Nepal earthquakes response: BMS to fund new schools

Thanks to your generous giving, BMS World Mission is enabling the construction of new schools in rural Nepali communities badly affected by the 2015 earthquakes

The destruction of school buildings has been one of the major challenges facing rural communities in Nepal following the massive earthquakes that hit the country in April and May 2015. This has led to children either attending classes in temporary shelters which are vulnerable to bad weather or having no school to go to at all.
 
To respond to this dire situation, BMS is giving £200,000 towards the building of new schools in the Dhading District that will not only enable children to study in a safe environment but will also be resilient to future earthquakes. The money will also go towards safeguarding, livelihoods and resilience training to help communities become safer and better prepared for any further disasters.
 
Our partner in Nepal has already erected temporary learning centres in remote villages like Banskharka, where a marginalised tribe live three hours away from a main road.
 
Before the centre, students were meeting in open spaces or at a shelter made up of timber and dried leaves which was far from ideal. The local community actively participated in the building of the school, carrying water and stone for nearly 500m and sand for almost a mile to complete the construction work. They also provided labour to build the centres, so excited and dedicated were they to seeing their children study in a good school building again.

The plan is for BMS funding, as well as grants from other Baptist agencies that are part of the Baptist Relief and Development (BReaD) Network, to enable temporary centres like these to become more permanent and to build new schools in areas currently in desperate need of them.
 
Rachel Conway, BReaD Network Faciliator at BMS, says that the new schools will give Nepalis badly affected by the earthquake hope for the future.
 
“Keeping children in education following a major disaster is essential,” says Rachel. “Not only does it help the effective rebuilding of a community, it also supports the psychosocial recovery of children. Through our partners, BMS has been supporting children to continue their studies right from the moment of the earthquakes. It is great that we are now able to make the temporary learning centres permanent at the request of the government.”
 
We would not be able to support this project without your generous giving to our Nepal earthquake appeal. Thank you.

 

Give before it happens. Donate to the BMS disaster recovery fund today.

This article first appeared on the website of BMS World Mission and is used with permission.