This year, 360 grade one students in Mikwakhola each received two English-language books of their own. That is 720 books in total, at a cost of $2,200, and the books are theirs to keep. They go home in a child’s bag, sit on a shelf in a village house, and stay with that child long after the school day ends. A book in the hand is a resource that does not run out at the end of term.
The project came at the request of the Village Development Committee, and it is built to last. It is a 10-year programme that adds a grade each year: grades one and two next year, grades one to three the year after, and so on, until a whole school has its own English books. English opens doors for these children, and giving them their own copies, rather than something borrowed and handed back, means the learning travels with them.
There is also a practical reason the plan reaches so far. From the second year onwards, the local government has committed to contributing half the book costs. That partnership stretches every donation, so each dollar given here goes further on the ground in Nepal.
If you would like to be part of the years ahead of this project, your support helps put books into more small hands. The Pearl Lotus Fund is now registered with the ACNC and holds DGR status, so donations are tax-deductible.
