In addition to the two new areas approved last month, we have received proposals from three new areas: Darchula (far-western Nepal), Sankhuwasabha (far-eastern Nepal) and Taksar (far-eastern Nepal). NCEF actively seeks to expand our work into new areas and serve more needy students through dedicated volunteers and support from you. NCEF is carefully evaluating the new areas and if approved, the areas will be designated as "areas under evaluation" as outlined in our New Area Identification Program.

Student selection for the new academic year is underway. So far we have received 90 student applications from seven areas. However, we continue to face difficulty collecting complete (transcript and financial assistance form) applications on time. Applications are scanned and emailed to the selection committee, however, factors like delay in releasing the transcripts, poorly scanned documents and unreliability of internet access hinders the process. Furthermore, areas that do not have internet connections have to mail their applications to Kathmandu, where a volunteer scans the applications and e-mails the selection committee. As discussed in this article, postal reliability in Nepal has not improved over the years and continues to be a challenge.

Once all applications are received from an area, members of the selection committee evaluate the applications to make sure students meet the minimum academic and financial requirement to be considered for sponsorship. More details on the selection procedure can be found at: http://www.nepalchildren.org/selection_criteria.html

Despite all the challenges, the selection committee has already made some decisions and hopes to complete the selection process by the end of June.

An executive committee teleconference was held on 4/28/2009 with Hesky Fisher, Omprakash Gnawali, Maheshwor Kafle, Steven Lustig, and Aadit Sitaula in attendance. Besides the regular updates from each officer, the executive committee decided to change the student visit frequency to once every two months. The decision was made after having benchmarked NCEF reporting frequency against other organizations and feedback from volunteers in Nepal about the extensive efforts required to conduct monthly visits. In addition, the committee also voted on the requirement for a deputy area coordinator in each area.

General member teleconference was held on 5/19/2009 with Swadesh Bhattarai, Hesky Fisher, Omprakash Gnawali , William Lee, Steven Lustig, Abhishek Sharma, Uttam Sharma and Aadit Sitaula in attendance. Each member updated the group with their projects, goals and strategies.

Nepal Children’s Education Fund is committed to accountability and transparency to both the children we serve and our donors. As part of this commitment, NCEF publishes its financial report on the website every year. We have released the IRS tax document (990-N) and audit report for 2008.

IRS Form: http://www.nepalchildren.org/finances/2008/990/index.html

Audited Report from Nepal: http://www.nepalchildren.org/documents/ce/auditreport-2008/

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