Education And The Children At DHC New Life Centre Nepal

I first went to Nepal to volunteer in 2005 and since then I’ve have been back 6 times! Nepal does that – you make connections with the people, the culture and the country and before you know it you are hooked and keep going back!!! I love it.Throughout all the volunteering that I have done in Nepal one of the things that really stands out for me is the Nepali’s thirst for education and the way families, who have very little, will make do with even less in order to try to provide their children with a good education. Poverty is endemic in Nepal and education, and learning to speak English, is seen as the only way for children and families to break the cycle of poverty, so it is no wonder that education is so highly valued.The children at the Disabled and Helpless Children’s New Life Centre, Nepal (DHC New Life Centre) do not necessarily have families who can pay to educate them, and as a result of their disabilities have often not received even a basic education. Ready for schoolPart of our vision at DHC New Life Centre is to change this and to provide all the children in our care with the best possible education that we can, to enable them in their adult years to be self supporting, in employment and live a life where they will have respect and dignity. The very last thing we want is for them to always being reliant on the charity of others which would be the case if they reached adulthood with limited education and/or skills.Given this we are very pleased to report that all of the children are now attending the East-Pole Higher Secondary School (not “Higher Secondary” in the western sense – it actually caters for children for the ages of 3 to 18yrs!) which is located only a few minutes walk from the New Life Centre house. In class at school.The East-Pole Higher Secondary School is an excellent school, where all of the teaching is done in English, and already we are seeing some wonderful results with some of our children gaining top 3 placings in their class exams. This a real credit to both the children and the school – particularly considering that when they enrolled many of the children were a considerable way behind their peers.I spent a week teaching at the school last year (I am a qualified teacher and have over 25 years experience in the Australian education system) as I wanted some “inside” information on the school rather than relying on their information leaflets and what better way to get it than by volunteering to teach classes! I was very impressed with both their philosophy and the way in which they put this into practice. They have a strong philosophy of integrating students with a wide range of needs and disabilities and from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds into mainstream education and they do it very well.Their academic results are excellent and two years ago they won a government award for excellence in education. So you can see why we are so delighted to have the children attend this school – it is a real investment in for their future – and preparing the children for their adult life in a caring, supporting and nurturing environment is a large part of what we are about at the DHC New Life Centre Nepal.However, education in Nepal is not cheap – in fact good education is one of the most expensive aspects of Nepali life and as a consequence it’s one of the largest portions of the DHC New Life Centre’s budget so if you would like to help support a child in their schooling, even just for 1 year, or to contribute towards their school expenses such as the textbooks or school uniform please contact us – we would love to hear from you (newlife@dhcnlc.org).I am also very happy to talk with you further about the children and their education so if you have any questions regarding these things please feel free to email me (suedrisc@hotmail.com). Homework.Sue Driscoll Education Advisor Disabled and Helpless Children’s New Life Centre Nepal