The future of Education in Limi
Due to the genius of establishing the Limi Youth Hostel in Kathmandu and educating some 15 Limi children a year in Kathmandu Deanna and Tashi have made a solid base to establish Primary Education at each of the three villages in Limi valley itself. The teachers for these three schools are recruited from the first cohort of youth who have been to the Hostel and the School in Kathmandu.
This means children of Limi can now start their education at the age of 5 or 6 and they can be educated locally for the whole of their primary education up to the age 11 or 12. This means the winters are not wasted as the children can attend classes in the snowbound villages. While in the summer, school can break for the all important tasks of planting and harvesting in May and October.
To this end Antahkarana Society International has acquired from the elders of each village a building to be used as a classroom. The teachers from the Limi Hostel in Kathmandu returned back to their homeland in Limi Valley and have already started to teaching classes in the summer of 2008. The classrooms however are very rustic. There is no furniture and the pupils have to sit on the cold earthen floor. There are no school books and blackboards are old newspapers pinner up. One thing all three schools had was an exceptional enthusiasm. Truancy will still be a foreign word.
In about 4 years time these primary school pupils will be ready to go to secondary school. There will be at least 100 pupils in each secondary school class once the primary school in each of the three villages feeds it. It will simply not be feasible or desirable to send all of to school in Kathmandu. It will therefore be necessary to build a secondary school in Limi Valley. This will be expensive to build, maintain and equip. It will mean that the children of Limi can complete their education in their home valley. It will mean that the children of Limi can use the long winters for education Also, it will mean that the unique culture and family life of Limi will be preserved.
Antahkarana Society International needs funds to establish and equip the three primary schools in Limi. In the summer of 2008 the windows were open to the elements and electric lighting was from car batteries. Newspapers pinned to the wall imitated blackboards. For more information on the good work Antahkarana Society International does in Limi please follow this link http://www.antahkaranasociety.org/index.html
