1. What is the actual local situation you are addressing?

People in this area are very poor. The majority of the children are not able to go to school for two reasons:

1. Since there is no Day Care center, the smallest children are often carried on the mothers’ back while working on the fields, which creates accidents, health problems as well as exhaustion for both mother and child.
2. In view of the above, these children often receive little to poor nutrition with hardly any learning or playing opportunity.
3. The parents are often illiterate and therefore don’t fully understand the necessity of education until they’ve experienced it. From the 2 previous Day Care center projects, we learned that the parents understand and welcome the centres after they are opened and become fully operational.

In the past years, two Day Care centers were already built in Aabukhaireni and the Bandipur Village of the Tanahun district in Nepal and they are both running smoothly and successfully now.

Recently, two toilets and two kitchens were built at the respective Day Care centers. Realizing the need of playing instruments and creativity corners, we were able to obtain different playing tools and toys for the children admitted at both Day Care Centers. Although the number of children in each Day Care center is limited to 25 children, the size of the building is quite big allowing sufficient space to learn and play.

2. What has led you (or the organisation) to start the project?

The insight that people (and specifically young children) can have a better future with a good basic education. It will help the development of the Nepali villages in this area, and specifically the children, (age 2 – 5 years) enabling them to have start for their continuous education.

3. What do you want to achieve?

The objective is to give the children a chance and a basis for a better prepared start of their education. So the aim is to build, maintain and organise a third Day Care centre and school on a long term basis in Yanchock village and surroundings. The important side effect will be that the mothers of the children are able to work more efficient in the field, without the need to carry the children on their back.

In the first two day care centres, we achieved so far:

Educational / Physical:
There are total 50 children admitted so far, 25 in each of the present two Day Care centers. These children are more active, look happy, healthy, smarter and grow more vigorously than other children who are not admitted in the center. There is a daily time structure for learning, doing, playing, singing and dancing for the children. They are taught different ways to speak, write and read and are taught different aspects of discipline, manner, respect and love. The children are also taught hygienic routines before and after receiving their daily nutritious meals. The Montessori principle of teaching and learning process has been adopted after Mrs. Saraswoti Adhikari, Head teachers, received training from a Montessori school.

Administrative:
The center opens at 10 am and closes at 3.30 pm each day and Saturdays is holiday. There are some other holidays approved by the government of Nepal. Provision of substitute teacher has been arranged during the time when the regular teacher wants to take leave with justified cause. The second group of children is being admitted at present. The children of the first group who left the Day Care center, have been admitted to several boarding schools and we learned that their performance is much better than others.

4. How are you going to achieve it?

As soon as the Day Care Center will be finished, 25 children will be admitted. Under supervision of 2 local female leaders (selected from their own village by the mother group themselves). The association Renuka Nepal provides the educational material and pays the annual salary of the teachers. Every year the school requires maintenance and further improvement, which will be financially supported by the association. The local mothers group and population will take care of:

• Collection stones and woods required for the construction of the daycare centre at Yanchoktar.
• The digging of the foundations / fundaments which must be ready before end of February.

Flow diagram per phase:

1. Preparation in Holland: January + February 2009
2. Arrival in Nepal: March 2009
3. Preparation and mobilising the villagers: March 2009
4. Construction start: March 2009
5. Finished: End of May 2009
6. Start of the school year in Nepal: End of April 2009

5. What is your long term vision for the project?

As soon as the 3rd Day Care Center facility has been realised, we will start to support the women in two ways:

1. With micro-loans so they can buy goats, chicken and bee hives. They will become financially more independent. Part of this extra income will be used to support the Day Care Centre within their village.
2. To teach the mother groups both skills and practical knowledge on how to produce and sell their products (goat milk, honey, eggs etc.) which will further enable them to sustain their Day Care centres.

6. How is your idea/project going to benefit the community or the situation?

The community benefits in several ways:

1. by having the possibility to have their children attend a daycentre and thus gain a better educational start in life.
2. Improving health issues and work efficiency for the parents, especially the mothers, since they no longer need to carry their children on their back for most of the day while working on the fields.
3. The school/day care will have a social role within the village. By purchasing products and facilities (f.e. food for the children, carpenters, constructors for maintenance ) from the local people the whole society is involved and benefits.

7. Which results do you expect?

In view of the experience we gained with the other 2 Day Care centers admitting annually 50 children, we know that ca. 90% of all children from these Day Care centres will be able to make a better start afterwards at boarding schools versus the less professional government school.

8. How can you measure those results (quantifying)?

From experience we can simply count the children that start with boarding school after our day care/school. Each daycare centre receives 25 children annually.

9. Communication, visits and feedback

How often will you be able to inform about progress and developments?
Each quarter, via a newsletter.

Who is the person responsible for communication?
Rineke Gronert

When is the best time in the day/week for participants to contact you?
In fact, always

What is the best way to communicate (email, skype or other)?
Preferably via email

Do you accept participants visiting the project?
Yes, visiting the project is possible, yet in a limited manner in view of local way of living and traditions.

Which it is the best time?
We prefer the months March – May since we will be there too.

Any requirements for visitors?
No.

10. What do you expect from the Uniting People community?

A little bit of help for some additional and new friends.

Rineke Gronert

Team Leader

Project Team

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Project Participants

The following are UP members who have donated or supported this project.