Persistent Flooding and Resuming Education
After the initial flash flood which devastated our school in Yangri, there have been two more flooding events in the Melamchi headwaters (comprised of three major rivers, including the Yangri River). Hundreds of buildings have been swept away, and all 19 bridges in the headwaters area are gone. Footage taken from a helicopter further upstream shows large-scale devastation and confirms that the entire headwaters area has to be considered unstable for the foreseeable future. For our school, this simply means that we are looking for a new location, still in the Yangri area, but away from the river, upon a ridge. We are in negotiation with landowners, and we will keep you posted as things progress.
Flooding in the Melamchi headwaters.
Meanwhile, our teaching staff are working in Kathmandu on preparations for the new session starting at the end of August. Much of the teaching material was lost in the flood and has to be re-sourced or re-produced. We are presently employing 4 new teachers in order to adequately fulfill our mandate of teaching Kindergarten to Class 7, even as we are forced to work with inadequate and temporary infrastructure.
While in our part of the world we are (hopefully) seeing the light at the end of the Covid tunnel, this is unfortunately not the case in the Himalayas. There, we are finding ourselves at the cusp of a renewed wave of infections. Given the very low vaccination rate (less than 10%) the situation is precarious. Various forms of lockdowns and restrictions will continue to keep us on our toes.
We are thankful for your continued support during these turbulent times.
If you would like to learn more or support our emergency fund for the Yangri Academic Centre click the button below.
Teacher training in Kathmandu.
