4/25/02

Namaste!

When the people of Attariya village started this school—the Ghanteshwor Primary School—some six years back, their goal was to built a two-room mud hut and find out volunteers to teach in it. They worked hard and slowly their need slowly grew. These parents—who truly believed in giving education to their children—never gave up, despite many hurdles. The introduction of BwB in this Kailali district 8 months back became a landmark event for Attariya village.

Every community has people who are devoted to the well being of the younger generation. Together, with the leadership of these people, the sweat of Attariya villagers over 11 weeks, 2333 volunteer workdays, and Building with Books, the six-room school was inaugurated on April 21, 2002. Today there are many happy people in this world, but none more so than the people of Attariya village.

As the Nepalese ritual goes, the inauguration program began with the Satyanarayan prayer in the morning. This prayer is for peace and prosperity when one shifts to a new house. The entrance gate was decorated with Banana trees and copper water vessels filled with garlands were used to welcome all the guests. The school was inaugurated by pulling a curtain over the school signboard at noon to the accompaniment of a welcome song from the village youth. The song has the words as "kati ramro hamro desh, afnao boli afnao bhesh…." This translates in English to: how nice is our country, our own language and dress. Next we heard many speeches by villagers who worked hard to help construct the school. They thanked all those who directly or indirectly helped to build their school. At the same time, the secretary of Project Support Committee rightly said, "building a school is just a first step. It can only be materialized when parents send their kids regularly and discuss quality education with teachers."

The highlight of the inauguration was a play (see picture) put on which presented many messages. First, it truly reflected the atrocities made by landlords to uneducated people. Secondly, it touched upon the precautionary measurements villagers need to take towards health issues—precautions which can only be achieved through education.

We also saw more traditional Tharu Dances (pictured below). The chief guest from the District Education Office stated his appreciation for everyone involved in the project and thanked high school students and donors for helping the district. He also promised to provide teachers as soon as he can—a statement applauded by everyone. Finally, all the work groups brought and distributed local food items to share with everyone present and we had a big celebratory feast.

The kids are very happy with their new school. We built it for all sorts of weather and it seems the need for furniture is fulfilled for the moment. But we acknowledge that there will be challenges in the days to come. For instance, we need to make sure we make maximum use of this building and that we can use it as secondary school as well in the future. As we put the finishing touches on this school, we were already getting inquiries about using the building from many surrounding villages. We will meet again as we start our new schools in September and begin to tackle these issues—and begin a new era of education!

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