The following night I was sitting in my favourite Kathmandu restaurant, Or2K, where a lot of NGOs and AIDS workers hang out. I was introduced by a friend, to a friend of hers, Tim Schmidt, who just happens to be the NGO for the John Wood's organisation, Room to Read.
www.roomtoread.org
John started an organisation ten years ago to build libraries and schools for children in need. There's a lot on the above link: but simply he's helped millions of children, through networking and community involvement.
I told Tim about "my" school. When I showed them the photos of the "school", he said - "At least they have a building". Many don't. Many are schooled under trees. I told him the stats:
There are 115 children who need educational assistance, classes ranging from pre-school to year 5.
Girls: 44, Boys 61
Divided into the following social groups
1. Dalit Girls - 11 Dalit Boys - 14
2. Janajati Girls - 23 Janajati Boys - 36
3. Others - Girls 20 Boys - 11
Tim suggested I contact Room to Read. He told me that all schools and libraries are built on a priorities basis. Some are granted schools and libraries because of their dedication and desperation. He told me of some porters who'd walked over the mountains for three days with their yaks, when they heard he was in town, to ask for a school. He was helicoptering to see them the following day. He said a school doesn't cost too much money: you'd be surprised how far funds will go here. He told me that when they build a school, all levels of the village and surrounding villages are involved - that everyone benefits from the exercise. I had a wild light in my eyes. I had found another passion
I contacted Room to Read and told them my story. They sent me a generic refusal 48 hours later.
I contacted them again, asking them not to send me a generic reply. I asked them to send my emails to Tim.
I haven't heard from them.
I want this village to have their school. I won't leave stones unturned.
So I asked Uttam to get his colleagues together. We met up five dark flights around an oval table with Kathmandu's racket and dust in the street below. I told Uttam that if he wants his school, he and his colleagues, friends, neighbours, aunties, uncles, cousins, will have to do more than just ask for a school.
I asked them all to put their hands in their pockets and put their own money where their mouths are. They pleaded poverty. They pleaded that the West had more money than they do. I said This is Your School. You have to Do Something for It. I will help you, but in direct proportion to how much you help yourself. One said that he was a student and didn't have money. The other said he was a fruit seller and didn't have money. A third said that he was the village elder and didn't have any money. A fourth said he was out of work and didn't have any money. A fifth said he just came to the meeting and didn't have any money.
Then, I said, you won't get your school. They looked dejected. I said every single rupee counts.
Put your hands in your pockets, gentlemen, I told them. Put money on the table. First the money dribbled out in five rupee notes. I laughed. I said - you want to build a school. I explained the concept of Pay it Forward. We played a game. I said that each person around the table must improve on the amount of money the previous person had put on the pile.
We collected a couple of thousand rupees. I put in a few hundred - a few dollars. I told them to open a bank account that day; with two signatories, and that I expected to see the statement every month, and zero withdrawals.
They said - How much money will we need for a school? I said, never enough. Just keep giving and collecting. If I tell you, you will stop helping yourself.
They said What happens to the money if we don't get our school? Do we get it back?
I looked at them, dumbfounded. What do you think? I asked.
They looked dumbfounded.
I said - well, then, you'll have money for chalk and books and papers and pencils and maybe if you ask enough of your friends and aunties and cousins for a few rupees here and there, you might have money for a roof.
I said, I will ask my Australian friends and aunties and uncles and colleagues to help you too. But that money won't go into your account. That stays with me, until with my money and your money, and possibly the help of an organisation like Room to Read, you'll get your school.
And, I told them, I will keep on contacting Room to Read until I get a positive response.
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