Today was my last day at the Shree Rastriya Secondary School. There was a formal event at the school to mark the end of the project and to inform the community about the donations. We invited all the parents of the students, board members of the school, some government officials, and other community members. When I reached the school, I was very happy to find an overwhelming presence of parents. The parents of this school are mostly poor farmers and laborers, which means they are currently extremely busy as it is monsoon season. They had come despite their busyness. The interest they showed in their children’s future, studies, and in the school gives me a little hope about the status and future of education, especially in Nepali villages. Since, it is usually hard to get the parents to come to the school to meet teachers, the principal and school took it as an opportunity to reinforce the importance of making a suitable learning environment for the students at home.

The principal, the teachers, and the community members expressed their sincere gratefulness for all the grant and the project. The headmaster of this school has a vision towards the school, and deeply cares about the school and the children’s future, which is really evident in all his work. This kind of attitude is hard to find among the headmasters of the government schools in Nepal. Most teachers are concerned about personal gain or only care about politics even in educational sector.

In addition to the computers, I donated a set of notebooks and geometry box to all the students. I found that most of the students fail Math classes because they cannot afford to buy a proper geometry box. In addition to the stationary supplies, I also provided ten ceiling fans to the school. Currently in Dhangadhi the temperature reaches up to 108 degree Fahrenheit. However, the school has no fan or any sort of indoor cooling system. In such conditions, the school had been struggling to keep students motivated. The students today seemed really energized and positive. They all recited poems for me and kept coming up to me to let me know that they wanted to study hard and one day give back to their community, just as I had. This really made me feel like I had accomplished what I had come for. The students had motivation and encouragement- they were feeling like they could amount to something and could in the future help their communities.