New Building for Kalika Higher Secondary School

As we continue our efforts to rebuild schools that were destroyed by the deadly earthquake in Nepal, we have completed the construction and handed over a new building in Mahedrakanthi Higher Secondary School in Kalika, Nepal. This is the fourth school to receive a new building from us in the disaster Zone.

At the inauguration ceremony of the new school building of Mahedrakanthi Higher Secondary School in Kalika, Sindhupalchok, the Principal of the school MR. Bandari said “I have being a school teacher for 30 years. About fifteen years I worked as a school principal. I can honestly say today is the happiest day in my whole carrier as a school teacher.”

He explained: “Since the earthquake destroyed all the buildings in our school, these past six months teachers and students have being going though tremendous difficulties. On rainy days we cancelled our classes and sent our students home because our temporary huts had no walls or proper floors. Now I am glad that we have a very comfortable, earthquake resistant building for our students. I am very grateful to Venerable Bhante Ji Wimala for donating this building to us.”

Parents, teachers and students rejoiced in this special occasion with singing and dancing to the beat of local drums. All the parents and teachers honored me with fresh flower garlands, honor shawls, or fresh flowers as I arrived for the opening ceremony. Their sense of gratitude, happiness and respect overwhelmed me.

When I first arrived at this school nobody had any idea what to do. There were no plans, no designs, no estimates of what it might take to restore the school. I had to make all the decisions and asked the principal to prepare the necessary documents before starting construction. I had several meetings and told the principal what I was going to do and what he needed to do in order to construct at least one building as soon as possible.

Principal Bandari said, ” So many NGOs came here and took pictures of our destroyed buildings and promised to help us. Nobody had done anything so far to rebuild our school. We were still waiting for the Government to help us but the government also has not done anything yet to help us.”

As soon as I received the design and a letter requesting me to construct a new building, I returned to the school and blessed the ground and laid the foundation stone. Principal Bandari took responsibility to manage the construction and finances. Dinesh, my humanitarian project manager in Nepal, assisted Principal Bandari until the completion.

When everything was in place to start the construction I contacted by good friend and a student Dr. H. Dawda who lives in Nairobi, Kenya. He wholeheartedly agreed to provide all the necessary funds to complete the new building. I share my blessings with Dr. Dawda for his kindheartedness and compassion. Without his financial support we would not have completed this building.

For me getting to this mountaintop school was the most challenging part. I had to travel from Kathmandu two hours by car. Then we had to go up the mountain for about 7km on a dangerous rough road. For that, several times I had to hire a special four-wheel drive car modified just for these dangerous mountain roads.

On the day of the special inauguration ceremony, I was so glad to sponsor a traditional lunch for the students and the whole community. What a joy.

May everybody who supported this noble project be well and happy.