The first two buildings are finished

When I saw the pictures, I found myself almost in tears – for joy! The year 2018 could hardly begin any better. This week I received the news from Thulosirubari that the students have moved from provisional corrugated-iron classrooms, that had been built after the devastating earthquake in Nepal in April 2015, to the first two finished buildings of the new school. A big day for our aid project “School up!” which I had launched along with the climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits more than two and a half years ago!

Yellow colour required

First lessons in the new classrooms

Our goal was to rebuild as quickly as possible the school in the village of Thulosirubari, located about 70 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu, which had been destroyed in the quake. Several hundred children and adolescents from the mountain region were and are being taught there. In September 2016, the foundation stone was laid for the new school. At the end of December, the pale yellow paint, prescribed by the government of Nepal, was applied, and the construction company handed over the first two parts of the building.

Together we will make the difference

Thulosirubari

“The students and the school family are so happy to get new classrooms in safe buildings,” Shyam Pandit, liaison man of the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”, writes to me. The German aid organization has coordinated the construction of the school, which has become possible through your donations for “School up!”. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your generosity. As you can see, your money has worked successfully. “Together we can and we will make a difference,” Sunil Krishna Shrestha, the coordinator of the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in Nepal for 25 years, writes to me.

Let’s go on!

A third building is to follow

The joy accompanying the success on this first, very, very important stage should give us new impetus. Finally, a third building is to be built on the site, as well as toilets for girls and boys are needed. So we have not yet arrived at the destination but continue to rely on your donations. We are happy about every euro. Once again the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V..
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

If you indicate this intended purpose, the money will flow directly into the construction work of the school in Thulosirubari. I will continue to keep you informed about the progress of the project in my blog.

Update 6 January: The students of Thulosirubari have sent this message to the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”: “We still remember that day. It was Saturday, 25 April 2015, when we lost our houses – and our dreams too between the colapsed buildings. We heard that God comes in many shapes. Some came to our place to reshape our damaged confidence. With our open heart, we thank you for your big heart, for reviving our hopes again. And our dreams have now got a new start.”

“Family meeting” in Beilngries

An aid organization like a family – the Nepalhilfe Beilngries celebrated its 25th birthday yesterday evening with a festive event in the small Bavarian town. “I am proud that I have been part of the Nepalhilfe family since it was founded,” said Sunil Shrestha in his speech, bravely delivered in German. The 57-year-old has been coordinating the aid projects of the organization in the Himalayan state for a quarter of a century. Sunil and Shyam Pandit, also an important liaison man, had traveled, along with their wifes, from Kathmandu to Beilngries to celebrate with their German and Austrian friends. “The family should be proud of what we have achieved,” Shrestha said.

Trekking with consequences

The balance is really impressive. Over the past 25 years, the organization has built 28 school buildings in Nepal. 20,000 children were trained there. In addition, the Nepalhilfe is running orphanages, a hospital and an old people’s home. It financed fire engines, water pipes and much more. Everything had started very small. Four policemen from Beilngries – Christian Thumann, Manfred Lindner, Karl and Michael Rebele – gave a lecture on their experiences during a trekking trip to Nepal on 11 March 1992. The revenue of this event in their hometown, 3000 Mark (the old German currency), was the starting capital of the Nepalhilfe. A success story took its course.

Hats off!

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Hans Kammerlander, Ralf Dujmovits and Jürgen Winkler (from right to left)

Soon there was a broad network of Nepal friends, among them famous climbers like Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Ralf Dujmovits and Hans Kammerlander or the top mountain photographer Juergen Winkler, who actively helped raise donations for the aid projects. “Ten million euros have come together over the past 25 years,” said Ralf Petschl, the chairman of the Nepalhilfe Beilngries, which currently has 15 highly committed members. “Hats off to all of them,” Sunil Shrestha thanked on behalf of his many compatriots, who have benefited from the work of the Nepalhilfe during the last quarter century.

Only a few tickets left for charity event in Cologne

Construction site in Thulosirubari

The Nepalhilfe Beilngries also plays an important role for the “School up!” project, which I launched together with Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits in June 2015. The donations for the reconstruction of the school in Thulosirubari, which had been destroyed by the devastating earthquake in Nepal, flow to the Nepalhilfe. They also coordinate and supervise the construction project in the small village, 70 km east of Kathmandu. It seems as if the first two buildings sections can be completed this year. At this point, a big thanks to all of you who donated for “School up!”. By the way, there are only a few tickets for the charity event of the DAV section Rhineland-Cologne with Ralf Dujmovits next Friday. So, hurry up!

For those who want to support “School up!”, here again the bank account of the project:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

I will continue to inform you about the progress of the project in my blog. So you can see how your money works. For the children in Thulosirubari!

The building is taking shape

It is certainly no mistake to start a new year with good news: the construction work at the new school in Thulosirubari continues to progress at a high rate. “The contractor’s target is to handover the new finishing of this new school building of Thulosirubari (Gerlinde and Ralf School) by the end of April 2017,“ writes Sunil Krishna Shrestha, the liaison man of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in Kathmandu. If the “speedy work” continues, the entrepreneur will fulfill his contractual obligations, says Sunil. Until now, the goal was to complete the construction work on the building (without painting) of the new “Gerlinde and Ralf School” at the latest until the beginning of the monsoon in summer. In this slideshow you can follow the construction progress since early December:

Targeted aid

You can see, our project “School up!” is living. Thanks to your donations, the people of Thulosirubari, a small village 70 kilometers east of the capital, can now look ahead more optimistically. The education of their children is dear to them. They know: It is an investment in the future. We have not yet reached the goal. Please continue to donate and tell your friends of our project to rebuild the village school that was destroyed by the devastating earthquake in April 2015! All funds for “School up!” flow into this construction project, if you specify the purpose “Gerlinde and Ralf school”. I will continue to report on the progress of the construction work in my blog. Here again the bank account in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Ralf Dujmovits

Tickets already on sale

And here once again the hint to the charity event of the German Alpine Club (DAV) for “School up!” with Ralf Dujmovits on 24 March in Cologne. The so far only German who has scaled all 14 eight-thousanders will be talking about his adventures on the highest mountains of the world. All revenues from the charity event will go into our project “School up!”. Online ticket sales via the DAV Cologne is on. Grab tickets in time!

Schoolchildren in Thulosirubari

… go! Not only Olympic athletes are currently waiting for this call. People in Thulosirubari are in the starting blocks too. Hopefully we are only few days away from the start of the construction of the new school at this small village in Sindhupalchowk District in Nepal. According to the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” finally all bureaucratic barriers have been broken down so that the school for 700 children and adolescents in Thulosirubari can be rebuilt. That has been and will be the goal of the aid project “School up!” that I had launched along with the professional climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria and Ralf Dujmovits from Germany a year ago. The “Gerlinde and Ralf School”, which had been inaugurated only in 2009, was so badly damaged by the devastating earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015 that it had to be demolished.

Long and winding road

Stones for the new school

“We are going to do our next meeting with the contractor this week, after that we’ll start the work,” Arjun Gatraj, the chairman of the school committee in the village, which lies some 70 kilometers east of Kathmandu, writes to me. Sunil Shrestha and Shyam Pandit, the liaison men of “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in Nepal, have completed a truly “Olympic program” in recent months to obtain all permits and stamps for the construction project. Those who (often with good reason) complain about cumbersome and excessive bureaucracy in western countries could experience in Nepal that an increase is possible: The road through the involved authorities is even much longer and more winding. Many employees in Nepalese offices feel and act just as if they were little kings, because they know that things cannot go on without their permission.

Only two-storied buildings

The new school building is to be built here

Thanks to Sunil and Shyam this probably most difficult phase of the project is now behind us. In the first of three construction stages the first building section with classrooms is to be built. The Nepalese government has ruled that due to the risk of earthquakes only two-storied school buildings should be built in the future – in the form of the letters H or U. Of course, I will continue to keep you up to date about what will happen in Thulosirubari. Arjun will provide me with first-hand information and pictures of the construction progress.

Thanks to your donations the construction is about to start at all. So far we have collected more than one third of the required sum. We need more donations for “School up!” to finance also the second and third construction phase. Here again the bank account in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Please tell others as well! Thank you so much!

P.S.: If you want to read my previous articles on this subject – including those about my visit in the earthquake region last March – simply click on the top bar at “School up!”, there you will find all posts concerning our aid project.