Rebuilding Earthquake-Damaged Schools in Nepal: A Continuing Effort

2015: an Earthquake hits Nepal

When a 7.8 magnitude tremor hit Nepal on 25 April 2015, followed by a 7.3 aftershock two weeks later, almost 9,000 people were killed. Nowhere was worse hit than the steep, crowded, and poor mountainside dwellings close to the epicentre in the Sindhupalchok District. In the villages between Jiri and Lukla more than 740,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

The Juniper Trust was quickly on the scene. With our local expertise, the Trust delivered ahead of the bulk of international aid, getting money and supplies direct to the people. So many schools, for communities often the centre of the village, were completely destroyed.

The work was fast-tracked, despite the difficulty of sourcing and delivering materials into a remote region, the complexity of permissions, new earthquake regulations and the vagaries of the weather, all occasionally daunting. A staggering £150,000 was raised in that first year enabling 10 schools to be rebuilt by the end of 2016, an incredible achievement in such a short time. As news of the good work spread, the Juniper Trust was approached by many villages that were either still without a school or using temporary shelters.

A Missed Target Due to the Covid Pandemic: Rebuilding 20 Schools by 2020

Now, with the invaluable help of local volunteers and the villagers themselves, and with the support of their partners and donors, JT have raised over £350,000 to help rebuild 20 schools in these most affected areas. Here too they have also provided new uniforms, winter coats, shoes, bags, books, and pencils to 2,000 children.

Although the urgency of the earthquake appeal was no longer headline news, in line with the Juniper Trust’s ethos and codes of practice, the Juniper Trust continued to raise money while there was a need. In 2017 they rebuilt an 11th school in the remote village of Garjyang and renovated a hostel for blind students at Dhulikhel School in Kathmandu. 2017 was also the first year that JT helped organise a team of volunteers to assist with the finishing touches at Garjyang School.

By 2018, the Juniper Trust rebuilt three more primary schools in the villages of Saraswati, Siruwa and Namuna, all were feeder primary schools for the now prospering Kinja School, one of the first schools to rebuilt after the earthquake. In 2019, two more community primary schools were rebuilt in the villages of Rawa Dolu and Vidhyadatri Khaptel and in 2019 the foundations were laid for our 18th school, a smaller Kindergarten at Bamti Village, where again work had to stop due to the Covid pandemic.

2000

Children given help for a brighter future

£ 350,000

Raised from your individual donations

A promise fulfilled

to rebuild 20 schools in Nepal

BUDDHA KINJA SECONDARY 2016
BALA KANYA PRIMARY 2016
JUVING SCHOOL 2016
SAGARMATHA PRIMARY 2016
SATKANYA PRIMARY 2016
GARJYANG SCHOOL 2017
VIDHYADATRI PRIMARY 2019
RAWA DOLU 2019
BAMPTI KINDERGATEN 2021
MAILI PRIMARY 2022

2023: Juniper Trust raises funds for its 20th school rebuilding project in Nepal

By the spring of 2021, life was slowly returning to some kind of normality and villagers throughout Nepal were desperate to restart their lives. Bampti Kindergarten, Juniper Trust’s 18^th school, was completed by the Autumn of that year and our rebuilding of 20 schools project was back on track.

The village school in Maili, situated at 2,800 meters above the Kinja Valley, had 100 students and was still using temporary classrooms seven years after the earthquake. Although they received government help to rebuild one classroom block and new toilets, they sought help from the Juniper Trust to reconstruct a separate block of three classrooms that remained in ruins. In 2022, the Juniper Trust, with the help of Adventure Aid Nepal volunteers, completed the reconstruction. However, despite the trust’s successful building program, there is still much to be done as many schools in Nepal remain in ruins, affecting village life. Thus, in 2023, the Juniper Trust is raising £20,000 for its 20th school rebuilding project in the remote village of Raja Beni, also located 2,800 meters above the Kinja Valley. The project aims to rebuild the destroyed block of three classrooms and provide school uniforms and essential equipment for the students.

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