The school's new two-room toilet with septic tank.
The school is all done, including a two-room toilet with septic tank! The blackboards are 8 ft. x 3 1/2 ft. We hope these are big enough for this classroom where roughly 60-70 students are going to read. We also made small shelves in each classroom so that the teacher will have a place to keep the record book, chalk, duster, etc., and we created a big shelf in office room for the teachers.
During the rainy season, the road in and out of Papariya involves crossing a river by boat.
During the rainy season, the road in and out of Papariya involves crossing a river by boat. High school students from the U.S. who helped to raise funds for this school, often asked how people from Pipariya travel to the nearby towns. Let's take a look at the road that links this Pipariya village to the nearest town named Dhangadi. The basic means of transportation are buffalo/ox carts, bicycles, tractors, and motorcycles from towns. It's all dirt roads passing from village to village, and in some places the dirt is almost six inches thick. A small rain just makes the road muddy and difficult to travel. Every year villagers volunteer to work to maintain these linking dirt roads. The local government as Village Development Committee also helps to maintain the roads and small bridges. People coming from Pipariya have to cross a river. In the rainy season, the river changes it's course depending on river speed and becomes very wide. But in winter and summer, the river narrows. As there is no bridge, villagers have to depend on the boats (pictured). People pay a small toll to cross. The river is shallow in the summer, so the carts can cross. But during the rainy season, villagers and carts cannot cross the river; instead, they have to travel 15 miles farther around.
