July 26, 2016
Nepal
"The road to Srijana Primary School I remember very well. I have visited the remote village and its schools in the Melamchi valley last year, only a few weeks after the earthquake. The earthquake has completely destroyed all houses in the village as well as its school," said Lukas Fiechter, Programme Manager Nepal of Caritas Switzerland.
Since my last visit, the families have rebuilt their homes in a temporary manner, using wood and CGI sheets. A temporary school building has been provided by Caritas Switzerland in which class is currently in session.
This time however, we do not stop in the village itself but are continuing past the temporary houses up a bumpy road to a small plateau. Here, about 10 minutes distance from its old location the new and earthquake safe Srijana Primary School is under construction.
The old school site was much too small for the construction of a safe and child-friendly school. Fol-lowing discussions with the community regarding the scarce available construction space, a family immediately offered a plot of land on which the new school is now being constructed on. The family told me that they gladly give the land if in exchange Caritas is constructing a school that will with-stand future earthquakes.
The construction activities are progressing as planned. The foundations are built and the walls are increasing in height in a swift pace. Students and their parents are visiting the construction site to get an idea of the new school. The children watch the construction workers and the parents are inquiring with the Caritas foreman about the progress. A feedback box has been installed on the construction site for the students, parents, teachers and other community members to give their opinions regarding the new school. Caritas is responding to all questions and discusses them with the school management committee. Soon, the roof will be constructed and with the completion of the verandah, the toilets and the playground, the students will be able to leave their temporary learning center and switch over to their new earthquake-safe classrooms before the end of the year.
Until then, there is still a lot of work to be done. Because earthquake-safe buildings alone do not con-stitute a safe learning environment, Caritas is implementing hygiene promotion activities and evacua-tion drills for the students and teachers and is furthermore developing an operation & maintenance plan together with the school management committee. Additionally, Caritas is carry out campaigns on the importance of school attendance in all villages in the project area. All these pieces, the safe con-struction on the one hand and the social components on the other hand ensure a 
safe and child-friendly learning environment for the students of Srijana Primary School for the years to come," finished his speech Lukas Fiechter from Caritas Switzerland.
Caritas Czech Republic is contributing 9 250 000 CZK for restoration of schools in Nepal. The money comes from public collection and from the subsidy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
