Coronavirus: school closures in Sikkim
The Sikkim government has closed all schools. Our two volunteers are having to abandon their assignments. These are difficult and worrying times for all of us.…
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News
The first of our 2020 intake of volunteers has arrived!
Our first two volunteers of the season have arrived safe and sound in their schools in Sikkim. I am sure they will have a rewarding two months teaching the charming children of Sikkim. We wish them well!…
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A new playground for the Vidya Sagar Gyanpeeth school
Thanks to our supporters for raising the funds needed to construct a playground for a small village school in Sikkim! Land below the school had to be bought from the local farmer, and then built up to raise it to the level of the school building.
NEWSLETTER No. 17: December 2018 – November 2019
2019 has been a much better year for volunteer recruitment. It has also been good for fund-raising, thanks to the generosity of our friends who responded generously to our playground appeal. Find out what we’ve been up to this year!
INSPECTION VISITS
My indefatigable and estimable colleague, Barbara Porter, who runs our volunteer programme, and doubles up as our teacher trainer, has just returned to the UK from an arduous five week visit to the Himalayas, including Ladakh, Nepal and Uttarakhand.…
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Volunteer testimonial
What do you think of HELP?
Amazing as always!
Paul Lessner, Ladakh: 2019…
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Teacher training in Uttarakhand
HELP‘s teacher trainer, Barbara Porter, has just completed a three day teacher training seminar for nearly 30 rural teachers from 14 schools and 4 interior districts of Kumaon in Uttrakhand in North India. This training is likely to improve the learning skills of nearly 7000 children.
These photos have been taken by the Serve and Share Association (SASA) with whom we collaborate to run these seminars. SASA organised the event and recruited the participants, while we covered their expenses, and provided Barbara Porter’s professional services.…
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New playground needed!
A small village school in western Sikkim needed to enlarge its tiny playground to accommodate a rising school population, and to comply with new regulations issued by the Sikkim government’s Ministry of Education. As you can see in this video clip, the area they have available at present is barely big enough to hold morning assembly. Friends of HELP donated £3200 in response to our fund-raising appeal, and this, combined with money raised by the school children’s parents, should be enough for the school to buy the extra land needed from the local farmer, and to raise it up to the level of the existing land (the school is built on a steep mountainside), and level it.…
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Volunteer opportunities for mature people!
HELP volunteer,Kathleen Kressly, with her school children in West Bengal (Kalimpong). We are looking for more volunteers like her to join our programme and make a difference to the education of children in the Indian and Nepalese Himalayas! If you want to know more, please go to the volunteer page of our website.
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No space to play!
Dear friends,
I am trying to raise money for a small village school in Sikkim to buy and level some land in order to make a playground for the children. This has become a government requirement, and the school must comply if it is to retain its registered status. The total cost will be around £6400, and so I will need to try various ways of getting there.
It’s an expensive project because, like almost every building in Sikkim, the school has been built on a steep slope.…
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