- Wednesday 04 December 2019
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Hähnel is proud to sponsor a project set up by Dutchman Rob Degreef, our distributor in The Netherlands and France (per Jan 1st 2020). Rob runs a foundation called 2vande52, which stands for the 2 weeks out of 52 per year which the 4 board members spend in the village Haripur, where the school is situated.
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Shortly after the disastrous earthquake in Nepal the 4 people (Rob, Wijtze, Marsha and Bobby) decided that they needed to do something for the very poorest region of the country, where help from the government was not expected in the forseeable future due to corruption and lack of funds. 2 van de 52 built a basic school building, to be used as primary school for kids between 6-13 year old, offering them the opportunity to get a better future than just getting into the paddy fields with their parents from the age of 7 onwards.
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In the previous 3 years, much has been achieved. The school now has 4 teachers and 122 pupils. The teachers have been trained in Kathmandu recently to improve their skills. A vegetable garden has been established including a greenhouse. The kids are learning to sew and reap the crops and the foundation is now able to make sure the kids get a school lunch. Previously they often had to do with one meal per day only. There are also a couple of wells now, we ensure they get lessons in hygiene, as basic as washing hands several times a day and brushing teeth, and solar panels on the roof provide several hours of electricity.
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During the most recent visit, in November, they got in touch with the local government and were able to convince the right people that a nursery is crucial in the pre-primary school phase. This nursery, including a teacher, will now open early 2020. Besides that, they also set up a project called “Student for a Student” where teenagers from a nearby academy will help our teachers on a regular basis to improve the level of education.
Rob and Wijtze also spent quite some time at the school, playing, singing and laughing with the kids. An impromptu picnic was organised, with chicken, onions and garlic (which they never get, usually it is rice and lentils every day) and, for many for the first time in their lives, cola. The looks on their faces, trying this fizzy drink, was priceless. After some litter picking the lads spent the rest of the afternoon playing games, handing out little gifts (balloons, some footballs and sweets) which was extremely satisfying.
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The work the people of 2vande52 do is amazing. We are happy and proud to support them If you are interested in learning more about this project, please visit www.2vande52.nl or find them on Facebook (both also in English). Any donations are extremely welcome.
