I've already written much about the achievements of the Rato Bangala School and Foundation throughout Nepal ... but there's more. Funded by a percentage of the school fees paid by parents of Rato Bangala Kathmandu, the Partnership in Outreach Programme (RBPOP) was formed in 2002 to provide leadership training, teacher training and scholarships to needy students from fifty schools in five rural districts throughout the country. There are training modules for administrators, a two-and-a-half month residential Skill Development Training for teachers and provision of school fees, uniforms, stationery, book bags and extra reading material for scholarship students. In addition, a select number of children are offered the opportunity to enroll at Rato Bangala Kathmandu, with full tuition and boarding fees covered by RBPOP.
One of my favorite pieces of RBPOP's work is the "tin trunk" program. Partner schools in rural areas are provided with a simple trunk filled with transformative teaching materials. There are books, hands-on math materials, maps and (as pictured above) hand puppets, carefully designed by RBPOP staff to complement the cultures of the region. I quote:
The set contains six puppets each from the Himalayan, Mountain and Tarai regions. People are represented in their local costumes on one side of the puppet, and, on the other side are animals found in that region. The grandparents wear the most traditional and ornate costumes, (Sherpa, Bahun/Chhetri and Tharu), the parents wear less traditional ones, and the children's clothes are modern. These puppets inspire children to know the traditional costumes, the joint family structure, and about animals found in these areas.
The tin trunks contain further treasures: magnets, balloons, globes, blocks, paints and brushes, skipping ropes ... a truly magical collection for the chronically under-equipped schools of rural Nepal. But there is more to educational reform than the concrete, quantifiable tools-of-the-trade. What makes Rato Bangala so unique and so revolutionary is powerful and considered pedagogy - a basic philosophy and set of educational principles that underlie and inform everything they do. The educators of Rato Bangala believe that children construct meaning from the experiences and environments around them. They believe in empowering teachers as valued and competent professionals. And they believe that the kind of schooling that truly supports open-ended thinking and questioning will bring about real change in Nepal. I am honored to continue to be a part of this visionary organization.
If you would like to make a donation to support the work of the Rato Bangala Foundation, please contact me: bnorford@mac.com. Your contribution will make a difference to the children and teachers of Nepal. (Note: Contributions are not yet tax-deductible in the US, but we're working on it.)
-Beth
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