Kia ora, dear sponsors and supporters. A quick and overdue update…
Nepal & Covid-19
Nepal has been in lockdown since March 24th, starting about the same time as New Zealand, and this has included closures of all schools. This presents real difficulties for many people in Nepal, who have no financial reserves and need to leave home every day to earn a few rupees or to grow or gather food. The country will also be affected by the loss of some of its major sources of income, particularly tourism. International trade and aid, and the distribution of food and other supplies have also been impacted.
How does this affect students and teachers at the Kailash Bodhi School in Jumla? We have stayed in close contact with the principal Tashi, and his wife Tenzin. Here are some snippets from their emails:
March: “I am not scare of the pandemic but worried about future of people of the world and of course Nepalese citizens as we may in shortage of foods if it remains like this. So far seems ok but once it went worse it can affect the income of Nepalese people as we won’t be receiving any help from the government as most of the people here depend on daily earnings. Like in European countries governments provide help but Nepal being one of the poorest country will never rely on government...”
June: “…the stress of lockdown making all of us more boring and being home quarantined... being very scary of continuously bringing the death rate and positive cases increasing day by day. Our government being not capable of controlling the pandemic is more scary for the people’s here in Nepal.
“Currently total 9561 People have been found positive and it can go up for sure no doubts... Though the lockdown has lifted from last week but people are still not very convinced of being going out of their houses. The government has solely lifted lockdown to collect taxes... so this includes all the shops, factories and all private companies but the schools and colleges has not been open yet....
“So it is really hard to say what is going on here in Nepal… It is now almost more than 3 months of lockdown… things are still not normal here.”
There are now around 15,000 confirmed C-19 cases and 32 deaths up to July 4, but Nepali people are very stoic - they do not seek help unless they feel very bad and would not rush to get tested, so the numbers of cases are likely to be hugely understated.
How we have responded - Jumla
Teachers have continued to receive some payments from the school during lockdown. The Trustees decided that this was a good time to provide whatever support we could, and sent some funds in May, that we had previously hoped would be available for building or other projects. Tashi said:
“…thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so generous. It is said that making oneself happy is good but bringing happiness in others life is the best in the world. Yes surely this is going to be great relief to all the staffs and children…
“We have at least given some relief by providing funds to all the teachers through the fund we received from In Time Trust. And at the same time making them little busy by taking some classes in the villages. Students are getting TV classes and online classes, phone line classes and especially live classes by teachers themselves.”
Thank you so much to our supporters and sponsors who have made this support possible.
Teacher Training - Jumla
Prior to lockdown, some worthwhile training was provided to teachers at the school in Jumla, funded by the Trust. This had been some months in the planning. It is hard for schools in remote areas to stay up to date with teaching methods. Tashi said:
“Well, it was kind of coincidence that the training ended exactly Covid19 arrived but the teachers are doing their best sharing their classes of the training to the very limited children staying next to them. Sometime they do online classes and phone line classes so it has never been wasted. Since the online classes are very limited but phone line classes and coaching classes has been our major targets so that at least we are well aware of their daily schedule. So in a nut shell the training has been very helpful and it will totally change the concept of teaching once the school reopens. So far all our senior and junior teachers are taking limited classes in the villages with maintaining social distancing.”
Teacher Training, Jumla
Little Sisters Fund
We have also kept in close contact with Little Sisters Fund through this period. This area of our work has also been affected by the school closures, but the support of Coordinating Mentors by generous sponsors has continued and is providing real benefits. These Mentors are young women, formerly ‘little sisters’ themselves, who are now each supporting and mentoring a number of vulnerable girls from broken or impoverished families, helping them get an education.
Here is part of a message I received from a Mentor earlier this month:
“I hope you are doing well. I, my family and relatives are fine here. The government had announced a nationwide lockdown because of novel coronavirus from spreading out of control and extending it for uncertain time. All the people have been asked to stay in their homes… So I am spending my time by reading books. Recently, I have got a book from one of my Little Sisters called “Becoming” by Michelle Obama. I was eagerly waiting to read this book for a long time… I feel happy to share with you the meeting of my Little Sisters who are nearby my place during this lockdown by maintaining social distancing. I visited Little Sisters of three schools in two different areas. When I met them I was much relief to know that they all are safe. Some of the Little Sisters are from school of Kavre district which is far and not possible to go during this situation so I frequently call them and know their status. I always encourage them to study at least two to three hours a day daily…”
Trevor (Co-founder/Director, Little Sisters Fund) told us last month:
“The Mentors are so vitally important to everything we do right now especially when the team is under lockdown. The Mentors have proven absolutely essential to monitoring the 2,000+ Little Sisters and helping us get the COVID food and essential needs support out to the families. Thank you and In Time Trust a million times over!”
Trustees
We continue to enjoy the benefits of having a great Board.
For a number of years, Brittany Norman has done a brilliant job with our Child Sponsorship work. With three young daughters, home-schooling and various other involvements, though, she needs a break. Lakma Godigamuwa has stepped up to take on this role, so you might receive some correspondence from her in future about any child sponsorship issues. Brittany is happy to stay on the Board for now, but hopefully with more family time.
Finally…
The only way we’ve been able to do any of this is through your own fantastic support. We know that many of you will have been having a tough time yourselves, as a result of the pandemic and lockdown, and we are greatly appreciative that you are still there with us, helping young people in Nepal to achieve a better future in any way you have been able to. Namaste, dhanyabad, thank you!
Bruce Gilkison, Chair ITT
