BD 2,000 Sent To UWS in Gurase Community, Nepal (“Kids Helping Kids”)

The Senior School has had a fantastic start to the Nepal Fundraising Challenge! “Kids helping other kids” – what a wonderful venture! After another very busy and successful term of Community Service fun at the Senior School, Mrs Bourner is proud to announce that a further BD 2,000 has been sent to Nepal to assist the UWS in the building of the Gurase Community School. Jack Clark, School Partnership Director at the UWS, was in touch recently to update St Christopher’s School about the progress of the project in Nepal. He informed Mrs Bourner that two members of the Gurase village have begun their teacher training with the UWS in preparation for their roles at the future Gurase Community School. There were many applicants for the role within the village, and the village chiefs had to gather in order to choose the two best applications. Jack commented that “families in Gurase view education as the hope for the future” and said that one woman from a neighbouring village summed it up by saying “once the school is built, the struggle will be less.”

Jack also updated Mrs Bourner on the school build schedule. The UWS had hoped to have the foundations of Gurase constructed, but two major events (a National strike and a fuel crisis) have meant that Nepal has been at a stand still since the earthquake in April. The basic ground work has now started in Gurase and the foundation work is due to begin in January, when fuel trucks from China will enable the UWS to get the machinery to Gurase to build the school. The Senior School students have worked hard to raise money at a variety of different events and have ensured that the school is well on its way to achieving the USD$28,000 (approximately BD 10,500) target for the end of the year. Particular congratulations must be given to the Community Service Captains across Years 7-13 who have given up a great deal of their time to run and help at the events. The Autumn term kicked off with ‘Unplugged X’ where all ticket proceeds where dedicated to Nepal. Service Captains sold a variety of refreshments and the official Nepal Fundraising Challenge T-shirts to raise further funds. Mr Bazzouz raised money for the initiative by organising Hispanic Day and by collecting an enormous sum from sponsorship for his incredible New York Marathon run. November was a very busy month and saw the Service Captains working hard at a string of events including the ‘Rock n Pop’ concert, the SPARTA 1k Challenge, the Sixth Form Charity Football event and the Chamber concert.

Nepal T-shirt sales soared and the students organized various stall sales to raise additional funds. December has seen a further three, large-scale events raising money for Nepal: the Festive Fayre, the Charity Quiz Night and the Winter Concert. In addition to the large variety of events, Senior School students have worked hard in their own time to complete independent fundraising. Well done to Maia McDonough (8F), Eline Van Der Dong (7D), Danielle Wilkinson (8F), Sunita Dulabh (8B), Sheherazade Al Shahry (9E), Aaliah Al Shahry (8B) and Maisie Brandreth (7F) for your fantastic efforts! A big thank you must be extended to the Community Service Captains and to all of the staff that ensured the success of the fundraising events of this term! The Spring Term promises to be another exciting stage in the Senior School’s Nepal Fundraising Challenge! Let’s see how much we can raise for the Gurase Community at the upcoming Charity House Competition and the Charity Auction Ball…!