Sambhav Nepal

History
This school was established in 1974 AD (2031 BS) in the middle of the Dharapani village. In the beginning it had only 10 students attending the school. After six years the school was relocated from Abire Chautare, at which time there were 65 students. In 1987 the school was destroyed by a landslide leaving all the buildings damaged, and some irreparable. The school was rebuilt in 1988 in its current location. Over the years the Dharapani school has experience many critical situations and the locals get very anxious as to how they can improve the schools conditions resources and educational needs for their child's educational development. As the older generation never had the option or the opportunity for quality education as most generally work in fields or do labour work in order to survive. This is normally just enough support and to feed their family with nothing left for children's education or health requirements.

Once children have completed at Bhairabi Primary they will go on to continue their education at Dharapani Lower Secondary School, within a years time, our aim is to turn Dharapani into a higher Secondary School this will all work in together to benefit many local villages within the same area and save the children tireless hours of walking to attend high school.

Location
Dharapani Secondary school is located in the Northern part of the Gorkha district; Arupokhari village development commitee words no 7 at Dharapani village. You can travel there only by road. A local public bus from Kathmandu leaves everyday from morning 6.30am till 11.00am to Arughat.

Once you arrive in Arughat Bazar you travel towards west by climbing the stairs at the top Arughat Bazar and then across the bridge and Stull khola (Stull River) you will ascend up, to reach the village, the hike will take you around 2 hours all the way up to Dharapani Secondary School at Dharapani Village.

The school is government-run, but lacks basic facilities even in comparison to other public schools. Realizing the poor condition of the school and the rising student population, Sambhav Nepal has been running some projects keeping the needs of the school in mind. In a school like Dharapani, the students and the teachers always felt an inadequacy of proper books, reference materials, a science/computer lab and so forth.

Library Books
The construction of the Dharapani Community Library, overseen by Dharapani School's management, was completed in 2010 and is now successfully serving the students and the locals of Arupokhari. The building was designed to hold almost 15,000 books, but currently has only about 3,500. We are actively seeking more books from donors and interested parties to facilitate the library in operating at its highest capacity. The library has a potential to serve hundreds, if not thousands, of people in Arupokhari. Therefore, by adding some 10,000 more useful books - suitable for beneficiaries of all backgrounds - the library is likely to be the hub of intellectual curiosity in the village.

Computer Library
Sambhav Nepal, in collaboration with the Dharapani school management, has proposed the construction of a computer lab to create an advanced learning environment for the students. After years of planning and infrastructure development, the village of Arupokhari has finally been supplied with electricity. This has opened new opportunities to the school and the community to use advanced technology, particularly computers. A computer lab in the school will help the students be computer literate - an essential skill to prepare them for the job market. Moreover, this will obviate the school's need to travel to the market to perform basic computer tasks like typing documents, preparing reports and so forth.

Fencing
For safety and security reasons, it is important that the school be fenced. Metal will be used for high durability and ease of construction.

Cement-Plastering the buildings
The buildings that have thus far been constructed need to be cement-plastered (concrete), which besides its aesthetic purpose, is direly needed for insulation. The buildings tend to get extremely hot during the summer time, to the point that students collapse as a result - a common occurrence . Much to dismay, this has been accepted as a norm in the village. Cement-plastering will help mitigate this problem in Dharapani.

Past and ongoing projects

 

	Teacher Training Program 2012 Rotary International Australia and Rotary Australia World Community Service The Teacher Training Program 2012, conducted by the Australian Rotary Volunteer Team and facilitated by Sambhav Nepal, saw remarkable success in the Dharapani Secondary School, Arupokhari village, Gorkha. The team of six education experts from Australia set off to the village in the week long program which was held from January 13 to 20, 2012. More than 80 local teachers from 33 different schools from Arupokhari and adjoining villages took part in the training program.
	Construction of the new toilet facility in 2011 Rotary Australia World Community Service and Rotary Club of Wahroonga (Australia) A new 5-stalled toilet in Dharapani Secondary School was completed in January, 2012. This latest project in Dharapani was made possible by the support of Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) and Rotary Club of Wahroonga (Australia). The previous toilet had serious sanitation issues, mainly due to the poor design, a lack of water access and cleanliness. In fact, there was no proper lock system, but now the toilet will be comparable to the one in Bhairabi. The new toilet will serve hundreds students and the teachers in the Dharapani School and also the donors and volunteers who visit Arupokhari.
	Teacher Training Program 2010 Australian Rotary Volunteer Team A one-week Teacher Training program was held in Dharapani secondary school from 31st December 2010 to 8th January 2011. The traning was conducted by a team of Australian Rotary volunteers, sponsored by Rotary Overseas Aid Fun, and facilitated by Ace the Himalaya. About fifty-five teachers from twenty-two schools in Gorkha benefited with new teaching techniques from the program. The innovative techniques using advanced education materials, were unheard of in a village like Arupokhari. Moreover, the books, puzzles and other studying materials donated to the Dharapani Community Library by the trainers will go a long way in attaining intellectual prosperity in the village.
	Dharapani Community Library Project 2010 Nepal School Project and Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) The Dharapani Community Library was established in May, 2010, in Dharapani School (Arupokhari, Gorkha) through the aid provided by a group of Australian nationals and the field coordination of Sambhav Nepal. The building is made of above-standard materials, and is well furnished with tables, chairs and shelves. Gorkha2010 has helped bring the library into operation -- making Dharapani library the only school with such a facility in entire Gorkha. There are currently some 3,000 books in the library, but the library is designed to hold up to 15,000 books.
	Teacher Training Program 2009 Nepal School Project and Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) From the end of November to the beginning of December 2009, Sambhav Nepal organized a one-week Teacher Training Program in Dharapani school. Sixty teachers from ten different schools participated in the program, which was funded by the Nepal School Project (Sydney, Australia) and the Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS).

 

Project Outcome
The construction of the library started in mid-2009 and was completed in February 2010. The Australian ambassador to Nepal, Hon. Susan Grace, did the honours of inaugurating the library in the presence of a lively crowd of locals and officials. Dharapani School has become the only school with a library in the Gorkha district.

The building is made of high grade material and well equipped with book racks and a studying hall. At the moment, this library consists of approximately 3,000 books of various subjects and genre. In addition to the students of Dhaprani and other schools, the library will serve the community as well because the library is communal and individuals of all ages and profession are welcome to use the facility. We are glad to learn that the library is being well utilized as the locals, who would spend their free time in unproductive activities like loitering and gambling, have started to visit the library. Instead of needless conversations, we believe that the library will create an intellectually stimulating environment for the members to share their ideas and knowledge. We have added books appropriate for all ages and levels; for instance, the elderly would be able to enjoy reading religious book like Ramayan and Mahabharat in their own village.

Likewise, an Australian Rotary Team conducted an Educational Skills Training from January 1 to 7, 2011, targeting the teachers from all surrounding villages. The event took place in the classrooms of Dharapani School, which made all necessary preparations and cooperated fully to make the event a huge success.

How the Dharapani Secondary School looks like today

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Current Situation
Many aspects of the school needs urgent attention.