Latest news on the schools rebuild

The foundations are complete and the walls are going up at the first of 33 schools being rebuilt and repaired in the Everest region of Nepal.

Rebuild construction work is in progress at 11 schools and the repair and refit work is underway at a further 6 schools. The walls are now being constructed at several of the rebuild sites and at others, the foundations are complete. The photo above shows the building progress at Junbesi Secondary School.

In total, Himalayan Trust supporters are funding the rebuild and repair of over 179 classrooms, as well as hostels and toilet blocks, at 33 earthquake-damaged schools in the Everest region of Nepal.

The Himalayan Trust team are working in partnership with several local organisations including Himalayan Trust Nepal, REEDNepal, Mahendra Jyoti Higher Secondary School Rebuild Committee, and Action For Nepal.

“In April this year I visited the Mahendra Jyoti Higher Secondary School building site in Chaurikharka,” says Himalayan Trust General Manager Prue Smith. “I joined the team who took part in the Himalayan Trust Charity Trek 2016 for a couple of days and we camped in the school grounds. Just back from a strenuous trek to Ama Dablam, the trekkers were probably hoping for a lie-in but were woken at 6.30am by the helicopter landing on site with the first delivery of materials. It was a couple of days of hard yakka shifting boulders and clearing rubbish.”

There has been significant progress with the construction of the foundations since then – captured on video by Lhakpa Gelzen Sherpa, manager of the rebuild project at Chaurikharka school.

In some of the more remote locations, the construction designs have been approved and the teams are continuing to organise logistics and plan the delivery of materials, many of which will need to be portered in along remote tracks, so that building work can start in the new year.

“The fundraising in New Zealand for the rebuild has brought in NZ$1.3million and donations continue to come in,” adds Prue. “The rebuild budget is $1.5million. All of this funding will be go directly to rebuilding schools.

“The new buildings will meet the latest building codes on seismic resistance. It is estimated it will take up to three years to complete the work.”

Lhakpa Gelzen Sherpa told us: “We are very grateful for all the support from the Himalayan Trust and we are very committed to rebuilding the best way we can for our future.”

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Read more

• Find out more on our earthquake reponse
• Meet Lhakpa Gelzen Sherpa: taking the lead to build back better