizontal and vertical bands of concrete for strong reinforcement. The design has been approved by both the school management community and Department of Education/ Department of Urban Development and Building Codes in Nepal. Each class room will have space to fit up to 35-40 students. The school already has the land available on which the building can be constructed,

Dr Michael Fernando, president of RC Yeovil and the District coordinator of the project, brought a teasm from his club to tell Westbury RC about the need, the plans and the progress,

The project is estimated at £64,000 and is managed by a very enthusiastic, capable Nepalese rotarian. It will utuse local materials and train local peopele to carry out the work, thus adding to the community welth, skill base and employment.

The Westbury President, David Perkins, was plaesed to hand over a cheque for £2,400 towards the appeal, which will attract sunstantial matched funding from bothe D1200 and Rotary International.