Schools in Nepal
The conflict between Tibet and China has been simmering for many years. The border is now closed and Tibet is politically part of China. Since then, no more projects have been possible there. As early as the 1950s, many Tibetans fled to neighboring Nepal. One preferred route was the Mustang Valley. Many Tibetans still live there today in their villages, but also in the cities, where they are preferably housed in refugee camps. There they remain among themselves, as they are not integrated by the Nepalese government. The association Patta e.V. from Kassel, founded by Katrin Jäger and Tenzin Chomphel, has set up a school for Tibetan children in Upper Mustang. Tenzin himself comes from Ghiling, the village where the school is located.
The school teaches around 100 children from Ghiling and the surrounding villages up to grade 8.This allows them to stay close to their families instead of going to a boarding school in the distant city of Pokhara.The education in the small school is very good, so that the children leave the school with above-average grades.Some of the former pupils now work as teachers at the school.Others go to the nearest town of Pokhara or abroad for further education after school.Some - like Tenzin - then return to help the region with its weak infrastructure.He renovated the existing run-down school over 20 years ago, a considerable achievement as building materials had to be transported into the valley by horse for days.Today's road - if you can call it that - is only a few years old and only passable by jeep.
Tenzin has also leased an area of land near the school and cultivated an apple orchard. Today, the harvest helps to cover the costs of running the school. However, as the trees are still very small, the harvest is not yet sufficient for the school to be self-sufficient.
We have decided to spend the donations in kind on sponsorships for this school in 2022 and 2023 and have taken on the entire 1st class as sponsors in these two years.
Pupils in the 1st grade sponsored by AGAPE e.V. (one child missing, photo by Katrin Jäger, Patta e.V., 2022)
Detailed information on this project can be found at https://www.patta-ev.de/ and http://maitri-ratna.org/index.php
The road to Ghiling can only be traveled by jeep.
The students learn in an unheated room at sub-zero temperatures.
The apple orchard is intended to fully finance the upkeep of the school in future. However, it will be a few years before the trees are big enough.