School children have had no access to the outside world, as there is no regular mail delivery, phone service, TV or Internet connection in the village.  The 5 grades in the Basa school have very limited resources.  Unfortunately, many of the school children will be forced to leave Basa as the small family farms cannot support extended families.  So, preparation to cope with living and working in an urban area, like Katmandu, is extremely important for the school children.  Providing lighting to the village and computers for the school will thus not only improve the quality of life in the village, it will greatly benefit village children as they will be computer literate when they move to an urban area

• The First Friends Project also raised sufficient funds in the summer of 2011 to purchase the parts to construct 62 smokeless stoves for the village. Members of our trekking group visited homes throughout the village and were shown the smokeless stoves now in each home in Basa. The villagers were especially proud of their own work in assembling the stoves and building chimneys into their homes.

• Smokeless stoves will have great health benefits for the villagers. Currently firewood is the primary fuel for heating and cooking. Villagers inhale carbon smoke every day of their lives. By significantly reducing the reliance on firewood there should be a great reduction in cardio-pulmonary problems and cataracts. Smokeless stoves will also significantly reduce deforestation. Villagers were burning at least 9 sticks each day for cooking and heating. The smokeless stoves have reduce the number of sticks needed to 3 per day.

THANKS FOR THE

STOVES !!

Cracked floors have been patched, window frames have been painted and repaired, and additional benches have been built;

- A playground and safety wall has been constructed;

- Teaching materials and workbooks for grades K through 5 were shipped and have been delivered to the school; and

- Sufficient funds were raised (and are being held in the School’s Trust Account) to hire and pay 4th and 5th grade teachers for three years, so the School was able to expand from grades 1 to 3 to 1 through 5.

All of this was accomplished with donations totaling $6,300.00.

Thank YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORTYOUR YOUR

MONEY MONEY GOES A GOES A LONG LONG

WAY !!!WAY !!!

The School and class room

AGAIN THANKS AGAIN THANKS