Archive for the ‘Sponsorship’ Category

Until recently, we have sought sponsors for students of all ages, from kindergarten upwards.

From now on I want to focus our efforts on helping older students with  academic potential through their final two years of secondary school, and beyond  to higher education. The costs are much greater than for the younger school  children, but the sponsorship periods are shorter, so the long term cost to the  sponsor should still be affordable.

The reason for this change of policy is that  most young children these days can get to primary school, whereas very few can  afford to go on to higher education. A student passing successfully through  college and emerging with a useful vocational or academic qualification can make  a huge difference to the well-being of his or her extended family, as well as  make a significant contribution to the development of their country. Basic  literacy is also vital, but literacy levels are increasing in Nepal and India,  and I think there is less need for HELP to focus on this now.

The first student we are helping under this new dispensation is Chandraman  Tamang. The following details can also be found on the website. He is a  successful student who has managed to pass the entrance test for a three-year  Radiography course at the Martyr Memorial Institute of Science and Technology in  Patan, Nepal, while coping with the care of his ailing brother who has recently  died of cancer. He is one of only 30 students who will be accepted onto the  course, provided he can find the funds to pay for the fees, books and uniform.  The family is absolutely broke having spent all their meagre resources on  medical expenses incurred by Chandraman’s brother. His father is  a taxi driver,  and the family live in a rented mud house.The course begins this October and to ensure that he doesn’t lose the  opportunity to take it, I have used HELP general project funds to cover the  first year expenses. However, I am looking for a sponsor to cover all three  years, so that I can eventually return this money  to the projects budget.

Can you help, I wonder? If so, please have a look at the relevant page of the HELP website: http://www.help-education.org/students.html to see how you can sponsor him.

About 18 months ago, I was approached by the Mountain Company with a proposal to run a charity trek in Sikkim under their auspices for the benefit of HELP’s various projects in the Himalayas. This seemed like a good idea at the time, providing tourists with a chance to stay in a Sikkimese village and to visit a school we are helping (en route to the start of their trek), in return for a donation to boost HELP’s funds.

Disappointingly, we have had no takers. My guess is that many of our contacts, especially our ex-volunteers, know the Himalayas already, and don’t need to use a UK-based company to arrange their treks. As for people who don’t know us, it seems likely that they would be more inclined to choose a charity trek that raises money for a cause they can relate to, such as cancer research or disaster relief. Raising money to participate in a charity trek is extra work, and, for those who have not visited the Himalayas, the state of education in the region may not seem like a cause that is worth the effort.

Whatever the reason for the lack of interest, my son, Alan, and I are going ahead with the trek which will take us close to Mount Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. We fly out to India on 10th October, and, after visiting schools in Sikkim, we will start the eight-day trek, which will take us up to an altitude of 5000 metres (16,000 feet), on 16th.

I don’t want to throw in the towel at this stage and give up trying to use the trek to raise funds for HELP. I hope to send Barbara Porter to Ladakh next September to run a teacher training seminar for local teachers in Leh, which I am sure most of you will agree is a worthy cause. Barbara, a free-lance teacher trainer,  volunteered with us as a teacher at St. Paul’s primary school in South Sikkim three years ago, and went back last February to run a couple of  successful one-week seminars for local teachers in Kalimpong and Gangtok respectively. You can see extracts from her report in this blog .  The total cost of the trip, including Barbara’s fees, was £2000, and we need to raise a similar amount for her next trip.

If you agree with us that  training local teachers is an excellent way of improving the quality of teaching in village schools, and would like to sponsor us, the thing to do is to go to the donations page of our website (http://www.help-education.org/donations.html ) and complete the online form, noting in the comments box that you are sponsoring our trek.

Wish us luck!

Jim Coleman

Director, Himalayan Education Lifeline Programme

We have just taken over the administration of eight sponsorships of children at the Algarah primary school that had originally been set up and run by one of our ex-volunteers. That means that we now are responsible for helping thirty-three sponsors to sponsor forty-three children.

During my recent visit to India I was able to hand over £1,800 sponsorship money for fifteen children for the next school year (2008). This will be spent on books, stationery, uniforms, school fees, satchels and so on.