November 17, 2003

Welcome to the newly inaugurated school!

The much-awaited completion of Bojiya School finally came to an end last week. In took longer that anticipated. Unlike all other school buildings, this particular project underwent difficult circumstances.

Bojiya village has a diverse ethnicity. More than 80 percent of the population is lower caste, and 95 percent depends on farming and the earnings in Indian cities. Poverty, illiteracy and lack of unity among villagers were the main challenge in the beginning. As we started building, people slowly started to realize the importance of their presence in the school. Later the conflict with forest officials also stopped the construction. This issue was taken to ministry level where it remained unresolved. To solve this issue, the villagers united behind the cause of building a school for their kids and made it happen!

Recently, the country of Nepal has been rapidly changing. The ongoing conflict between the Maoist and the government forces has created terror among villagers. Furthermore, the destruction of development structures and punishments on a local level have caused many organizations to close down their programs temporarily. Amidst of all these circumstances, a few dedicated and courageous people decided to go against the odds in challenging forest officials and restarted the school. With a contribution of 1,750 volunteer workdays, they finally finished the six-room school (pictured in the background above).

The previous school had only a metal sheet roof, which often forced teachers to close down when it rained. The beautiful (and colorful) new school is built for all seasons. With new sets of metal furniture provided by BwB, the students are more that happy. The number of students has increased from 25 percent to 260 this year alone.

The inauguration extravaganza of Bojiya School was scheduled for November 1, but we had to postpone it. The Maoist assaulted the villagers and stopped youngsters from playing cards (gambling) in Tihar, a Hindu festival. A fistfight led to the explosion of socket bomb that killed two Maoists. Later we had small program to hand the school over to the villagers and teachers.

At present, the Bojiya villagers are very busy. Not only are they celebrating their big new school, but they are also harvesting rice they planted in May and June. Everywhere you go, you will find piles of straw (pictured) and stores filled with rice. The yield this year is comprable to last year.

To conclude, on behalf of all Bojiya villagers and students of the new Nava Jyoti Primary School, I'd like to thank all high school students and individual donors who made this beautiful school possible. The happy and eager students here will help to bring positive changes to the lives of many for years to come.

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