According to the United Nations World Food Program, 20% of the population in Nepal live in extreme poverty. This was the case before the COVID-19 last year, and it is even worse after the epidemic.

In Nepal, the school we have been assisting for a long time, Shree Mangal Dvip School, referred to as SMD (https://himalayanchildren.org) has more than 600 students.

Like all schools in Nepal, schools have been closed since March 24 last year. The school sent the children back to their villages. These villages are located in the high-altitude Himalayas. It took a full day drive from Kathmandu. After that, the children would walk three or four days to go home on foot. The journey was very long and difficult.

Children who return to the village are relatively safe. They reported back to school,” Most of the older students began to serve the children in the village. They taught the younger children in the village what they had learned in school these years.”

There are 89 students in Phulping Village. Pasang Sherpa, a graduate from Shree Mangal Dvip School. She was a sophomore in the university. She returned to the village to teach the children. The children in the village were happy to have the opportunity to learn again.

Another student lived in Upper Tsum village said that their village chief had recruited many tents. Some children who were educated have voluntarily returned to the village to teach because of the COVID-19. The class size keeps increasing.

There is also a student, Tsewang Dolma Lama, who was going to the Zurich International Community School, but was unable to go due to COVID-19. She returned to her home – Ripchet, where most of the children did not have the opportunity to go to school.  So she stayed there to teach.

Nepal is still hard hit by COVID-19.  Knowing that these children were safe in the village, we could finally put down our worries a little bit. And what made us feel more gratified and touched was that the local older children would take the initiative and used what they previously learned to help other young children in the village. The opportunity for education is precious at this time.  Education is important and also urgent for them. Faced with the difficulty of the outside world.  As long as everyone paid a little love and care, and used their strengths to help those in need, the future of countless children could be achieved. Over time, the children will grow and would also pass on this love and care to the next generation, forming a cycle of goodness. And this is what we believed to be the original meaning of education.