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School
Scholarship
Volunteer
With the passing of the anniversary of the world being in a global lockdown, I am writing to you with a sincere and anxious heart. We have all had some of the largest challenges of our lives in the past year in one way, or another. I hope those of you following us are all safe and well and I would like to thank you again for your continued support and your patience over the last year, however not everything has fared well with us over the last 12 months.
2020 had some hugely positive moments for us as a charity, supporting the vulnerable people in Nepal as a result of the lack of social security and the ensuing increase in poverty during the lockdowns. Co-founding Lockdown Lunches with a small local guest house in Kathmandu we served 17,763 fresh meals and supported 278 households with further supplies thanks to your generosity in what has been a very difficult time for all of us. This was an incredible achievement, and would have been impossible without your selfless generosity, for which we are very grateful.
I flew here at the very end of February 2020 to re-connect with our Nepalese partners with the full excitement and drive necessary to start building a school. Unfortunately, this has not been the reality.
It fills me with great sadness to be the bearer of such news and with a very heavy heart I feel the time has come to inform you all that the school (Budland School) that we were supporting and hoping to save, initially due to the earthquakes, has now closed its doors for the last time. It is also unable to re-open and so is in the process of being dissolved and liquidated between the School\’s Directors and the local Municipality Government. This is in part due to the political legislation changes that took place here in Nepal whilst we still had no permanent facility, and also as a consequence of the pressure of the times we are in globally.
We are still in contact with Budland Schools’s scholarship children’s families and others to ensure there are no issues for their children’s education and they have support through their transition to another school and are attending without interruption.
As you can imagine, this has been a very emotional time for us. However, we do not take this light-heartedly and are still together and committed with our local Nepalese partners as we commence new open dialogue with the local government, generating new ideas as to how we can pivot, looking to be of service to the local communities, with the same heart, passion and ethic we have been working within over the last four years.
I would like to reassure you that all of your donations are still safe in the official UK charity account. No funds for the school have been spent since our work on the site in early 2019, nor shall be spent until another project we feel has the same community spirit is fully developed to a very high standard for education / empowerment. I myself am currently in Nepal with our local partners seeing where we can re-shape and move forwards as a team in honour of our previous good work with the community and incredible volunteers.
A more detailed account will be written and published within our blogs and shared online in due course for those of you who are interested. I also encourage you to message me directly if you have any concerns or wish to talk about this further, you can reach me by email at david@buildingbudland.org
Wishing everyone well, sending love and kindness out to you all, hoping with you that this crisis soon ends.
Kind regards,
David Wilson – Building Budland Trustee
Building Budland Web-Book
Please see our 2020 Web-Book for our fully detailed proposal to build Budland School this year, including:
- The new school design that has been approved by the government of Nepal and incorporating the cost breakdown and timeline.
- Fully detailed proposal for our scholarship initiative including case studies on our first three scholarship children.
- Case study of our successfully realised 2018 project to build a home for our first scholarship child Raju Tamang and his mother.
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Project Summary
We are proposing to provide the necessary funding and to assist the building of Budland School.
The earthquakes on 25th April 2015 and 12th May 2015 rendered 91% of the buildings in Kavre district uninhabitable and destroyed. This left Budland School (est. 2009) with a serious dilemma working from a tin shelter with substandard facilities. The lack of an efficient structure comes with a set of both practical and environmental problems that affect the quality of the children’s learning and the teachers doing their job to the best of their capacity, in which getting back into a higher quality facility would ultimately do justice to all.
There is a clear advantage and the will of the community to send their children to school from nursery level, which is a great service, along with a will to have higher literacy levels
in the English language, especially being in such close proximity to a tourism hotspot and a knowledge of the opportunities that will be available through the tourism industry with the appropriate education. We feel the school offers a vital service from a very young age to prepare the children for the next stage in life and opportunities that are possible which will only be enhanced by our proposed volunteer teaching initiative.
Budland English School is also committed with us to breaking negative cycles within families, and working with those that have genuine social issues to educate the children who would benefit through more attentive learning in a smaller class size through our newly established scholarship program for the legal term of 35 years, in return for our help with the building of the school facility. (Please see more about this on our scholarship page)
Budland School currently lacks its previous facilities due to it still being a temporary structure of wood columns and beams and tin sheets.
Inside it becomes very hot in the summer months, and very cold in the winter. They are desperate for a better and more efficient, working environment.
Prior to the earthquake Budland English School was able to accommodate up to 80 children. Their enrolment has since diminished to an average 50 students. This current school year has seen the numbers drop greater in its 4th year surviving in a primitive and inefficient tin shelter with the most basic teaching facilities, which could be vastly improved; not only for comfort but also teaching efficiency, children\’s concentration, natural light, health and hygiene and general protection from weather conditions they are exposed to with each season.
About Building Budland
Building Budland became an officially registered UK charity on 06.09.2019 with Anthony Wilson, Mark Lawson and David Wilson on the board of trustees. The charity has been established for the relief and assistance of the people in Nepal who are victims of natural disaster, trouble, or catastrophe in particular but not exclusively by the building of schools and homes.
Building Budland started out as a totally voluntary effort almost solely on the part of David Wilson in 2017. David has been directing projects himself for a number of years since the Nepali Earthquakes and as a team we have decided to set up the charity to continue the passionate voluntary work we do together.
We firmly believe this kind of work is not only deeply rewarding, but also some of the most fun you can ever have. David has forged very strong friendships in Nepal, with people that have also been doing what they can to help. Our projects would also not be possible without their commitment.
In the UK Daniel Davies and Luke Hoyes have both been very committed since hearing about the projects and have been applying their skills voluntarily in writing, editing and graphic design since joining David 2017. Their continued support is a contributing factor to our continued success.
Our projects are a real labour of love for us, and we look forward to continued success with your support. This is your chance to really make a difference to the lives of some of the world\’s poorest people.
Testimonials
our promise
Blog
It\’s a pleasure to share our journey with you. Please follow our blog written by the charity\’s chairman, David to stay updated on our work.
The blog posts below are shared on our social media when published. Be sure to follow us if you would like to stay updated with our online publication. We appreciate your support and hope you enjoy the journey with us.
Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about the project or would like to join us on this adventure.
ABOUT THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKES
Nepal was hit by a major earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 (or 8.1) on the 25th April 2015. This is the same earthquake that triggered the infamous Everest avalanche, and another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley, where 250 people were reported missing. It was followed by many heavy aftershocks with the strongest itself measuring 7.3 on the 12th May. Over 8,700 people died, 22,000 were injured, and an estimated eight million people seriously effected. The devastation will put a strain on the lives of millions for many years to come.
Contact
All Photos taken on site in Baluwapati at Budland School have been legally consented by the parents and guardians of the children for this projects publicity.
Photos and videos shot by Sushil Babu Chhetri. Contact at whitebutterfliesmedia@gmail.com