On behalf of the Education Concern Center and the parents and students of Krishna Primary School in Gamauli, Nepal, we would like to wish you all blessings and happiness in 2009.

The Gamauli village has a big year ahead and we wanted to take time to highlight some of the BIG changes that we are hoping to impact at Krishna Primary School.

Upcoming for 2009:

1. A solution has been found to provide fresh water at the school, by constructing a pipeline from a neighboring market into a container at the school. We have one donor so far that has agreed to fund the about half of the cost. Min is hopeful that he will be able to secure the remainder of the necessary funds to see the project through to completion.

2. Attendance at the school has grown to the point that the existing building no longer is sufficient to house the students enrolled. To solve this problem, we hope to break ground on a 2-room expansion to the existing school.

3. Once the expansion is completed, we hope to begin work on establishing an English reading library. This library will be one of the first of it's kind in this remote area of Nepal and Min hopes that if successful, it will serve as an example that can be replicated in other schools to promote greater knowledge of the English language among the rural people of Nepal.

4. We also need to begin working on a solution to replace the old toilet with a new improved version better able to serve the needs of the children and teachers at the school. The old toilet is no longer useable.

5. Krishna Primary School is under consideration for a visit in 2009 by the Colored Pencil Project. They will be meeting in January to make plans for their next distribution and I have been very encouraged by my communications with their director. Hopefully we will have good news from them soon.

Highlights from 2008:

*A new teacher has been secured for the school.

*All of the teachers wages have been covered between the Government's support, community support and the kind financial support of a concerned volunteer.

*We were able to provide 110 new wool caps to the students with the most need and hope to soon complete fundraising for our winter project so that the artisans in Yoshinkhel can craft the remaining sweaters, gloves and mufflers for these students as well.

*A new website was developed by volunteer Alicia, who spent time in Nepal over the past several months. (http://eccnepal.wordpress.com/)

We have a lot to be excited about in the coming year! We hope that you will join hands with us in making these goals a reality. We know in time with the hard work of the local community and assistance from our volunteers, Krishna Primary School will become a model that other rural schools can replicate.

Thank you so much for your interest and support in our project. We look forward to working with you in 2009 and hope to welcome many more new faces to our village.

Best wishes for a very Happy and Blessed New Year!

Min Shahi
Local Representative-Gamauli Village

Jennifer Wells
Online Project Facilitator-Gamauli Village
Nabuur.com