Nepal: Lumbini Girls School

Construction Progresses at Karuna Girls’ School in Lumbini: Q4 2017

March 01, 2018

Gaurav Pradhan and Deanna Boulard

Nepal Initiative Reports

RMF Nepal Program Manager inspecting the quality of the work

RMF’s Presence

Emergency Relief and School Construction

RMF has been active in Nepal since 2015, when we arrived shortly after the devastating April 25th earthquake to provide emergency relief services and strategize a long-term plan to help strengthen education and healthcare systems in Nepal. We focused on strengthening Kanti Children’s Hospital, the only government referral level children’s hospital in Nepal; supporting orphans and vulnerable children in Kathmandu; and reaching the underserved populations of rural areas, such as Arupokhari and Bhotenamlang. Through our emergency relief work with Venerable Metteyya Sakyaputta, founder of the Nepali organization Global Karuna, we also learned of Karuna Girls’ School in Lumbini, Nepal.

RMF’s current support to the school is in constructing a 4-classroom building and handing it over to Karuna Girls’ School. This is a step in helping the school to meet its long-term goal of accommodating 500 students.

Foundation and support columns of the new school building

Construction Progress and Monitoring Visit

Nearing Completion

The chosen local contractor, Lumbini Sanskritik Associated Pvt. Ltd., has continued construction of the 2,349.9-square-foot school building at Karuna Girls’ School in Lumbini, and the building is nearing completion. RMF Nepal Program Manager Ganesh Shrestha returned to Lumbini in December 2017 to monitor the construction. The work was found to be satisfactory and in alignment with the approved design of the building.

On November 13, 2017 RMF released the second installment to the contractor: 20% of total construction cost, i.e. NPR 799,322.20, which is equivalent to USD 7,690.97. Similarly, on January 9, 2018, the third installment was released: 25% of the total construction cost, i.e. NPR 999,153.00, which is equivalent to USD 9,716.55. The third installment was released after RMF Nepal Program Manager Ganesh Shrestha’s December visit to the construction site and upon receipt of signed documents from the engineer outlining the cost of construction to date and amount of work completed.

Task accomplished:
• Completing the plinth level
• Raising load-bearing foundation walls
• Beginning roof work

Donate

To build capacity at Karuna Girls’ School
To develop a nursing and midwifery school
To improve the education, health, and wellbeing of girls and women in Lumbini

Karuna Girls’ School was founded in 2013 by Global Karuna, a branch of the Nepali organization Lumbini Social Service Foundation (LSSF). The school is Lumbini’s only inclusive all-girls school, where girls can study regardless of religion or caste.

RMF began working with Global Karuna shortly after the April 2015 earthquake, and we are pursuing plans to construct an additional building for Karuna Girls’ School and, in partnership with the school, develop a nursing and midwifery program.