Read the full report here: President’s Report for 2019

Water infrastructure in village schools

30 highlights in 30 years – including NAFA’s responses to the 2015 earthquakes

As we enter our 30th year of existence, over 95% of the earthquake rebuild commitments have been completed. It has taken a huge amount of determination, generosity, hard work and expertise both in Nepal and here in Australia to reach this point. We can ensure everyone that there are many, many very grateful Nepalese villagers who have benefited from our collective efforts and their hard work on the ground. They would like to thank everyone who has played a role in helping them rebuild their infrastructure and lives.

Click here to read the full newsletter      NAFA 30th anniversary newsletter 2019

The Big Picture:    NAFA completed the rebuild or substantial repair of fifty-four earthquake resistant classrooms at eight schools, thirty-five classrooms in four Dhading district schools: Kutal, Ladap, Richet and Tawal and nineteen classrooms in the remote, eastern Nepal villages of Kophu, Patle, Shyama and Dhupisurke.

Patle school 4 classroom block

In 2018 NAFA continued to focus on helping remote villages rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the devastating earthquakes of 2015. NAFA allocated $191,000 towards the second phase of the rebuild in 2018, bringing the total allocated to the earthquake rebuild to $770,000! This could only be done through the continued generosity of NAFA supporters and our guarantee that 100% of donations to NAFA go directly to Nepal, without any administration expenses taken off.

Read more – click on  NAFA_Presidents_Report_2018

13 hours 150 people working in the rain

In the words of Kanchha (Tawal teacher and NAFA’s liaison person): “After nine month’s hard work we have finished slab of four classrooms. That day was drizzling rain but ignored by all 150 people to that bad monsoon because for their children getting earthquake proved (proof) building”

Sadit (NAFA contracted overseeing engineer) was also impressed with the local effort: “It was great news to learn that casting of the slab in Kutal has completed … Also the good news was the materials we had estimated and stored (cement, sand, iron rods, and aggregates) were sufficient to finish the task. The remaining cement bags from the store now can be used to plaster the inner walls.”

The second phase of the rebuild in the four Dhading district schools that were all completely destroyed in the April 2015 Gorkha earthquake is progressing well, with official openings of the rebuilt school scheduled for February 2019.

We can be rightly proud of the good partnership we have with all the villages we work with in Nepal.

Making a difference to people’s lives in Nepal

This year’s Nepalese New Year Fundraising event on the 5th May 2018 was a huge success.  The hall at Lourdes Hill College was buzzing with supporters and volunteer workers.

Luya Music provided the early evening musical entertainment and the delicious food was cooked by the  Tibetan Kitchen staff.  After the meal the children from the Nepalese community performed for the audience showcasing some of their traditional costumes and dances.

This dinner plays an important role in helping NAFA to make a difference to the lives of people in Nepal, especially when so many communities are rebuilding after the devastating earthquakes of 2015.  We are very proud to announce we raised  $19,093.00.

NAFA’s focus in 2017 continued to be helping remote villages rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the devastating earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May 2015. After allocating $400,000 in 2016 towards the rebuild, NAFA allocated another $191,505 towards the second phase of the rebuild in 2017. This could only be done through the generosity of NAFA supporters and our guarantee that 100% of donations to NAFA go directly to Nepal, without any administration expenses taken off.

Rebuilding classrooms in the Dhading area

Nineteen classrooms have been rebuilt or substantially repaired with NAFA funds in the remote, eastern Nepal villages of Kophu, Patle, Shyama and Dhupisurke. NAFA executive officers Ross and Brenda Hazelwood joined other supporters to attend official openings of the rebuilt classrooms and were moved by the expressions of gratitude for NAFA’s help from local villagers. In addition to rebuilding their classrooms, NAFA also funded the replacement of school desks destroyed by the 2015 earthquakes in Shyama, Patale and Kophu.

In Dhading district, a total of fourteen classrooms were rebuilt in 2017 with NAFA funds in the remote villages of Tawal, Ladap, Richet and Kutal. In the same area, NAFA funded the repair of a village water tank in Tawal Besi and water taps above the village of Tawal. Two gabion walls were also funded in partnership with the Nepalese government, protecting Tawal area school and the village of Tawal itself. These gabion walls had been recommended by a geotechnical assessment for landslide risk undertaken by an engineer at the end of 2015. The second phase of the school rebuild is progressing well in 2017, with official openings planned for November 2018.

All of our funded rebuilds in both eastern Nepal and Dhading have been supported by government approved earthquake resistant building plans, earthquake resistant training of local builders and locally-based engineer oversight. NAFA is very confident that we have done our best to construct the strongest possible classrooms for children in those villages.

Apart from our earthquake rebuild responses, NAFA allocations spanned the priorities of education, health, child care and rural economic (agricultural) development. All NAFA projects are locally managed and NAFA will continue to expect the local community to make a contribution towards each rebuilding project, for example by undertaking volunteer labour to build retaining walls, excavating and clearing the building sites, transporting building materials from the road heads to the school sites and breaking down stones used for aggregate in the concrete mix. At the same time, NAFA recognises the economic hardship and emotional stress caused by the earthquakes so it will continue to be flexible in its expectations of community contributions during this time.

I again travelled to Nepal twice in 2017, focussing on the rebuilding phase and to monitor ongoing and one-off NAFA projects. Executive members Deborah Setterlund, Ross and Brenda Hazelwood, along with other NAFA supporters, also visited NAFA projects at their own expense to monitor project implementation.

NAFA project highlights in 2017:

• $191,505 allocated to earthquake rebuild/repair projects in eight remote villages, bringing total to $592,248, after $95,642 was allocated in 2015 as an initial response (e.g. roofing tin and rice).
• $20,150 allocated to education sponsorship for 47 school children at VSN Thimi.
• $42,761 allocated to sponsorships for 39 students (VSN Thimi, Tawal and PA Nepal) for college or Bachelor level study.
• $22,333 allocated to 6 health projects, including salaries for 3 health workers in a remote health centre, primary hearing care, a remote cataract eye clinic, a remote dental camp and a women’s personal hygiene project.
• $14,867 allocated to teacher salaries in two remote villages and $9,860 allocated to support three child care centres for poor families.
• $8,684 grant from English Family Foundation to set up a remote area plant/tree nursery and reforestation program and a $10,000 philanthropic donation which increased the loan capital of a remote Cooperative Savings Bank.

A closer look at ongoing NAFA’s programs in Nepal

Education

NAFA has one child sponsorship programs at Vinayak Shiksha Niketan (VSN) School in Thimi, with forty-seven (47) children sponsored for education by NAFA up to Grade 12. This program is now capped due to the administrative responsibilities associated with these programs and their multi-year impact on NAFA’s financial commitments.

The students face enormous disadvantages from their backgrounds to continue past this minimum academic qualification to obtain their Secondary Education Exams (SEE). In the case of VSN Thimi, sponsored children are from poor families in this pottery/farming town, with many of the sponsored children’s families working and living in a local carpet factory. Most of the children in Prisoners Assistance (PA) Nepal in Sankhu have parents who are in prison or are orphans. NAFA also provides post Grade 10 FEAT support to students from a number of villages who attend the area school at Tawal. These students are from poor subsistence farming backgrounds.

NAFA’s FEAT program aims to partner with child sponsors and families to provide opportunities for young people involved in NAFA supported education programs to undertake vocational training or post Grade 10 (college years 11 and 12) and Grade 12 (Bachelor) study to improve their employment chances. In 2017, funds were allocated through the FEAT program to support 39 students in post Grade 10 study. This number continues to increase as more children formerly supported under the child sponsorship program move into Bachelor level study. Through the FEAT program, NAFA is now supporting young people from VSN, PA Nepal and Tawal to study medicine, public health, fashion design, nursing, education, rural health, hotel management, business studies, mechanical engineering, information technology and network development.

In 2017, NAFA continued to sponsor three teachers at the school in Tawal, which enables that area school servicing 6 local villages to be extended to Grade 10, as well as a teacher in the village of Gamauli,

Child care

NAFA continued its financial support to two child care centres operated by the Butterfly Foundation in Pokhara. These centres support families who have moved to Pokhara from villages in search of casual day labour work. In addition, after funding its establishment in 2011, NAFA continued to support the operation of a child care crèche for carpet factory families in Thimi as a response to an evaluation of the health clinic and child sponsorship programs in Thimi in 2010. Since the earthquake that crèche was relocated to an abandoned primary school and is operating well from that venue.

Health

Since co-funding (with AusAid) the construction of the health clinic in 2000, NAFA continues to subsidise the salaries of three health workers at the Tawal health centre, which provides primary health care to over 3,000 people living in Tawal and 4 other nearby villages. Following the earthquake, the health workers saved the lives of a number of injured earthquake victims. Unfortunately, the health clinic at Tawal was completely destroyed by the earthquake and will have to be rebuilt on land away from the landslide prone area on which it was located. A successful crowd funding campaign in 2016 raised sufficient funds to purchase private land and rebuild the health centre. After an exhaustive search, land suitable for the health centre has been purchased and construction of the new health centre will commence after the rebuild of the Tawal area school is complete. In the meantime, the health centre has moved from a tent to be temporarily housed in emergency accommodation rooms built by the Nepal army in case of future natural disasters.

Since 2010, NAFA has been a proud supporter of Himalayan Health & Hearing (HH&H), developed and conducted through the dedicated volunteer work and financial generosity of Lew and Sue Tuck from Whitsunday Hearing. Lew and Sue work in partnership with Keshab Dangol from the Nepalese Association of Hard of Hearing (NAHOH), which is also supported by NAFA, and medical staff in Shechen Clinic and Hospice to provide hearing as well as general and specialist health care in outreach camps in the Kathmandu Valley and beyond in remote areas of Nepal. In 2017, NAHOH maintained a strong school program presence in Kathmandu and surrounding areas. Outreach camps were also held in Lumbini and Dhanusha, with a total of 674 attendees, including 383 under 22 year olds.

NAFA support for hearing screening and treatment complements NAFA’s commitment to eye care through its long-standing support of Tilganga’s eye screening and cataract surgery remote clinics. In 2017, NAFA co-sponsored (with Joy Foundation Nepal) a two-day clinic in Gorkha on 13-14 October. 1,124 villagers were screened at the clinic, with ninety-five cataract and five minor surgeries performed.

Other infrastructure and economic development projects

In 2017 NAFA was fortunate enough to secure a second grant from the English Family Foundation (EFF), this one being $8,684 to set up a remote area plant/tree nursery and reforestation program for the Pasang Chowk area in the Dhading district. Plants and trees propagated by the Cooperative will benefit local farmers financially, reduce the risk of landslides and replenish wood used for cooking. A $10,000 philanthropic donation was also received and forwarded to a remote Cooperative Savings Bank to increase the loan capital. Interest from those loans will be used to fund infrastructure needed by the Cooperative, helping to make the Cooperative self-sustaining. NAFA and Cooperative members also had the honour of hosting a three day visit from the Director of the Foundation, Allan English and his close colleague, Mike de Guyter. I think we all enjoyed the opportunity to share ideas and learnings as we enjoyed the hospitality and openness of the local community.

A women’s social mobiliser (Rebika Tamang) was also funded in 2017 to progress women’s issues in the Tawal area. Rebika started well, helping Deborah Setterlund and Wendy Eastwell with a new tote bag making initiative. Under this initiative, which arose from a six-month sewing training course funded by Queensford College in Brisbane, local women made approximately 180 lined, washable and reversible general purpose tote bags, which were sold through the NAFA network. The initiative was a win-win for both the local women who were paid fair trade wages by NAFA for their efforts; and NAFA making a profit on the sale of the bags, which helps us fund other one-off and ongoing projects. Rebika is also successful in helping the local Cooperative Savings Bank increase the number and level of deposits into the bank.

Another new initiative in 2017 was reusable women’s sanitary kits, an initiative driven by Brenda Hazelwood. Six hundred kits, with the liners sewn by a NAFA sponsored FEAT student, were produced and packaged for distribution to women in six regional jails, as well as to students, teachers and mothers in three remote villages in eastern Nepal. In Tawal, Dhading district, Rebika Tamang is trialling sanitary kits for grades 9 and 10 and providing feminine hygiene information sessions. She is also exploring the feasibility of a micro-business to produce re-usable kits within the local community.

Finally, jumpers and beanies knitted by women in Brisbane were again distributed to school children in a number of villages. Over 800 jumpers and beanies were distributed to students in earthquake affected villages, including Lumsa, Dhupisurke, Shyama, Kophu, Tawal, Ladap and Richet. As always, the jumpers and beanies were a big hit with local children in those villages. This is the last year for this wonderful program, which has been coordinated by Brenda Hazelwood, due to the difficulty being experienced in administering the program both here and in Nepal.

Thank you for supporting NAFA

I would like to make some specific heart-felt thank you’s to supporters here in Australia as well as those who have made NAFA achievements in 2017 possible in Nepal.

In Australia, I would firstly like to thank NAQ and members of the Nepalese community for again supporting NAFA so well this past year. This support includes substantial assistance with NAFA’s main fundraising events, continued advice on a range of earthquake and bureaucracy related matters. NAFA committee members and regular meeting goers Nirmala Pandeya, Mohan Sharma and Ujjwal Gautam provided sound advice and loyal, consistent support during the year. We missed the usual wise input from Mana Ranjit due to illness but we always knew he was with us in spirit and we look forward to Mana rejoining the Committee and continuing to make a valuable contribution.

I would like to offer a special thanks to Gabe Romaguera. He took on the important role of Treasurer in 2017 after Ujjwal had performed that role for eight years. He found it as complex as those of us who have been involved in that area know only too well. But he picked up the reins quickly, and with good cheer. Gabe is interested in all of NAFA’s development aid work in Nepal and will play an important role in building our future.

Theresa Buisman and Sushma Waller also provided invaluable marketing support to the committee during the year. Theresa provided general marketing advice and supported the development and presentation of articles for NAFA’s newsletters in particular. Sushma helped, with support from Brenda Hazelwood and Deborah Setterlund, to put a new NAFA Facebook page into action.

2017 was the second year that a number of key management committee members again made an important contribution: Jo Bicknell in the child Sponsorship Officer position, Russ Waller as Secretary, Stephanie Boldeman as Mailchimp/Membership Officer and Rick Parkes as Assistant Treasurer. We are appreciative of their continued, professional efforts. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Rick and Khilraj Pandeya for coming to Tawal with us in November and providing invaluable support to the NAFA team’s project monitoring efforts there.

I would like to again make special mention of the contribution that Ross and Brenda Hazelwood make to NAFA, both in Australia and in Nepal. They work hard in Australia in their formal committee roles but they also help with other tasks that keep everything moving. For Ross, that includes coordinating the preparation of the annual fundraising dinner and Nepal in the Park rosters and equipment requirement lists for both of NAFA’s fundraising events during the year. For Brenda, it includes managing NAFA’s website, being the main contributor to NAFA Facebook and coordinating NAFA’s market stall fundraising initiative. In Nepal, Ross has guided NAFA’s earthquake rebuilding efforts in eastern Nepal, while at the same time supporting Jo with tasks associated with the VSN and PA Nepal child sponsorship and FEAT programs. Brenda very competently supports Ross in his rebuilding and child sponsorship and FEAT efforts, as well as leading other NAFA initiatives such as the women’s personal hygiene project and the craft project at PA Nepal children’s home. They are a great team and NAFA is indebted to them.

I would also like to particularly thank my wife Deborah for all she does for NAFA, including the support she provides to me in my role as President. Deb is a very competent Research and Evaluation Officer and that is important in helping NAFA keep abreast of new ideas and in evaluating what we are doing and whether it is making a difference to peoples lives in Nepal. Deborah is particularly passionate about helping remote women have a stronger voice in their communities and improve their health, education and economic well-being. Thank you Deb for all you do.

NAFA market stalls are a reliable fundraiser for NAFA, with over $13,000 raised in 2017. It is great credit to those involved in purchasing the items and organising the market stalls, including Brenda Hazelwood, Debbie Leigh, Deborah Setterlund, Megan Richardson and Wendy Eastwell in particular. Megan consistently raises between 15-20% of our market stall income from a small town in New South Wales and this was achieved again in 2017. Her energy, commitment and loyal support to NAFA is again appreciated.

Other NAFA management committee members help with NAFA’s main fundraising events and with other important management and administrative tasks. I would like to again this year make particular mention of Peter Brockett and Stewart Jones for their expertise and good cheer in undertaking important tasks associated with NAFA’s two main fundraising events, the Nepalese New Years fundraising dinner in May and Nepal in the Park in August. Finally, I would like to thank Betty Harris for your ongoing support to NAFA as a committee member. When she is not travelling in far away places she is a solid contributor to NAFA’s decision making processes.

The Committee is blessed to be supported by a large number of volunteers who help with these events. These include the distinguished “Red Shirts” who are visible at the Nepalese New Years Dinner and Nepal in the Park. As has been the case over a number of years, Backtrack again provided great support to NAFA during the year, including printing and photocopying as well as selling tickets for the dinner.

In Nepal, our Project Coordinators volunteer their time to help their communities. It was another busy and challenging year for them: Phurba Sherpa for the Solu Khumbu/Okhaldunga/Dolakha districts; Chandra Tamang and Kanchha Tamang for NAFA supported villages in the Dhading district; Surendra Prajjapati in Thimi; and Govinda Pahari in Pokhara. Thanks also to Pratika Shakya and Uttam Shrestha for providing administrative and IT support to NAFA from the Joy office. Pratika also joined Deborah and I for one of trips to Tawal and there provided invaluable translation and rural development support to us during our field visit. Manish Bhadra, HOD Administration of the Speedway Foundation continued to provide invaluable support in liaising with school rebuilding committees in eastern Nepal and helping guide NAFA through the Nepalese bureaucracy.

In 2017 NAFA committee members and regular meeting goers, led by Russ Waller and supported by Rick Parkes and Mary Hockaday, continued a planning process for succession and sustainability for the day sometime in the future when Ross, Brenda, Deb and I will no longer be able to undertake the activities we do here in Australia and in Nepal.

A new organisational structure has been approved by the Committee and will be implemented from this AGM. In broad terms the structure separates the “operational”, project-related tasks in Nepal with the more managerial and administrative tasks back in Australia. Two volunteer positions included in the new structure are a Nepal-based “Project Coordinator” for NAFA and “Project Champions” focussing on specific project areas. Bijaya and Binu Rajbhandari have offered to take those roles, Bijaya in the role of “Project Coordinator” and Binu as “Project Champion” in relation to child care crèche and other social work initiatives.

I have been President of NAFA for eleven years (but hey who is counting). As I indicated at the 2016 and 2017 AGMs, I would like to stay in the position until the rebuilding phase is over. We are nearly there. I fully support the “succession planning and sustainability” process and have prepared a number of documents in support of that process. If you would like to take up a position that I have been honoured to hold, please step forward and I will be very happy to support you.

NAFA is a very special organisation. It took courage and trust to take on the commitments we made after the earthquake. Those commitments will be met thanks to expertise both in Nepal and here in Australia, determination, collective generosity of NAFA’s supporters and okay, maybe a little luck.

If we plan and implement our succession planning well, NAFA will continue to make a real difference to people’s lives in Nepal for many years to come. In the meantime, let’s celebrate what hopefully will be the completion of the very ambitious rebuild commitments NAFA made after the earthquakes.

Rod Setterlund OAM
President

Tawal villagers pouring a concrete slab on classrooms by hand that took 13 hours, all volunteers. This is their dedication after the earthquake to educate their children

For Rick Parkes, aged 74, walking 817 km of the Camino Norte in Spain will be quite an undertaking but with your support he is up the the challenge.  His motivation is to raise $5,000 to help educate and improve the health of children in the remote village of Tawal.

He visited Tawal in November 2017 and was inspired by the community efforts to improve the lives of their children.

Rick starts his walk on 19 April 2018, he is highly motivated and would be very grateful for your support.

To donate, please go to https://www.givenow.com.au/nafatawalhealtheduc

This year, we hope to complete all of the rebuilding work. This will be a massive achievement for our volunteer-run charity and the villages that will have benefitted. NAFA will be forever grateful for the generosity of its supporters, particularly since the earthquake.

Where did your donations go in 2017

NAFA’s Ross Hazelwood helping to cut the ribbon at Kophu school with Bai Bahadur Rai.

Back to school in the east

Two of NAFA’s executive officers (Brenda & Ross Hazelwood) joined seven NAFA members on a 17 day trek last month to visit each of these remote villages in eastern Nepal, inspect the work and join in the opening celebrations.

Patle school 4 classroom block

NAFA undertook to rebuild 21 classrooms which were destroyed in the 2015 earthquake in the eastern districts – 3 classrooms in the Kophu village, 3 in Dhupisurke, 5 in Shyama and 10 in Patle. The builders were justifiably proud to complete the work. After 12 months of work to obtain government approval for the earthquake-resistant building plans, it took another 12 months to build the classrooms though extreme weather conditions such as snow in the winter and the monsoon.

A grateful student in Patle “Thank you for supporting our school building”

The school committees kept NAFA up to date with the progress of building. In the late stages of the project, NAFA architect Sabin Shrestra and building administration manager Manish Bhadra joined NAFA executives to visit Shyama and Patle to inspect the classrooms and to check the building guidelines were followed.

Ross and Phurba Sherpa at the opening of the school in Patle

Thanks to NAFA, local builders and volunteers, all classrooms in the NAFA-supported villages in the Solu Khumbu, Okhaldhunga and Dolakha districts are now rebuilt. The children and teachers are enjoying their new weatherproof environment.

A warm welcome with garlands and kartas at Kophu school

The opening celebrations in January (attended by NAFA executives and members) included a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the classrooms. At each school, the NAFA representatives were met with a long line of children with welcoming garlands and silk kartas. The young children sang their national anthem and performed their local ethnic dances.

The parents, teachers and children at these schools wanted to pass on their overwhelming thanks to NAFA donors and friends for their generosity!

Major supporters visit Pasang Chowk Agricultural Cooperative

L to R: Khilraj Pandeya, Rod Setterlund, Allen English, Mike de Gruyter, Pratika Shakya, Deb Setterlund, Rick Parkes

In November 2017, Allan English and Mike de Gruyter of the English Family Foundation (EFF) joined NAFA President Rod Setterlund, Deb Setterlund, Rick Parkes, Khilraj Pandeya and Pratika Shakya (Joy Foundation Nepal) for a whirlwind visit to Pasang Chowk Agricultural Cooperative in the Tawal area.

The group was treated to a warm school welcome, followed by a small ceremony at the monastery, and a cultural program at the school, and before they left, they joined local school children in the traditional Mendo Maya Tamang dance.

The EFF, based in Brisbane, generously provided funds to partner with NAFA in helping re-establish the Cooperative after the Gorkha earthquake in 2015. The EFF had also funded a Cooperative-run project to set up a plant/tree nursery and reforestation program.

Allan and Mike with progressive farmer Balsing

Allan and Mike contributed their extensive knowledge to discussions about marketing and developing a point of difference and appropriate branding that would distinguish Cooperative products from others in the marketplace.

They also had a detailed look at the Savings Bank operated by the Cooperative. The Savings Bank, established in 2013, now has 435 depositors from four villages in the area. Funds deposited are immediately loaned out to Cooperative members under a micro-finance model. Allan and Mike quickly concluded that increased loan capital could support Savings Bank infrastructure, agricultural, and other small business development, with Mike subsequently providing a generous donation to increase the loan capital.

The pair was impressed by the multiple roles that community members play in the Cooperative, for example the senior math teacher, Ramesh Tamang, keeps the books for the Savings Bank on a volunteer basis.

Shyama students in their new classroom

Call for members

Membership of NAFA supports the administrative costs of our work in Nepal, so that we can promise donors 100% of donations go to projects.

Members are welcome to participate in monthly management committee meetings and the AGM, and can nominate for a position on the management committee.

Membership costs $20, payable at the start of each calendar year (now!).

To join or renew your membership, go to www.nafa.org.au/membership

“When women’s empowerment is given, women can lead [the] whole society and be involved in economic activities … and invest money … which leads to economic growth of the country”. Rebika Lama Tamang

Tawal women making a difference

Late last year, NAFA appointed Rebika Lama Tamang, a passionate local advocate for women’s development, to the role of Social Mobiliser.  The two year-funded role aims to improve health, education and economic outcomes by empowering women to make a difference in their communities.

Deb guiding the making of the first prototype bag

One of Rebika’s first projects was to establish a bag-making enterprise.

Also on Rebika’s agenda is:  the production of re-usable sanitary pads, consulting with school students about feminine hygiene,a women’s health camp, agricultural entrepreneurship and women’s skill development.

The bags

Tawal’s bag-making enterprise started during a visit by Deborah Setterlund (NAFA’s Research and Evaluation Officer) in November 2017. In the space of 3 days, amid a variety of challenges, women made 200 quality, reversible, washable tote bags for resale in Brisbane.

Nepali plain and striped cotton material was purchased in Kathmandu and transported to Tawal. But time was short and with only 3 full days to make the bags, the pressure was on the 15 eager women tailors. Problems arose like dew in the grass with a lack of flat surfaces to cut out the material, the difficulty of handling 32 metre bolts of cloth, no sign of any pins to help with construction; not to mention the regular distractions of toddlers and chickens roaming around the work space. Day one saw the production of only three bags!

Deb and Rebika (centre) interview the recipient of a goat (one of NAFA’s projects in the Tawal area)

Rebika worked calmly to field the numerous questions and help organise the crew and after an experienced tailor was assigned to cut the pieces and oversee quality control, the task became much more streamlined with the sound of whirring machines permeating the village and a total of 167 bags completed on time with more to come.

Rebika, right, with Yuna Tamang who was elected to represent women in the recent municipal elections

The tailors were paid in accordance with Oxfam’s Fair  Wage principles (see https://
www.oxfam.org.au/a-sewing-kit-for-living-wage/)

Bags are now for sale, but be quick, they’re selling fast.  If you want one, please email Deborah at setterlund@hotmail.com.

Sanitary kits for women in need

Brenda handing out sanitary kits to the students at Patle school

Last year, with funding from donors, Brenda Hazelwood (NAFA’s Vice-President) delivered 150 washable/reusable cloth sanitary kits to women in the Kathmandu central jail who were extremely grateful.  Sanitary wear is not provided in jail so women without family support find this very difficult.  Furthermore there is a growing problem across Nepal regarding the disposal of cheap commercial sanitary pads which, according to research, take up to 800 years to disintegrate.

This year, with the help of generous donors, Brenda was able to extend the program to provide 370 kits for the women in remote jails such as Ilam, Jhapa, Palpa, Chitwan, Birgunj and Pokhara. These kits were delivered and distributed by Indira Rana Magar from Prisoners Assistance Nepal who works closely with the women in these areas.

Kophu school students holding up their sanitary kits

Historically women have used handmade cloth pads.  As cheap plastic commercial pads have become available and widely advertised, women, mainly in the cities who can afford them, have opted to purchase the commercial pads.

To slow this process in the remote areas, Brenda held information sessions with over 200 female students, teachers and mothers in the villages of Kophu, Lumsa and Patle to discuss their current practices and the problems in disposing commercial pads.  The majority of women in these areas are still using handmade cloth pads and were delighted to receive these well made cloth shields and pads.

The shields were purchased from the Days For Girls agency in Kathmandu but the liners were sewn by NAFA student, Suni Rai before being assembled into packages for distribution. An astonishing 600 metres of cotton fabric was cut and sewn for these pads!

A new health clinic on the horizon

Health Coordinator, Beg Tamang, on the site of the new centre

After a long and exhaustive search, land for a new health centre, serving five villages in Tawal has been purchased.

The old health centre, built in 1999 with NAFA and AusAid funding, was destroyed by the Gorkha earthquake in 2015 and subsequently, a geological assessment by an engineer, revealed that the area above the health centre was a landslide risk.

Since then, the locally based NGO Hilly Region Development Club (HRDC) has been searching for land suitable for the health centre and negotiating with prospective sellers whilst trying to remain within a reasonable budget. This proved difficult as there was no community owned land near the main village of Tawal and farmers who have owned and farmed in the region for generations are  understandably reluctant to part with their land.

In January 2018 a breakthrough was made with the purchase of well-located land 50m x 17m within the available budget. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed and a deposit paid, with the registration of the land in the name of the HRDC in progress.

Funds for this land and building project were raised largely through a fundraising event organised by Ray Baker at Backtrack, as well as a crowdfunding campaign. Construction of the new five room health centre will commence later this year when local builders have completed the rebuild of the Tawal area school.

In the meantime, the health centre will continue to operate out of two emergency shelter rooms built by the army after the earthquake.

NAFA again wishes to thank everyone who contributed so generously to the rebuild of the Tawal Health Centre.  Watch this space for future updates.

Ladap finished July 16 2017

In the past 9 months NAFA has helped 9 remote villages across 5 districts in Nepal rebuild or substantially repair their schools after the devastating earthquakes in April and May 2015. NAFA provided $500,000 to rebuild or substantially repair 60 classrooms in 9 schools.

Completed three classroom block in Kophu

We also provided $15,000 to help two remote schools purchase additional land for their schools and to clear and excavate that land in preparation for building.

New structures are now resistant to further earthquakes. NAFA provided $30,000 to train local builders in earthquake resistant building techniques and to employ a Nepali engineer full-time for up to 6 months in two locations to oversee construction work.

We are very proud of local builders’ achievements, under very difficult conditions, in the following villages: Dhupiserki and Patle (Okaldhunga district), Kophu (Solu Khumbu), Shyama (Dolakha), Jitpur (Sindulpulchowk) and Tawal, Kutal, Richet and Ladap (Dhading).

Read more Rebuilding the classrooms in Shyama Dolakha

Tawal school 3 large classrooms finished July 31 2017

 Stage 2 – 13 classrooms rebuild by May 2018

NAFA recently allocated nearly $140,000 to rebuild 13 classrooms in 4 villages (Tawal, Kutal, Ladap and Richet) when roads open after the monsoon season. This allocation for the second phase of the school rebuild program will complete NAFA’s commitments made after the April and May 2015 earthquakes.  We hope that the rebuild will be fully completed by NAFA’s next annual fundraising dinner in May 2018.

13 hours 150 people working in the rain

Never let a monsoon interfere with a project deadline!

Working in the rain in Tawal, a small village in the Dhading district, to complete laying the concrete slabs for the first floor of their community’s new two-storey school. In Kutal, a neighbouring village, another 100 people were doing the same. The monsoon was arriving early and they were determined to finish this stage of the project.

“After nine month’s hard work we have finished slab of four classrooms,” says Kanchha, a teacher at the Tawal school and NAFA’s key liaison person. “That day was drizzling rain but ignored by all the people to that bad monsoon because for their children getting earthquake proved (proof) building.”  Many women worked under umbrellas to prepare the aggregate for the huge amount of concrete needed for the job.

Sadit, the engineer contracted by NAFA to oversee the work, was also impressed with the local effort. “It was great news to learn that casting of the slab in Kutal has completed … Also the good news was the materials we had estimated and stored (cement, sand, iron rods, and aggregates) were sufficient to finish the task. The remaining cement bags from the store now can be used to plaster the inner walls.”

What a wonderful effort by all involved!

Meet one of NAFA’s sponsored students, Sunil

This is Sunil, a young man with focus and determination and with an eye for driving his own successes. His mother was an orphaned young woman who married at the age of 14. She was subsequently abandoned by her husband with 3 little ones to care for. Sunil’s father eventually did return to the family, only to die suddenly after this reunion.

Sunil’s primary and secondary years were spent in the care of PA Nepal. Since he was old enough to work (and possibly earlier), Sunil has worked to help support his family. He’s a very hard worker with a great interest in tourism. With the assistance of a NAFA Sponsor since 2007, Sunil has completed schooling and is now mid-way through a Bachelor of Hotel Management in Kathmandu.

There is no doubt that Sunil has authored his own destiny, while weathering the disadvantage that life has thrown at him. His NAFA Sponsor was the water that nourished the seed that helped Sunil realise some of his dreams.

We welcome interest from potential sponsors. If you’d like more information about NAFA’s Child Sponsorship Program, please email Jo Bicknell.

Fundraisers walking and running for NAFA

The second stage of rebuilding received a fabulous injection of funds thanks to 2 very successful fundraisers.  Many thanks to all those people who supported our runners and walkers in the Brisbane Marathon Festival 2017. We raised over $22,500 – enough to rebuild 2 classrooms.

Nepal in the Park,

held at Mt Coot-tha on 20 August, raised $9,000, thanks to people who completed a short walk and people who enjoyed the many festivities, including music, dancing, beautiful food and Nepalese handicrafts.  Such a wonderful outcome. Particular thanks to all our NAFA volunteers who helped us with these events.

Completion of gabian wall August 2017

One of the gabian walls that now protects the village of Tawal (Dhading district) from potential landslides or rockfalls, built with NAFA funding.
This one is 8m high & 50m long.  Tawal was only 15km from the epicentre of the Gorkha earthquake in April 2015 and 100% of the houses & community infrastructure (e.g. schools) was destroyed.