By C.M. Paul

Sindhupulchawk: A Christian Non Government Organization marked its 25th year of service to the people of Nepal by handing over fifth earthquake resilient school to villagers.

A total of ten schools in remote and inaccessible areas affected by the 2015 earthquake in Nepal are being got ready to be handed over.

The handing over ceremony took place January 11 at Kallery Basic School in Sindhupulchawk district in central Nepal some 90 kilometers east of Kathmandu.

Local Member of Legislative Assembly Yuvaraj Dulal, President of the School’s Founder Body Prasad Gopal, Headmaster Yajanath Dungal and other dignitaries of the district administration attended the function.

The inauguration of the school building consisted of unveiling of the dedication plaque and handing over of six keys to the six classrooms to the headmaster.

In return, the school and local authorities read out a letter of appreciation signed by the MLA, President of the School Founder Body and the Headmater. The chief guest at the event the MLA handed over the framed letter along with a ceremonial shawl to Rector of Don Bosco School Lubu Fr Abraham Kannattu.

Today the primary school has 85 students from kindergarten to class four.

Speaking at the event witnessed by people of the entire village both young and old, the Coordinator of the Rehabilitation Project of Nepal Don Bosco Society Fr Augusty Pulickal told the teachers and local people, “We hope that in the next academic year the number of students will increase to 105.”

He also appealed to the local administration to come forward and do the needful to furnish the classrooms which has state of the art eletrical and other basic fittings.

The newly constructed school building has two blocks of three spacious classrooms each with a capacity of 40 students. The total intake of six classrooms could be 240 students.

The funding for the construction of ten schools came from Don Bosco Jugen Welt Austria.

The history of Nepal Don Bosco Society began in 1992 with Dharan center, in eastern Nepal, initiated by late Fr George Alakulam who ventured out from Don Bosco School Mirik then under the care of SCS.

The Salesians then reached Sirsia (1996), followed by the capital, Kathmandu, with two centers – in Lubhu, established in 1996, and Thecho in 2001 – after which came Baroul and Chakkarghatty (2014) East Nepal and, finally, Biratnagar in 2017 for a total of seven houses, managed today by 18 Salesians from various states around India.

The silver jubilee celebrations (1992-2017) were celebrated on 11 November 2017 at Don Bosco School Biratnagar.

The Nepal Don Bosco Society is engaged in a variety of ministries dedicated to the country’s young people – two technical schools, four academic schools, three social outreach centers, four boarding houses, and several non-formal education centers..

They also run a number of social programs, such as scholarships for students and emergency response projects like the aftermath of the tragic earthquakes of 2015.

According to the 2011 census, 81.3% of the Nepalese population was Hindu, 9.0% was Buddhist, 4.4% was Muslim, 3.0% was Kiratist (indigenous ethnic religion), 1.4% was Christian, 0.2% was Sikhs, 0.1% was Jains and 0.6% follow other religions or no religion. There are some 7,000 Catholics out of approximately 29 million people.