Meselme School Opening

A trip to Meselme school is not easy. It involves 80km of trekking up to 3,300m over four days, and over 26 hours of off road driving. Despite the slightly daunting travel schedule, a team from the Rosie May Foundation including both founders, Mary and Graham, along with trustees from the Australian side of RMF joined SAHAS Nepal Executive Director as well as two members of the management team to trek to Meselme School.

The team on the way to Okhaldhunga district – before the walking began!

The trek was not easy, but a perfect time to reflect on life in rural Nepal for children who spend hours walking to school, walking to collect water, and growing up in conditions we could never understand in the UK. It’s also an important time to make you close as a team, and inspire you to keep working to support those in under privileged circumstances.

Our incredible porters – who are parents at Meselme School!

The school follows official government and UNICEF guidelines about earthquake resilience, with four classrooms and a staffroom. As well as this, we have provided solar powered showers to make sure that the children have a safe place to wash, and can even find warm water during winter to keep clean. As well as this, gender sensitive bathrooms are an important way to encourage girls to keep coming to school. Having a separate bathroom means they feel safe to come to school throughout the month, even during menstruation. Again, the showers act as an important facility in terms of gender equality in education, ensuring girls remain in school and feel clean and comfortable.

After travelling for two days, we reached Meselme and stayed in the house of the headteacher, who welcomed us with a meal of Daal Baat (rice and potato curry with spinach).

The next day was the official opening of Meselme School. Everyone was excited, and probably nervous as, after two years of hard work, the school was finished and ready to be handed over to the community.

Reaching Meselme School after a very long day of walking!

Community members using the new water facilities

After speeches from the headteacher and local officials, Mary Storrie, Director of RMF, said a big thank you to everyone involved in the creation of the school; the school committee, our partner SAHAS Nepal and Wangda Sherpa, who introduced us to the project. She talked about how the future of the school is in the hands of the community. The teachers, parents and children all have a role in using the facilities and making sure their school remains one they can be proud of. 

It’s hard to imagine life in rural Nepal; a lack of electricity is just one barrier from children receiving a quality education. To challenge this, RMF are working with Solmates to provide solar lights to the children of Meselme, and other rural villages. Don, trustee who works for the Australian branch  of RMF has been working tirelessly all year to provide over 300 solar lights in Nepal, and gave the students and their parents a lesson in how the solar lights work, and they listened intently, obviously happy to receive such a basic, but life changing gift.

Don, from RMF Australia, handing out lights

But the Rosie May Foundation’s involvement won’t stop there. After providing hot showers, solar lights and school uniforms, we will also be providing school meals as an added incentive to make sure that parents are sending their children to school. Shockingly, 39% of children in Nepal are malnourished and 42% are stunted. Providing a nutritious meal can make an enormous difference to the lives of children’s future, let alone their ability to concentrate in school! Often simply providing one meal can ensure that poor families know their children receive nutritious food at least once a day, and can take a lot of weight off of them. At all projects, we commit to take a long term interest and Meselme is no different! We will be supporting the school for the next few years, through school meals and capacity building of local teachers. 

The journey to Meselme was definitely tough and one that wont be forgotten! But what makes it worth it is the way that this schools acts as an example of resilience after the earthquake, but also what the Rosie May Foundation always champions: the importance of education in even the most difficult circumstances. The children of Meselme have a school to be proud, with school uniforms, lunches and even lights. The school empowers the community as a whole, and acts as an important reminder that even in rural Nepal, these children deserve, and now have access to facilities that allow them to thrive and support themselves and their families in the future.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child in Meselme, and providing school meals, email mary@rosiemay.com for more details.

Rebuilding Resilient Schools

After twelve hours in a jeep, i arrived in the rural village of Meselme, excited to visit the Rosie May Foundation’s school rebuild and see how it was coming along.

The first sight of the school rebuild

Everyone in the Rosie May office in the UK, and in SAHAS Nepal’s office (our partner) have been working really hard to finish the school, so it was definitely an exciting opportunity to come and see what all the hard work has been for.

The 2015 Nepal earthquake destroyed or damaged over 35,000 classrooms in Nepal, leaving families terrified of sending their children back to school. In Meselme, we are hoping that with a new, and earthquake safe school, parents will begin sending their children back to receive the best education possible, empowering their families to achieve their potential.

The children weren’t sure what to make of me on my first morning!

Meselme is in Okhaldhunga district of Nepal. While staying in the village I was lucky enough to visit several schools and see how the area, particularly the children, are recovering from the debilitating earthquake.

Immediately after the earthquake, TLC’s, or Temporary Learning Centre’s, were built from local materials to ensure that children were back learning as quickly as possible. These are often badly made, incredibly hot (and cold in winter), and not a suitable learning environment for children. But in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, they were an important step in returning life to normal. Now, two years on, most have been completely destroyed, and many children are still waiting for permanent schools.

A TLC close to Meselme school where children are learning

I was particularly in awe of the children going to school in just the steel frame of their new school. It was incredibly hot, and a two hour walk to reach the school, yet these children continued learning in such a challenging environment. It was incredibly humbling to see just what education can mean.

Maths lessons are difficult anywhere in the world!

Staying for nearly a week in Meselme was an incredibly rewarding experience; the people were warm and generous despite living life much more challenging than i was used to; the headteacher and his family provided me with much more food than i wanted, and really welcomed me into their family, discussing the school with me and their hopes that more children will come, and that their education can improve.

The Headteacher’s wife preparing rice and dahl

One of the most impressive things i have found about the way SAHAS work is that they involve the community in all projects by creating a committee to oversee and manage the running of the project. This means that projects always have full community support and involvement. I was invited to joint the School Management Committee meeting, in which they discussed the finishing of the school and the opening. Despite being nothing like a committee meeting in the UK, it was great to see the different voices, from labourers to parents to teachers, involved in the school.

The School Committee Meeting

Despite desperately needing a shower, I was sad to leave Meselme, the amazing little village in the Himalayas. My 12 hour off road jeep ride home to Kathmandu gave me plenty of time to reflect on the long term effects of the earthquake on education in Nepal; despite incredibly challenging circumstances, children are willing to learn and improve their situation. Watch this space to see what the finished school rebuild can do!

The Long Walk to Mangri

Mangri Village is a day’s walk from SAHAS district headquarters in Mugu, Nepal. The remote village is a remarkable example of people living in extreme circumstances. Mary, Graham and I arrived, with a team from our partner NGO SAHAS Nepal, to be greeted with a cup of hot herbal tea, and a chance to sit down after a very long day of walking.

District Headquarters, Mugu, Nepal

After a rest, we walked across the village to visit the Girl’s Hostel, the reason we were there. It was humbling to know that many children walked for much further than we had to go to the school in this village. The girl’s hostel, supported by RMF, provides a safe place for girls to stay and receive a good education.

The Rosie May Foundation had recently funded the building of bathroom’s for the girls, as well as desks, and piped water. We spoke to the girls staying in the hostel and they told us that before, they had ventured to the water point to wash, and felt unsafe as boys watched them. When the village had water shortages, the girls were often unable to get water, and treated badly by the villagers who took priority. The water pipe, provided by RMF, has two separate sections, giving water to 145 homes in the village, as well as a separate tap for the girls in the hostel, ensuring that the girls have access to water and privacy in their hostel.

Surendra Shrestha, Director of SAHAS Nepal talking to a girl staying in the hostel

Director of RMF, Mary, with a group of children from Mangari

The Girl’s Hostel

The next morning, Mary and Graham officially opened the new facilities at the hostel. Watching the girls collect the water was an incredibly powerful reminder of the reality of life for girls in such a remote community; education often remains a distant dream for girls who live too far from school, or have schools of poor quality. Often, parents choose to marry their daughter’s off too young, rather than letting them finish their education. The girl’s hostel is a chance for these girls to receive an education, and The Rosie May Foundation, and SAHAS, support them to live safely while they do this.

Girls from the hostel walking to school

After the opening at the hostel, we were welcomed by the whole community. Sitting in the school playground, we heard speeches from girls at the hostel, as well as the headteacher. Dr Surendra Shrestha, Executive Director of SAHAS Nepal talked about their work in the village, and Mary spoke of The Rosie May Foundation‘s vision of equality for girls, particularly the chance to receive an equal education and achieve their potential. We watched an amazing array of cultural dances, which i got to participate in with some of the local teenagers.

On our way back from Mangri, we stopped in another community and saw SAHAS’ work to promote and develop organic and sustainable agriculture. I have been constantly impressed with the work of SAHAS, who create a community based organisation, run by local people who can discuss how best to develop their community. All projects are undertaken with full community participation, while the same cannot be said for all NGOs. We learnt about the initiative to bring toothbrushes to the local school, and how popular this had been.

I will be back to Mangri Village in a couple of months to spend time with the girls in the hostel and learn more about their lives. For now, the Rosie May Foundation will continue to work for the empowerment of children, particularly girls, through education, and remain in awe of the inspirational people who live in Nepal’s remote communities.

International Women’s Day

Local Charity supporting UN’s International Women’s Day

The murder of ten-year-old Rosie May, from Bottesford, shocked the community and the whole nation. The following year, the Storrie family’s story continued as they were caught up in the 2004 Asian Tsunami while spending their first Christmas without her. Humbled by the bravery of the Sri Lankan people in the face of such tragedy, the Rosie May Memorial Fund (now the Rosie May Foundation) turned its attention to building the Rosie May Home for girls orphaned by the Tsunami. Now, the Home acts as a safe haven for twenty orphaned or abandoned girls, giving them the opportunities they deserve despite their circumstances.

This Sunday is International Women’s Day – a day aimed at empowering women and promoting the basic human rights they so often lack. Poverty and violence against women are two major factors stopping women becoming equals in developing their own society. The statistics speak for themselves; 70% of those living in poverty are women and children, while 1 in 8 girls worldwide are illiterate. In many countries, gender inequality persists and women continue to face discrimination in access to education, work, and participation in government. In every developing region, for example, women tend to hold less secure jobs than men, with fewer social benefits.

In Sri Lanka, where the Rosie May Foundation works, women often find themselves working in factories in terrible conditions, or working to build roads and sleeping on the building site with no home at all. Countless women move abroad and become housemaids in Saudi Arabia or Dubai, where they often fall victim to abuse. What all this has in common is the lack of choice available for women and the unequal access to a safe wage and home.

As Nelson Mandela said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,’ and as such the Rosie May Foundation are passionate about ensuring that all the girls receive an education despite their background. After all, if a woman receives her education, her children are more likely to survive, she is less likely to become a child bride, and each extra year of school increases a girl’s income by 15 – 25%. At the Rosie May Home, the girls have the amazing opportunity to break the cycle of poverty, ensuring they have the skills and, in the future, jobs to support themselves and their families.

The Rosie May Home opened in 2008, and works to reunite families and ensure that girls can enjoy the future they deserve. The first girls have just sat their O Levels and are anxiously awaiting their results, showing the very real way the charity helps provide skills and qualifications. As a charity based in Bottesford, the Rosie May Foundation is an incredible example of how local people are working to empower women and create a truly equal world. You can sponsor a girl at the Rosie May Home for as little as £5 a week, joining the effort to empower a new generation of young female leaders and professionals. After all, investment in a girl is an investment in her family, culture and community.