HIMANCHAL EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

I actually came to know of the dream back of the formation of the Himanchal Educational Foundation when I was a professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, NE. A young man named Mahabir Pun gave a presentation at a lunch for selected faculty members and other community citizens. He detailed his dream to expand education in the village of his birth -- Nangi village, in the Myagdi district in Nepal. His story is found on the website mentioned in this listing. If you are reading this review you need to know that Nepal is a country that supports education in its principal cities primarily; the rural areas are less well supported beyond grade 7. Mahabir's efforts to convince village members that education was an important key to progress paid off. They first added 3 more grades to those supported by the government. The Himanchal Education Foundation, run by volunteer board members, dedicates itself to supporting education in Nangi and, since its inception, two additional grades beyond high school have been added. Meanwhile Mahabir has continued to be active and has worked to expose volunteers to the community he serves. It was my good fortune, after retiring in 1997, to go to Nangi in 1998 and to teach English to the upper grade prior to their graduation tests. All 6 students passed that year and got their "School-leaving Certificate", a remarkable feat since, at that time, only about 38% of those attempting that test passed nationwide! When I was in Nangi there was only radio telephone; now the village is connected wirelessly to the world. Additionally, the Himanchal Education Foundation has expanded to include professional volunteers who support nurse's training in the village, who encourage the development of the hand-made paper industry in Nangi, and, of course, continue to partially fund the salaries of teachers in those grades that have been added. The beautiful thing about my volunteer efforts was the wonderful contact with the people of Nangi village and the joy of learning that the students showed. Please consider making this little village continue to come true. Support it financially or, better yet, if you can offer a service that they can use, take the 9 hour trek up the mountain to the village and donate your time and skill. You will be changed by the experience in this little village and the people who live there. I also served as a Himanchal Education Foundation Chairman of the Board for a number of years, so I am technically more that a volunteer. I continue to support their work financially.