Elevate Nepal broke ground on Sarsyu Primary School in November 2018, hiring sixteen Sarsyu villagers to construct a twelve room, 9,000-square-foot school built to earthquake standards approved by the Nepalese National Reconstruction Authority. The construction crew worked seven days a week as the entire community eagerly awaited a new school. Community volunteers donated time as necessary to ensure timely completion of the project, and when the school’s concrete roof was poured, without any machines using only buckets, shovels and basic tools, 150 villagers worked from dawn to dusk to finish the roof in one day.
The project was expected to take twelve months to complete, but was finished in nine months, at a cost of $85,000. 700 students now attend class in a safe, dry, earthquake-resistant structure, with sufficient toilets and a school kitchen. The new facilities allowed for the expansion of the school to grade twelve, and inclusion of a science laboratory. The local ward, acquiring funding from the district government, donated forty computers to the school, and programs in agriculture biology, and chemistry were added to the curriculum.
This is Elevate Nepal’s biggest and most ambitious project to date, involving the dedication of individuals from across the globe, donating their money, resources, and time. The Elevate Nepal staff in America and Nepal are grateful to all involved, and happy for the students of Sarsyu.
