During the formative period of Shangri-La Development Association, the organization’s founders decided to develop projects that would work hand-in-hand to create long-lasting improvements in quality of life in its project region. Jumping off from this idea, SDA developed projects in the Agriculture, Education, and Health sectors at Kailash Rural Municipality of Makwanpur district, primarily targeting vulnerable populations including the Chepang people, who make up a large part of the community at the rural municipality. The idea was to develop projects in core human sectors that would work hand-in-hand to transform the project region for the better.
Today, the SDA Education project works with five schools in three different wards of Kailash Rural Municipality, alongside the Early Childhood (ECD) class of a sixth school. In total, 475 school students are being supported by SDA through its various Education programs this year alone. The bigger perspective, though, looks towards a fundamental change or transformation in the education sector of Kailash that can persist in the long term. A change in the general attitude and perspective on the importance of formal education is by itself a valuable objective to accomplish; social alienation has historically plagued the Chepang people due to their nomadic history, and their inability to understand the demands of modern human life often puts them at a significant disadvantage in many aspects of life. For example, one of the major focus issues of the SDA Health Project is childhood malnutrition, a recurring health issue in Kailash Rural Municipality that majorly affects the Chepang community. In our last blog, we explored how the lack of awareness about the risks and symptoms of malnutrition tends to act as a major hurdle in solving the issue for good.
Read Also: A Years-Long Commitment to Overcome Childhood Malnutrition
Amidst the naturally interconnected nature of such social issues, the SDA Education project and the various programs conducted under it have created a strong impact in the Kailash community, figuring into SSLI-5’s guiding principle of project integration in a significant way. The pillar programs under the SDA Education Project provide complete educational support to all the students at the five community schools as well as the ECD Class mentioned above: under Stationery Support, all these students receive stationery items like notebooks and pencils they require for their studies year-round, without having to pay even a dime out of pocket for school supplies. Similarly, they also receive the necessary school uniforms multiple times a year, every year — this includes the regular formal school wear, track suits for use as sports wear, and jackets for the winter. For the financially challenged families that these children come from, these regular uniforms come as a tremendous resource; the parents are relieved of the burden to buy new clothes for their children, as the uniforms can also be worn outside the school.
Besides that, a cornerstone integrated program by SDA is the Mid-Day Meals Program, which taps onto the SDA Agriculture project to provide school meals at the SDA-supported schools using fresh, organic produce. Given Kailash’s problem with childhood malnutrition, these mid-day meals are a welcome addition for the children who attend these schools. In order to run this program, SDA also collaborates with the students’ parents to transport the produce and ingredients to schools.
There are more programs under the SDA Education Project; however, these pillar programs have had a significant and visible impact upon the attitude of both students and their families towards school and formal education. For most Chepang families of Kailash Rural Municipality, formal education is something extraneous, even a luxury. For one, the constant struggle against food and financial insecurity means that sending children to school everyday is a luxury that makes them unavailable to help out in chores, and at the farm. On the other hand, the difficult hilly terrain of the rural municipality means that sending one’s children to school can be an arduous task requiring hours of travel on foot. And if the child is very young, then a parent will have to accompany the children through this commute, taking time away from more important activities.
Amidst such complex reservations, convincing parents to send their children to school is no easy task. But ever since SDA began working with these schools, attendance has steadily been on an increasing trend. Where at one time it was difficult to even convince parents to send their children to school, these days the children themselves are eager to attend. The regular Education programs such as Uniforms and Stationery Support, and most importantly mid-day meals, have appeared to deliver a secondary, and arguably just as valuable, benefit: incentivizing families to send their children to school.
Thirty-year-old Samin Chepang is one such parent who relates closely with these sentiments. An active community member, Samin Chepang is oft called upon by SDA Education Project staff for support in conducting regular programs at Praja Utthan School in Dhusrang, where his children study. He himself studied only up to Class 3 before quitting due to financial constraints, which happened at the age of 14. His family needed him elsewhere, generating income to keep his family afloat.
Samin used familiar Nepali sayings to describe the destitute situation in which he grew up. Yet in his case, the familiar phrases rang very true. “I hadn’t even seen shoes in my life at that point,” he said, “the food we grew would run out in three months, and when that happened we had to do labour work to feed ourselves.”
As a 30-year-old man, Samin has kept the dream alive and is resolute about educating his two sons: 11-year-old Sanjal studies in Class 5, while 6-year-old Salin is in Class 1. “I didn’t want my children to live a life like me. I want them to have a better life, reach a higher station in life. That is why I send them to school,” he said.
Their father attributes this opportunity to the support provided by SDA. “After I heard that SDA was providing all this support for the students, I realized that I could give my children a chance to live a better life,” he said. He also shared a broader pattern of families who continued to support their children’s education even after their association with SDA ended. “Praja Utthan School only runs classes till Class 5,” he said, “ever since SDA has come into the picture, we have seen that many parents are continuing their children’s studies even after they have completed Class 5. Many parents are choosing to send their children to another school so that they can continue their studies.” He referred to one of his own nieces, who was sent by her parents to another town to study a vocational course related to medicine.
“Back when SDA first connected with Praja Utthan school, I remember there were only about 70 – 80 children studying at this school. Now, Praja Utthan has more students than many other schools in Kailash. There are about 180 students at the school right now,” Samin shared.
Hemlal Chepang, who is the Chairperson of the School Management Committee at Nandikeshwor School, Bhaisepal, shares a similar trend at his school as well. He noted that the number of students at Nandikeshwor School have nearly doubled since SDA began conducting its different programs at the school. “Parents could afford to send their children to schools due to financial reasons,” he said, “that has now changed and students have a proper environment to study; the road has opened for the children to have an education.”
Hemlal shares a similar belief to Samin, and firmly believes in providing education to his children. Two of his children have already moved on from Nandikeshwor School, which provides classes only upto Class 5. His youngest child, six-year-old Sneha, is at the same school in Class 2. “If I had to think back at my family’s history, there haven’t been too many people in the Chepang community who had a good education, and who could speak well and represent us in society. Because of a lack of education, many Chepang people have suffered, and were forced to struggle in their lives” he said, “but education gives you everything you need to succeed. I have seen all this happen around me, and that is what made me realize that I had to do whatever necessary to give my children a good education.”
Armed with such a conviction, he finds a special connection to Nandikeshwor School, where he himself studied till Class 5 — he had gone on to study till Class 8 in another school, before dropping out of schooling. This personal history gave him a special appreciation of the impact SDA has made in the lives of Nandikeshwor students. “I remember the days in which we went to school after a meal of dhindo and sisnu,” he said, “today, I see how SDA has arranged for good meals for our children, provided them with clothes and notebooks and pens. I am very grateful for all of this. SDA has opened up a valuable way for our children to move forward.”
The glimmers of hope that is seen through the statements of community stakeholders such as Hemlal, or Samin is about the establishment of a new core value among the people of Kailash Rural Municipality — one that sees education as something essential, even indispensable, that parents need to provide for their children. For those that align with this belief, the new horizon that promises a better future for the upcoming generations is the biggest part of the programs undertaken by the SDA Education Project.