November 16, 2009- Article about VEC published in GoMad Nomad Travel Mag
Check out this informational article about volunteering with VEC in Nepal.
GoMad Nomad Travel Mag is the magazine for those who want to get off the beaten path, and really experience a new place. It was the perfect place for VEC to promote its volunteer and intern opportunities. We hope this article piques the interest of potential volunteers who may want to come to Gangkharka, and play an active role in its development. A special thanks to Anna, one of our volunteers for supplying the photos!
October 20, 2009- Support our work online at www.wideawake.org
Now you can make secure, tax-deductible donations to VEC projects online at
www.wideawake.org. Wide Awake International is an organization that promotes the work of grassroots NGOs from around the globe, and VEC is honored to be among those chosen. Donate to a project of your choosing, and watch a special video message from Dorjee. Just over a year has passed since we built Gangkharka's first school! Help us keep up the momentum.
October 13 2009 - Thangka Campaign Launched!
VEC would like to announce the start of its Thangka Campaign; a project designed to promote cultural sustainability and heritage projects in the Helambu area. VEC is looking for old and new volunteers all over the globe to help us find small business and organizations who might be willing to host silent auctions every month. These auctions would run the course of the month and anyone who wants to support VEC can make a bid; the highest donor will receive the exact thangka they bid on. All proceeds will be donated directly to VEC's new heritage fund, to promote dying traditions and educate the school children about their pasts.We hope to hold our very first auctions in December so if you know anyone who would like to participate in the first round of auctions please let us know!
For more information please visit the
new website and contact Thangka Campaign at
info@thangkacampaign.org
September 9 2009
Nimi Sherpa is VEC's friend and advisor, and holds several distinguished posts, including President of Nepal Sherpa Women's Association. She just organized a great gift for the students of Gangkharka Boarding School from her nephew, Sonam Sherpa. He is the owner of
Everest Hard Wear company and he recently donated 120 down jackets and windstoppers for our pupils and staff. The clothes make a perfect present for the kids before the chilly Himalayan autumn and winter. The total value of the donation is 135.500 NPR. Photos from distributing the jackets coming soon.
August 8 2009
On August 6th, Agnieszka, our Polish volunteer, introduced VEC to Poland by organizing a fund raising party “A Parcel from Poland to Nepal” in Powiekszenie club in Warsaw. Over two hundred people came to donate about 700kg of toys, school supplies, clothes, blankets that will be shipped to kids at Gangkharka’s boarding school. Everyone enjoyed the beats of
Masala Sound System and
DJ Burn Reynolds and those who donated were presented with a poster designed and hand made by
Twozywo Art Group. The party raised over 900 USD from ticket sales and donations, all of which will go directly into the VEC Boarding school. The party was our first attempt to raise awareness in Poland about VEC and Nepal, and we are thrilled that everyone had such a great time participating. We hope it's the first of many events to come.
July 26, 2009
The boarding school in Gangkharka is pleased to welcome a new Tibetan language teacher to its faculty. He is a Buddhist monk associated with the Tibetan Government in Exile, which has expressed a desire to collaborate with us on future projects that help preserve Himalayan cultures. VEC will also file its name as Pasang Sherpa Memorial Boarding School, in memory of the donor of the schoolgrounds.
Food prices in Nepal have increased drastically in the last week, requiring that even more of our budget be allocated to purchases until the school's garden yields crops. However, word is spreading about VEC's work, and the district government, along with many in the Sherpa diaspora are expressing their support. Several families who once left their villages in Helambu have now voiced a wish to return to the region, and build in Gangkharka.
June 29, 2009
At the moment, there are 104 students studying at their new school in Gangkharka. A further 26 are studying in Kathmandu. In addition to a standard Nepali curriculum, the students are also taking Sherpa and Tibetan language classes. We are applying to the United Nations to help supply food to our project, while expanding the garden and farmland in order to accomodate the recent increase in the population there. Our goal is for the school to be self-sustaining in terms of the food provided to the students. The planning phase completed, we are also fundraising for a eco-friendly hydroelectric system that will provide a local source of energy for the school and two nearby villages.
April 28, 2009
Spring has brought Helambu the gift of education thanks largely to the generosity and leadership of the woman pictured to the left. Referred to affectionately as "Evee", Pasang Lamani Sherpa, charity president Dorjee Sherpa's aunt, was the donor of the lands upon which now stand Gangkharka's first boarding school. She passed away this week from an unknown fever. She was however, able to live long enough to see the school completed and the students and teachers arrive to begin classes. The school will be her legacy for as long as it stands, as will the good its students will do for their country years after they graduate. She will be missed by her family and neighbors in Helambu, as well as the volunteers who were lucky enough to share tea with her.
The next few months will see great advancement and milestones in development for Helambu. Construction will soon begin on a micro-hydroelectric system that will provide power to the boarding school, the village of Gangkharka, and other nearby areas. This will be a consistent and environmentally-friendly source of power that will allow for multi-media lessons at the school. The importance of this cannot be understated. In this remote area, where there are not even roads, the people of these communities will have regular access to electricity, as opposed to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city, which now enjoys as little as four hours of electricity everyday.
April 22, 2009
Following the completion of a construction process that began in September, the first wave of students in Gangkharka's new boarding school arrived in the village from Kathmandu. The students were thrilled to return to their home region after living and learning at a private school in Kathmandu. Now closer to culture and family, they will have access to a quality education that will simultaneously encourage the preservation of traditional practices and lay the foundation for the skills they will need to keep their villages pristine and prosperous for generations to come. For now, there are 55 children enrolled at the school with another 35 to follow soon. Their ages range from as young as 4 to 11.
