Long-time NCEF volunteer Maheshwor Kafle visited Nepal in November of last year for the first time in 7 years. While this was a personal trip, he spent some of his time meeting and speaking with area coordinators like Surendra Bhattarai from Sunsari area, TS Lama from Dolakha area and Raj Bhattrai from Sindupalchowk area. Here are some of his thoughts:

The area coordinators expressed their thanks to NCEF on behalf of the students who are receiving assistance and thus are able to attend classes. In particular, the needy students in the fishing community of Inaruwa (in Sunsari) were grateful for this help.

One concern expressed by the area coordinators is the rising cost of education due to inflation. This includes related supplies such as uniforms and notebooks. It is especially timely that the NCEF officers discussed funding levels in their last meeting. Due to changes in the exchange rate of $US to Nepali rupee since the 2003 funding limits were implemented, officers have been able to address these concerns (in rupees) while not making many increases in $US per student limits.

Area coordinators also reported that there is a lot of bureaucracy associated with renewal of NCEF registration in Nepal, as required by the government there. In the past, area coordinators needed to go to three different government offices, namely the District Administration Office, Tax Office, and Social Welfare Council. The work to obtain legal presence has become much more complicated. It starts with receiving authorization from the local government area where the school is located, then going to the respective district development committee to get another approval and finally to the district education office to obtain yet another approval. Some areas include schools located in different regions of the same district meaning multiple trips to different government offices. This takes up a lot of time for the volunteers, who have jobs or studies to focus on. We appreciate the time and effort volunteers are providing to achieve this important requirement.

Some coordinators have organized get-togethers with parents and students in their areas, and expressed an interest in doing so annually – this is something NCEF supports via a discretionary budget for student enrichment activities. NCEF will look into the suggestions for a meeting for all area coordinators and volunteers together, similar to what NCEF organized a couple of years ago.

I would like to take this time to thank Mr Hari Tripathi, our program director in Nepal for his tireless efforts and the energy and enterprise to keep NCEF running in Nepal.