A New School in Nepal

A brand new school for 250 children in Nepal and a dream come true.

The Shree Bhumimata secondary school was forced to close its doors after being badly damaged in the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

The school served more than 250 children from disadvantaged families in the community of Bethanchwok-4 Kavre, Nepal. Its students, most of them from the Tamang tribe, were forced to attend class in a temporary space which was crowded, cold and ill-equipped. Learning became more difficult, decreasing the quality of education.

Aura Freedom collaborated with our longtime local partners Maiti Nepal to begin the process of rebuilding the school over the course of 4 years. Maiti Nepal led the project locally as we worked with multiple partners, organizations and businesses to make the school a reality. 

Rebuilding the school was necessary to the education of 250 children in Bethanchwok-4 Kavre, reducing the number of children currently out of school in the village and decreasing the amount of school dropouts. Rebuilding the school was also crucial to increase the school attendance of girls in the area, which is key to combating gender-based violence, child marriage, human trafficking and increasing gender equality.

Over the course of more than 4 years – through countless site visits, needs assessments, planning meetings, and consultations with the local community (as well as government bureaucracy and red tape) – we are proud to announce that the Shree Bhumimata Secondary School was successfully rebuilt and reopened its beautiful new doors for the community in the Fall of 2020. 

Aura Freedom also worked with local leaders to create a set of recommendations and a training plan for the school to increase gender equality and prevent gender-based violence and gender discrimination at the school level and ensure the school is safe and welcoming to girls and all women staff. 

250 children now have a safe school in which to learn and further their education. 250 children now have access to an education that will help them escape child marriage, human trafficking, gender-based violence and poverty.

Education is the silver bullet to ending gender inequality, gender-based violence and human trafficking, and is integral in building a more just society. Aura Freedom believes that there is nothing more important than the education of children to build a more equal and peaceful society. After all, children grow up to be adults, and educated adults are more likely to lead healthy, happy and non-violent lives.

Browse through our photo gallery to view the school construction process

We’d like to thank ASF Nepal (Architecture Sans Frontiers – Architects Without Borders) and Todd Lorentz for their support and expertise on this project, as well as Hatch Civil Engineering who made a considerable donation to the project.

We’d also like to thank all our donors and supporters in Canada and around the world who made this school possible.

Grateful to our project partners and advisors: