Dear HELP Friends and Supporters,
It’s been some time since our last newsletter, and I’m very glad to be reconnecting with you now to share the latest news from HELP. As many of you will know, HELP’s founder Jim Coleman used to write at least annually to keep you updated on the progress and projects made possible through your generosity and encouragement. Since Jim passed the baton of HELP’s leadership at the end of 2022, this tradition paused for a while — but the work on the ground has continued with the same heart and commitment that he inspired from the beginning.
Over the course of 2023 and 2024, HELP has continued to support schools in the Himalayan region by sending dedicated volunteers and responding to requests from our partner schools through both fundraising and practical aid. This 21st newsletter offers a round-up of what we’ve achieved together over the past two years, thanks to your continued belief in the power of education and the difference we can make together in addressing the challenges faced by these schools and communities.
To all the volunteers who took on placements during this period, and to every supporter who fundraised, donated, or offered help in other ways please accept our sincere thanks. The gratitude expressed by our partner schools is deep and genuine, and I’m honoured to pass that on to you.
धेरै धेरै धन्यवाद
Dherai dherai dhanyabad
Volunteering
Applications to volunteer at one of our partner schools were still very few and far between, these last two years as in 2022. However, what we lacked in quantity we certainly made up for in quality. We were lucky to be able to send three well qualified and committed volunteers to schools in the autumn of 2023 and three volunteers in 2024. Two of the 2024 volunteers have volunteered with us before and the third was new to HELP.
Joanna Lawson, a Depute Principal Educational Psychologist working in Edinburgh took a year long career break and joined our Vidyar Sagar school in West Sikkim for two months in 2023 as part of her year of travelling and volunteering. The school really appreciated and benefitted from all that Joanna did and she also enjoyed being part of the school community:
“I really had a great time and enjoyed the whole experience…it was lovely…not to have emails ruling my life…People are so kind and welcoming and genuine.”
Joanna also really enjoyed the teaching: “it was good to be able to be creative in lesson planning and the children were responsive and hard working.
Two more volunteers went to Vidya Sagar in 2024. The first was Simon Pierse who volunteered in Uttarakhand in 2022. We were delighted to welcome him back to the programme. Sadly, after a couple of weeks he had to leave for personal reasons. Nevertheless he made a valuable contribution the short time he was there.
In the past autumn, 2024 a volunteer from the Netherlands, Jaap Embregts volunteered at this school. Despite struggling with a chest infection, Jaap did not take any time off and made a great contribution to the life of the school. Like all the Vidya Sagar volunteers he recommends Radhika’s cooking as the best in the Himalayan region!
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Our second 2023 volunteer, Annie Bayley, also went to one of our Sikkim schools: St Pauls Primary school in the village of Namthang. As well as teaching, Annie also found the time to really improve the interior of the school building which had become very shabby after many years of use. During a week of closure due to local floods, she rolled up her sleeves and aided (and sometimes hindered!) by some of the school’s students, painted corridors and doors and decorated them with lively poster montages. She also worked hard organising and sorting the school library, which has a good collection of books donated by a former volunteer, in the hope that it will be better used in the future.
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Volunteer Ei Lwin, taking a break from medical studies in England went to a school in a remote part of rural Uttarakhand, founded and run by our partner in Uttarakhand, the Serve & Share Association (SASA) based in Dehradun. Throwing herself in to the life of the school, as well as teaching classes, Ei produced a beautiful Christmas show for the end of the term in December.
Like Annie in Sikkim, Ei Lwin transformed the library provision at the school. Digging out a whole series of books (also donated by former HELP volunteers) from their hiding place in the principal’s office, Ei and a band of willing students transformed a spare classroom into a welcoming and functioning library.
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Our third volunteer in 2024 , Bart Hermans, went to our partner school in Ladakh, the Lamdon Khalse school. We were delighted that he went to this school as we had been unable to find a volunteer for Ladakh in 2023. This is a vibrant school in a remote and beautiful place. One of the Dalai Lama Foundations supports staff salaries at this school, but other than that it is entirely a community project.
As with all our schools, the presence of a volunteer is a great boost to the English teaching and general life of the school. Bart was a previous HELP volunteer and recently has been involved with HELP again, including singlehandedly raising £2100 to support the school he volunteered at in 2016, St Paul’s in South Sikkim, as well as visiting another of our partner schools, the Spituk Monastery school while he was in Ladakh.
As always, all our HELP volunteers contributed so much more to the life of their schools than their teaching in the classrooms. Their enthusiasm, energy and imagination provided a wonderful boost, not only to the education in the school, but to the morale and wider life of the school and community.
Volunteering in one of our partner schools is a rewarding and often life changing experience. If any of you reading our newsletter this year would like to consider volunteering with us or can think of anyone you know who might be interested, please do contact us, and please spread the word!
Jayati Marshall and the IAHV Read Library project
In November 2022, HELP was contacted by Jayati Marshall, who had been drawn, when she first discovered our website, to apply for a volunteer teaching placement. However in the ensuing conversations it became clear that Jayati’s wish to be of service and to support those in need in India, had a much wider scope. Approaching retirement, Jayati wishes to share the good fortune she has experienced over the course of her life. This, combined with a lifetime of dedicated study and hard work, means that she feels that she now has resources additional to her own needs. Jayati is therefore looking for worthwhile schools and projects to which she can give a helping hand.
Following many discussions with HELP and other projects in India and Nepal, Jayati visited a number of these projects in the autumn of 2023. Among the places she visited were 3 of HELP’s partner schools: Vidyar Sagar Ghyanpeeth School near Pelling in West Sikkim, the Serve & Share Association (SASA) school in Akhori, in the Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand, and the Ashram school, Lok Jeevan Vikas Bharti (LJVB) near Budhakedar in the same region of the Garhwal Himalaya.
Jayati has already given generously to these schools, for example giving US$2100 to support an additional teacher salary for the Vidya Sagar school. She has also given US$250 to SASA, this being 6 months’ salary for a coordinator for the organic products scheme that SASA is launching to support the wider community in Akhori and in time other schools and communities further afield. She has also had creative discussions with the Ashram school, suggesting ways forward for this school, which has suffered very much from the Covid lock downs and the recent sad passing of their inspirational founder Acharya Bihari Lal and his wife.
In 2024 Jayati generously donated further significant funds to the SASA school in Uttarakhand: US$4,500 to provide new female toilets on the school site and a further US$3000 in support of the organic food scheme.
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We are very grateful to Jayati for the generous support she has given so far and look forward to more enjoyable conversations and further collaboration.
In addition to the funds already mentioned, Jayati also put HELP in touch with the IAHV (International Association for Human Values) Read Library project. This small project works to provide quality library books for schools who don’t have any. They work with schools in Kenya and India.
During her visit to all the HELP schools in the autumn of 2022, Barbara Porter identified at least three schools that really need more books in English, especially story books, for all ages, to help with their learning and to give them the chance to read and enjoy English books beyond their sometimes too challenging course books. So it was particularly timely to be put in touch with this small but effective organisation who could provide books for these schools. Through the IAHV Read project the Vidyar Sagar school in West Sikkim received 180 books at the end of 2023 and will now be able to set up small libraries in all their classrooms. The process to provide a similar number of books for the Lamdon Khalse school in Ladakh is currently underway. More information about this inspiring project can be found on their website: www.iahv.org.uk
Other Fundraising
We have also been able to support some of the requests of our partner schools from the HELP project Fund. The hostel building belonging to the Vidya Sagar School in West Sikkim developed a severely leaking roof – showing its age for sure. As well as the residential students, our volunteers, and the Principal and Deputy Principal of the school (Rajib and his wife Radhika) have their rooms in this building. We have been able to give £2000 towards the replacement of this roof, which enabled most of the work to be completed. However, we are still seeking funds to complete this job as there is a section at the back still requiring urgent work.
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One of our former volunteers who had worked at St Paul’s school in Sikkim 7 years ago, hearing that the school was in financial difficulties, immediately offered to undertake some fundraising for the school. His efforts raised an amazing £2,100. Here is what he says about the school and his work for everyone there:
Bart writes:
“I absolutely loved volunteering at St. Paul’s in 2016 before starting my career as a lawyer. The majestic sights in Sikkim in combination with the warm atmosphere at a small village school made me spend several holidays at the school. I was very sorry to hear that the school is struggling greatly at the moment. St. Paul’s is facing challenges with student enrolment after long lockdowns and the school also needs more trained teachers due to stringent government requirements. Friends, family and total strangers responded en masse to my crowdfunding action to help the school. The raised amount of £2,100 seems not enough to help the school in the long run, but hopefully a cash injection will get St. Paul’s back on its feet and provide time to reorganise the school. A successful school that was established in 1984, should not go under due to temporary setbacks such as Covid-19. My hopes for the future are that talented and motivated children can eventually fulfil teaching positions and ensure the school’s continuity”.
Many thanks to Bart from the school and all of us here at HELP. An inspiring effort!
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Through smaller donations and fundraising efforts we have also been able to provide funds to meet specific school requests, such as new whiteboards at the Lamdon Khalse School in Ladakh.
How can you help contribute to fundraising efforts?
Consider doing your online shopping via Easyfundraising!
Download the Easyfundraising app which pops up every time you do an online search for a product to show you which companies participate in the scheme.
Also, see our website donate page for information about donations, or reach out to us if you would like to discuss a fundraising project idea.
We need YOU!
To continue to see HELP make an impact on education in the poorest Himalaya regions, we’re looking for some new leaders. If you or someone you know shares a commitment to enriching the lives of teachers and children in remote rural communities and a passion for cultural exchange, we’d love to hear from you!
Our dedicated volunteers already make significant impacts on the lives of the young learners and teachers in the schools where they work.
As a leader you will have the opportunity to facilitate even greater change, contribute positively to the health and development of school communities in several Himalaya regions and build lasting relationships with local partners and school leaders.
Send a message to Simon or Barbara if you’re interesting in learning more.
Simon Forwood
Executive Director
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