Chaina, Mugu
BLIND HOSTEL

Construction of a boarding school for blind children

Place

Chaina,
Ward-,
Chhayanath Rara Municipality,
District Mugu

Who

Implementation: Chay Ya Nepal,
Advisory Council: Chhayanath Rara Municipality

When

2019 - 2021

For

20 blind / visually impaired students

Status

Completed and in operation

Project

Finally a loving, inclusive home – education and support for 20 blind / visually impaired children!

Nepalese parents, especially in the remote mountain regions, are overburdened with raising blind or visually impaired children due to a lack of education. However, especially at high altitudes, visual impairments occur more often – due to malnutrition of the mothers during pregnancy. Therefore, out of shame, children and young people with disabilities are often accommodated in freezing cold stables or the like, without any social contact, let alone the possibility of education and independence.

The first inclusive basic school in Mugu District (Shree Nepal Rastriya Basic School) has been teaching blind children for the past two years. In total, 40 blind children and adolescents live in this region. Due to a lack of space, only 10 of the 20 blind children in the district, who are between 4 and 10 years old, currently have the opportunity to attend school. The visually impaired / blind 5 girls and 5 boys currently live in a dark, ice-cold stable-like building, the “boarding school for the blind,” which is located outside of Chaina. A local woman takes care of the bare necessities such as food and laundry.

The goal of this project is to ensure that all 20 visually impaired and blind children (12 girls and 8 boys) have access to the inclusive school in Chaina by building a boarding school specifically for them. In addition, the employment of a pedagogue for the blind is intended to gradually teach the children independence in the areas of hygiene, movement, cooking, learning and so forth – the basic requirements for learning and practicing a profession later. The building is planned in such a way that bedrooms for 20 more children can be added on the first floor without any problems if the need arises.

Financial sustainability: the Nepalese government will take care of any subsequent costs. It is the first project in Mugu district to also provide secondary education for blind / visually impaired children and is seen as a pilot project that other districts are willing to emulate.

In addition, the Nepalese government provides a free piece of land for the construction of the boarding school next to the school, as well as

12,000 Euro subsidy for the construction costs
the salaries of the trained pedagogue and a caregiver for the next 10 years
clothing and food for the children living in the boarding school

Sustainability Claimer

Due to the special focus on sustainability, the teachers’ salaries as well as the teaching material at the schools we support are normally paid by the government.

Under special circumstances, such as in very remote schools or in the case of marginalised ethnic groups, these costs are covered by Chay Ya for one year.

Sustainability Claimer

Updates

February 2020
The laying of the foundation stone for the building of the 6-classroom hostel took place in January 2020. The foundation works such as excavations, permanent works for pillars and beams are in progress. The construction work is expected to be completed by spring 2021 and the building will be handed over to the school administration committee.

June 2021
Fantastic news: Thanks to a lot of hard work in the winter and the voluntary help of the villagers, the corona-related delay has been completely made up for and the construction work in Chaina has already been completed! Moreover, our project is so popular that the government has immediately added two more bedrooms on the first floor. Now only the furniture is missing.
Once the local school has been extended, 30 (instead of 20) visually impaired / blind children can look forward to a new home.

October 2023
At the same time as the extension of the inclusive school was opened, the playground with motor skills park elements especially for the blind children could be inaugurated. Thank you very much for your support, Entwicklungshilfeklub and Chay Ya Liechtenstein!