Moving on... to a new site!

Dear loyal readers,

We’re sorry we’ve been a bit quiet on the blog! We promise we’ve been up and running as usual, and Grassroots Education Nepal (GEN) and Mikey Medium English School (MMES) are thriving. Over the past few months, we’ve been doing some administrative work, including developing our own, shiny new website!

www.grassrootseducationnepal.com

Click here to visit our new site

If you’ve subscribed to our current blog in some way, make sure you add www.grassrootseducationnepal.com to your RSS reader, or bookmark our new site so that you can keep up to date.

Besides the blog, our new homepage now includes lots of great information about GEN, MMES and Nepal, as well as resources on how to get involved, including how to donate and how to volunteer with us.

It’s been great Blogspot, but it’s time for a change. See you all on our new site!

Join Us on May 19, 2013 -- Seeds of Hope

Join us on Sunday May 19th  as we
SOW SEEDS OF HOPE
ONE CHILD AT A TIME

See and hear stories from the
Mikey Medium English School in Nepal
and learn how to help plant the seed and nurture the children.
Harbor Hills Yacht Club
1 Carson Cove   Davidsonville, MD 21035
Sunday, May 19, 2013, Between 3 and 6 PM
Enjoy Bites & Beverages
Fair Trade Products from Nepal for sale.
Donations for scholarships and operation of MMES gladly accepted

Let us know if you can come!
Email: grass.roots.education.nepal@gmail.com, or simply drop in!

Include in your PayPal donation your name, email address, and mailing address.

How to Help -- Donations and Gifts Accepted

How to Help ...

Include in your PayPal donation your name, email address, and mailing address.

We appreciate your support. All gifts are applied directly to support grass roots education in rural Nepal, without reduction for overhead expenses. Grassroots Education Nepal (GEN) Corporation is registered in the State of Maryland as a non-profit charitable organization, and also is registered with the US Internal Revenue Service as a 301(C)(3) not-for-profit charity. EIN 35-2383201. 100% of your gift is tax-deductible. Mikey Medium English School (MMES) has authority to use contributions made to Grass Roots Education Nepal (GEN) Corporation only as specified by and subject to the oversight of the GEN Board of Directors in support of the Mission, School Improvement Plan and school-related Goals and Objectives approved by the Board.

Make checks payable to Grassroots Education Nepal (GEN) Corporation and mail to:
Grassroots Education Nepal (GEN) Corporation
PO Box 131
Davidsonville, MD 21035

Please enclose a note with your name, mailing address, and email address.

IMPORTANT: In addition to your mailed gift, could you kindly send an email to us at grass.roots.education.nepal@gmail.com and let us know that you've sent a gift, and include in the email: your name, mailing address, email address, and date, and amount of your gift. THANK YOU!!

You can also use your credit card or PayPal account for your donation. Simply click on the "donate button" at the top, or below.  You do not need a PayPal account to use this method of payment in support of Grassroots Education Nepal.

Facebook Page for Grassroots Education Nepal

Contact Us! Connect with Us!

Contact us via email:  grass.roots.education.nepal@gmail.com

See Grassroots Education Nepal on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/GrassrootsEducationNepalgen

Fundraiser: Winner of Raffle for Trip to Quebec Donates Full Award Back to GEN

Raffle for Trip for Two Winner Drawn; Donates Full Award Back to Grassroots Education Nepal!

Grassroots Education Nepal, a 501(c)(3) charity non-profit organization located in Davidsonville and established in 2010, completed its third annual fund-raiser in December 2012. The fund-raiser was a raffle for two people to enjoy two days in Quebec, while staying at Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. Almost 200 people bought tickets and helped raise more than $6,500. The raffle drawing was held at India's Restaurant, on West Street, Annapolis. Mr. Kumar, the owner, helped Samantha Howard draw the winning ticket. Joan Holtz of Falls Church, VA, on right, had the winning ticket, but in a very magnanimous gesture, she and her three sons decided to "turn-back" the ticket and associated airfare, dinner and tour of Quebec, in order to help GEN maximize earnings from this fund-raiser.

Money raised in the raffle will pay educational expenses for ninety-two children, grades K-5, in Bauniyan, Kailali District, Western Nepal. The children are students at the Mikey Medium English School, which was opened in 2008 with money contributed by Mike Church from his wedding in May that year. In 2006, Mike peddled his bike into Western Nepal, in the middle of a Maoist bhund (a strike designed to demonstrate weakness of the central government), and accepted shelter offered by Ujjwal Bhat (director of the school) and his family until the bhund stopped. Mike offered to help fulfill Ujjwal's dream of opening a school for poor and marginalized children living in Bauniyan, which he did in 2008.

John and Barbara Church, Mike's parents and founders of Grassroots Education Nepal, returned to Bauniyan on December 27, 2012, for their third "over-sight" visit. They returned to Davidsonville at the end of January 2013. During the visit Barbara, a retired elementary school teacher and principal, helped teach the students and also demonstrated innovative techniques to teachers in area schools. John and Barbara were accompanied by two family friends, Paul Miller (Crofton) and Kevin Schilling (Seattle). Kevin remained at the school through February, helping teach the children. 

Grassroots Education Nepal (GEN) Corporation is registered in the State of Maryland as a non-profit charitable organization, and also is registered with the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit charity. EIN 35-2383201. See mission statement by clicking on "Mission Statement" in the Topics List in the left margin of this web page. Mikey Medium English School (MMES) has authority to use contributions made to Grass Roots Education Nepal (GEN) Corporation only as specified by and subject to the oversight of the GEN Board of Directors in support of the Mission, School Improvement Plan and school-related Goals and Objectives approved by the Board.

Founders Day: January 27, 2012, and October 2011 oversight visit

January 27, 2012: "Founders Day Celebration"Total School Student Body, Parents, Teachers

Below:
Photos from Mikey and Ali Church's oversight visit, October 2011

Oversight visit from Mikey and Ali Church

2011 Trip to Mikey Medium English School

In February 2011, Barbara and John Church returned from a month of working at the Mikey Medium English School in Bauniyan, Far Western Nepal. Although the weather was unseasonably cold, the hospitality and enthusiastic greetings were heartwarming.


We were able to visit with Lexi Suberi, our South River High School 2010 graduate, who has been teaching at the Mikey Medium English School since October. She is thriving and the children love her. Lexi will return to Maryland in June and continue her education at the University of Maryland in the fall.

The biggest news is that the school has grown to 82 students. We have hired three new teachers and now have a teaching assistant for the youngest students. We are still serving the underprivileged and underclass within the Bauniyan Community. There are now four classrooms filled with students who are eager to learn. At this time we are not expecting to grow larger because we want to maintain small class sizes. This creates a unique learning environment within the community. To assist with this effort, we will have the preschoolers begin half day sessions during the next school year. Additionally, we expect to order high quality reading, math, social studies and science textbooks in English which should increase student engagement and learning. We have initiated a focus on additional teacher planning and training for our staff as part of our effort to not only provide for basic education but to assure a level of quality.

During our visit, Barbara was able to do several art projects with the students. They preformed in English an original play: "The Roti Man" - which is a take off of the Gingerbread Man story. The older children painted and decorated masks of animals native to Nepal. The Roti Man was chased through the jungle by the "little old woman", "little old man", a lion, a cheeta, a giraffe, an elephant, a zebra and eventually by the tiger - who ultimately gobbled him up. It was a great experience for the actors and spectators alike.

A Crofton Girl Scout Troop made sock puppets (that only speak in English) which were delivered to the children. The younger students particularly enjoyed using the puppets and acting out the local farm animals when we sang "Old Mac Donald." For children that have no toys or books, these items are a really big treat.

We will be meeting with our Board of Directors on March 22, 2011 to share information, finalize our budget, consider fund raising initiatives and refine the School Improvement Plan. We expect to have our approval of Non Profit Status by that meeting. (It was submitted in August 2010.)

Do not hesitate to contact us with ideas for supporting the Mikey Medium English School in the future. We can use your help!