Sarimilla Trust

In 2007 the Sarimilla Trust was requested by the village committee in Shreepur to assist them in building  much needed dormitories, toilet/shower block and a kitchen at a handicapped school in their village. Over 30 children attend this valuable school some having to travel up to 8 kms a day. The village committee wanted to build facilities so that children could board for five nights a week instead of having to make the arduous journey each day. Some of the children have to be carried to and from the school by their parents or teacher. Funds for such a project were not available to the committee, they had tried to lobby the government with no success.

The Sarimilla Trust has provided the funds for the construction of these new facilities and in 2008 the new buildings were constructed. We were pleased to visit the site in 2008 before our overland motorcycle journey from Kathmandu to Kendal in the UK to raise funds for our projects in Nepal. The buildings were very near completion as you can see below.

Near Completion

Due to price rises around the world which affected everyone in 2009 work virtually came to a standstill at the school. Funds for furniture are still required for the dormitories along with the completion of plumbing and electrical installations. In a meeting with the village committee on our visit this year we committed ourselves to press ahead with plans to finish the work required. Our funds need to reach a large number of people, unfortunately finances can become overstretched when finances run low.

School Meeting 2010

The Trust is now focusing on raising the funds needed to complete the work required to enable the children to take advantage of these urgently needed facilities. We would appreciate any financial assistance to help us achieve this goal.

Inventive wheelchair

July 2010 –  Work continues on the school, plumbing has been completed in the shower and toilet block and a water tank fitted on the roof.

Water Tank ready for use

Work on the kitchen continues, plumbing and electrical instalation is near completion.

Cutting tiles

Food Prep Bench

The Staff and Shreepur village committee have been given assurances from the government in Nepal that more staff members will be supplied to the school once the new building programme has been completed. However the government has stipulated that a secure compound must be built before they will honour this. Parents of the children and school staff would also feel happier that a wall be built around the school for the security of children staying in the new dormitories. We have agreed to to finance the building of the wall.

Update November 2010

The school enclosure is very near to completion as seen below. Some of the old materials have been used in the construction of the enclosure saving on cost and transport. Hopefully the children can take advantage of the new facilities very soon. We will be visiting the school again in Feb 2011.

Secure Fencing near completion

The toilet and shower blocks are now fully functional and as you can see below the school grounds are also being used for growing their own rice. Waste water from the shower blocks is being recycled for use in the rice field.

Rice production

Updated March 2011

Our visit this year saw the opening of the dormitories, fourteen children are now accommodated for five nights a week at the school. The toilets and showers are in full working order and the kitchen has been finished, all of this is a far cry from the two rooms and one small toilet that served as a school before our building programme.

The Shreepur village committee and local residents lobbied hard for the government to provide two more staff and funds needed to run the new facilities. This has made it very much a school of the community the Sarimilla Trust has provided the funds for the building of all the new facilities.

The new Dorms

The new Kitchen

Opening speeches

Dawn with Principle & chairman of village committee

Update March 2012

On our visit this year we were pleased to see that the new buildings were fully functional and the children were enjoying their new facilities. A lady has been employed as a house mother so there is always someone on hand for the children. Locals groups have contributed to the running of the school and the local Rotary Club is also contributing.

Students Feb 2012

Shreepur School is now funded by the Nepalese Government after staff and the community members travelled to Kathmandu to argue their case for government support. The local Rotary Club still supports the school supplying blankets and sometimes extra food for the children attending the school. The Sarimilla Trust is now able to focus it’s finances on school sponsorship.

BANDANG SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECT

Gangkharka/Bandang is a small Sherpa village in the middle hills of Nepal. It is a 7 hour bus ride, followed by a 2 day walk from Kathmandu. The region has no roads, electricity or running water. Many locals have moved to either Kathmandu or India where life is considerably easier. Those remaining endure increased hardship due to decreasing numbers.

The Old School

Children spend their time collecting water and firewood and tending to animals. Yet, despite the hard work, they are extremely keen to go to school. Bandang School serves the children of its village as well as 3 surrounding villages – which are up to 2 miles away. Pupils make this long journey on foot every day.

The original school was built 13 years ago by the Nepalese government but was never completed. Supporting beams have rotted away leaving the whole structure listing to one side and unfit for its intended purpose. Trustee, Elizabeth first visited the school in March 2001 (before the Sarimilla Trust was formed), after being asked by members of the LYCP (Lhagang Youth Community Project) to teach English to the pupils. They were also looking for help to rebuild their school. On returning to England, the Trustees began raising money for the project. Trustees revisited the school about 3 more times, before enough money was raised to begin work. Finally in November 2003, Jimmy Sherpa returned to Nepal and begun to organise the project.

The old building was torn down, with some materials being re-cycled for the new building. Stones were carried up from the valley by porters, and chiselled into shape on site. The wood was also carried by porters from surrounding areas. The corrugated iron sheets for the roof were bought in Kathmandu, transported by road to Melamchi and then carried once again by porters to the building site. 50 Porters were hired locally and paid by the Sarimilla Trust for this work.

Jimmy and the kids of Bandang School

All workers were hired locally and paid the normal rate for their work. Most of the workers were from the surrounding area and have children who will benefit from the school. They were thrilled to be working on their new school. Chefs were also hired, and food paid for by the Trust provided the workers with meals each day.

Fundraising began in March 2001 and work began in November 2003, with the new school being completed in February 2004. The final cost was £5,500.

The new school

A ceremony was held by the villagers to bless the school and to thank the Sarimilla Trust and their sponsors.

Having visited the school in February 2007, the Trustees were extremely happy with the building work, however there are a few issues that still need addressing. The flooring needs to be finished, more layers of plastering and some new school furniture. Jimmy Sherpa is more that happy to carry out this work, however, commitments in the UK has so far hampered this. Due to harsh weather in this area, the maintenance of this school will be an ongoing project.

  The sad news of the earthquake that hit this region very badly resulted in the collapse of the school building. Fortunately the earthquake hit on a Saturday morning and none of the local children were attending classes at the time. Jimmy’s village suffered very bad structural damage with many homes in a complete state of collapse. The community is still rebuilding but the local village committee were not in favour of rebuilding the school there as a great many of the young people had moved away towards Kathmandu in their efforts to rebuild their lives.

Sowing and Cutting Training

Sowing & Cutting Training Center

  The Sarimilla Trust financed a sowing and cutting training programme designed to help ladies who previously were unskilled. A group of ladies who are attached to the Methodist Church here in the UK donated £100 to our Trust for us to buy a sowing machine in Nepal. This was arranged on our latest visit and now a small group of ladies in Nepal are learning new skills in order to start their own business. We also took over some womens health products made by the same group of ladies here in the UK to distribute in the communities we work in. These health products were gratefully recieved. Once the ladies in Nepal have acquired better skills in sowing they will be able to make the health products themselves to supply more women in the local community. This kind of training gives women the power to learn skills to help family income or to support themselves independentley.

  FARMERS TRAINING & COOPERATIVE

The SarimillaTrust funded training for the development of sustainable agriculture in Nepal. The region known as the Terai is the bread basket of Nepal and it’s in this region that our main projects are run. The rising costs of fertilizers, chemicals and fuel has made it especially hard for farmers to survive. Much of the agriculture in this region relies heavily on the input of petro-chemical based products to produce crops. A 4 year study by UNESCO concluded that Sustainable Organic Agriculture will provide a secure longterm answer for food security throughout the world

Mrs Kamala Pandey ( pictured below ) requested that we might help her to develop her farm along organic lines after she heard of work Steve had been involved in in other areas of Nepal.

The Ecological Services Centre (ESC) based in Narayanghat runs a large number of courses in sustainable agriculture for both farms and schools in the area. Through long standing contacts we were able to invite the team at the ESC to introduce a number of courses to the community in Thumsi in which we sponsor some 56 children to go to school.Introductory courses have been run and all participants want to develop these ideas on their own farms. It was our aim to provide farmers with the expertise to develop sustainable farming in the area around Thumsi. The ESC will also provided training in marketing of organic produce grown on farms in Thumsi. Our aim was to develop a cooperative to provide the surrounding communities with organic produce and at the same time free farmers from the use of pesticides and herbicides for crop production. We developed a demonstration farm in Thumsi where people can learn about the techniques and benefits of sustainable farming first hand.

Farmers’ Training Course Participants, Thumsi, Nepal

Update Feb 2016

An organic farmers cooperative has now been formed in Gaidakot and they have lobbied the government to obtain a grant of $2000 to rent land to use as a demonstration area to train other farmers organic practices. After our initial training the government provided organic farming trainers of their own and Gaidakot has now become a recognised district for organic produce. A retail outlet is being opened soon as demand grows in the towns and cities for organically grown food.

Attached to this  is a 200 strong womens cooperative led by Mrs Kamala Pandey who is also a member of the Nepal Permaculture Group committee and regularly travels to Kathmandu from her home for regional meetings. The Sarimilla Trust provided the funds for Kamala to attend farming teacher training courses which she has used to develop the cooperative.

Update Feb 2014

Training in mushroom cultivation was held this month, a small group of women attended this pilot scheme to develop confidence in mushroom production. The idea is to provide another income for farmers and also to introduce organic farming to another community. We want to expand the successful organic farming programme introduced by the Trust some years ago in other areas. We will also assist in marketing mushrooms produced.

Basanta Ranabhat discussing farmers training

Rishi Adhikari with mushroom training participants

Update November 2010

Our Farmers Training programme has taken on new dimensions in holding the 48th Permaculture Design Course in Nepal. Participants from Colleges and Universities attended the course which was held in Narayanghat, Chitwan District. The Permaculture concept can now reach a whole new audience and help build a sustainable farming programme in the area. Teacher Training courses have been run to train local farmers to become teachers themselves ensuring the programme remains in the control of  local farmers and villagers. Demonstration Farms are being introduced and developed by course participants and training in mushroom production was given for the first time. Farmers intend to form a cooperative to help market their produce. The courses are funded by the Sarimilla Trust and run by the Ecological Services Centre in Narayanghat.

Update March 2011

On our visit this year we attended a Farmers Field Training that was being conducted in another area of Gaidakot, Nepal. The training sessions were being given on a piece of land that was donated by Mrs Durga Lamichani who is converting her farm to organic. Durgas’ farm will become a rescource centre for other farmers in the area who are interested in the concepts of Permaculture and Sustainable farming.

A cooperative of over 200 growers has now been formed in the area of Gaidakot along with a Permaculture Group. The cooperative will ensure a reliable supply of organic produce wil be available for the maket place. Plans for a retail outlet are currently underway to enable the farmers to market their produce. There is a growing demand for organic food in Nepal particulaly in the capital Kathmandu. The purpose of the farmers training however is to firstly help the small farmers become self suffiicient and secondly help him/her to market any surplus crops for profit. We look forward to expanding the training programme in the future.

Update  March 2013

The Organic Programme continues to grow throughout the district as more and more farmers join the movement. Farmers Training programmes have been operating throughout the year. On this visit we had discussions with local groups regarding the options for marketing organic produce now being grown in 3 districts. Ecological Services Centre members who run our farmers training programmes are currently running a survey into the supply of produce. We are looking into the possibilty of opening an outlet for the cooperative to sell their produce in the local town of Narayanghat. This will also serve as a collection centre for produce that maybe sold further afield.

Saving seed of Local Varieties

Traditional Bee Hives on Organic Farm

We’d like to thank once again the team at Ecological Services Centre in Narayanghat, Chitwan, Nepal for their expertise and organisation in the Farmers Training Programme. We’d also like to thank the many farmers who have joined the programme and are working towards producing food in a sustainable manner. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this important programme.

The Organic movement is still running as is the womens cooperative. Local farmers successfully lobbied the Nepalese Government for finance to carry on with the Sustainable Agriculture Training and Development. This enabled us to redirect our finances once again towards school sponsorship. Mrs Kamala Pandey began all of this movement by requesting that we help introduce and finance the Sustainable Farming Training to the community she lives in. With the help of experts from Ecological Services and in particular Mr Basanta Ranabhat and Mr Rishi Adhikara we were able to fulfil that request.