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P.O. Box 20125
Reno, NV
89515
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Removing Barriers to Education for Girls in Thulipokhari, Nepal
a project of Soroptimist International of Truckee Meadows, Sierra Nevada Region, SIA
In partnership with the people of the village of Thulipokhari, SITM launched a project in 2000 to build a dormitory/hostel for girls who had to walk two-to-four hours one way to reach classes at the Janata Sudarsham Multiple Campus. SITM donated the approximate $14,000 for construction materials, while the people of the village donated the labor.
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Annual sponsorships for the girls are $30 month/$300 year for dormitory room and board, plus school tuition. Additional, scholarships for girls needing tuition only is $15 month/$150 year. In August 2001, 20 girls became the first class to occupy the dormitory. At the start of the 2003-04 school year, 30 girls residing in the dormitory, plus 17 village girls received scholarships through SITM.
Nearly 100 girls have received an education through this two-year program. Many seek further
training with computers and teaching. They are
employed as teachers, social workers, or work in
projects such as bringing clean water and sanitation
to
their villages. They are educated and active contributors
to their communities. |
Dormitory housing allows the girls to walk to-and from school just once a week, devoting the extra hours to study. A Nepali couple is employed to buy food from local villagers and prepare meals for the girls. Their daily diet includes vegetables, lentils and rice, however, once a week the girls are served a portion of meat, a rarity in the diets of remote Nepalis. |
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The dormitory/hostel, named Purna Guyan (which means “whole knowledge”), can house a maximum of 36 girls in nine dorm rooms, a full-time “house mother”, plus a communal room for dining and studying. Solar panels on the roof provide minimal lighting in the rooms, making it the only electrically lighted building in the region.
Three girls study together in one of the dorm rooms. Each room is approximately
9-feet by 14-feet and designed to hold up to four girls. As one student wrote, “There are not words in my language to express my joy for this opportunity to receive an education. |
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