BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITIES
THE CHALLENGE
The biggest challenge in Dang, Nepal when it comes to building homes and classrooms is the economic hardships many families face. Many people live in substandard housing, and building safe, lasting homes are a luxury that most can’t afford. Classrooms often face similar struggles, overcrowded with sometimes more than 100 students, lacking the proper desks, benches, and teaching resources. Government funding is scarce, leaving these schools underdeveloped.
To tackle these challenges, we're working closely with local communities, international organizations, and volunteers to create sustainable, safe spaces for families, education, and community activities. Together, we can improve living and educational standards!
IMPACT
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Schools and Classrooms
Homes Built
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Toilets and Sanitation Areas
Community Centers
OUR RESPONSE - SCHOOLS
"Classrooms With a Cause"
Launched in 2012, in partnership with Her International, "Classrooms for a Cause" began. Every year, Her International finds a committed group of volunteers who come to Dang, Nepal to help build a classroom in a local school. Every year, the team does extensive amounts of fundraising prior to their trip to fund the construction materials as well as local salaries for the school builders. The goal is to ensure there are safe spaces for education to take place, while boosting the local economy through local materials and salaries.
This intiative aims to create comfortable, less crowded classrooms and foster pride among teachers. The project has led to the construction of schools and classrooms in Kavre, Gorkha, Tanahu, and Dang, particularly focusing on Dang’s Gadhawa, Rapti, and Rajpur municipalities. Volunteers from across the globe collaborate with local laborers, fostering cultural exchange and creating lasting memories.
OUR RESPONSE - COMMUNITY CENTER
Unako House
In co-operation with Her International (HI) and Developing World Connections (DWC), in 2013 a dream came to fruition when we constructed UNAKO House in the Dang region, which serves as a community center hosting events for our students and the local community and accommodating CP Nepal staff. We host many events for students, women, UNAKO Co-operations, as well as community appreciation events. As an organization, our reach and our capacity have grown exponentially since 2014 when UNAKO House was completed. Our staff grew from 2 people to 10 in just 5 years.
"Unako" means "her" in Nepalese and quickly became the heart of the Dang community - Her International scholarship students bustle through to pick up school supplies, attend tutoring sessions and meet with the program coordinator. Mothers meet together for life skills and microcredit meetings. A business incubator space houses the cottage industry, Unako, named after the building, that employs local women to make scarves.
The Unkao house serves as a beacon of light and hope for the Dang community. The solar panels provide Wifi to the local community during power outages. On days off, local children have nowhere else to go play, so they congregate at the unako house for a safe space to hang out, be kids, learn and play together. When volunteers stay, we rent out the rooms and locals can also rent a meeting space which serves as an income source to offset our operating/maintenance expenses.
OUR RESPONSE - SANITARY TOILETS
In cooperation with Her International and Developing World Connecstions, we have built two new toilet blocks in local schools. These new toilet blocks provide better hygiene facilities for both the students and staff of the Higher Secondary School, replacing two old toilet blocks, one for boys and one for girls, that were in poor condition.
This bathroom development is a new initiative that addresses both hygiene as well as education. Previously, the students were not accountable for cleaning up their own messes in the bathroom. Teachers insisted on having their own bathrooms, as students would make a mess and never clean it up. These new toilet facilities are used by both staff as well as student, and the students are educated on how to keep the bathrooms clean and in a hygienic condition for fellow students and staff.
This education component is critical for the ownership and initiative for locals schools. In Nepal, it is common only for women to clean and take care of household tasks, but with this initiative we launch gender equality, where boys and men can learn the necessary skills to clean and take ownership of their own spaces.
