On Sunday the 16th we opened the doors to our brand new Early Child Development Centre in a remote mountain area of Sindalpochowk, Nepal. 5 hours drive north of Kathmandu this village was one of the worst impacted areas of the earthquake of 2015 with over 60 fatalities in such a small area.
Many of the children of the village lost their parents, siblings and homes. Since the earthquake the kids have spent their days in a makeshift tin hut that acted as their early learning centre.
Early Child Development Centres are absolutely vital in Nepal for ensuring kids get an early start on education making it far more likely they will go on to attend school rather than turning to the streets or farms for work at a very young age which often leads to child marriage, abduction and worse.
We broke ground in April this year and officially opened on Sunday the 16th of December. A bright, safe and happy place for 75 3-5 year old underprivileged children.
The children were delighted with their new centre, not least with the slide and swings, most of the kids had never seen a ladder before let alone a slide so a little training was required along with some very brave first attempts ending in jumbled up heaps - but lots of happy faces all round!
