SARSWATI PEACE SCHOOL 

                    

The School will be dedicated to two outstanding and world renowned Polish climbers, Wanda Rutkiewicz and Jerzy Kukuczka both of whom died while climbing mountains in Nepal.

I.     INTRODUCTION
II.    NEEDS, GOALS, AND STRATEGY
III.   INNOVATION
IV.   SUSTAINABILITY
V.    IMPLEMENTATION
VI.   IMPACT
VII.  PROJECTED TIMELINE
VIII. THE TEAM

INTRODUCTION      
Nepal’s civil war (1996-2006) left an overwhelming number of children physically and psychologically scarred, and deprived them of one of their most basic rights to learn. Thousands of childern were among the victims and, of those children who did survive, many lost their parents. Arupokhari is one the most deeply affected villages. The physical inaccessibility of Arupokhari, coupled with deep-seated casteism, has hindered the overall development of the community. The Sarswati Foundation is building the first Peace School in Arupokhari, a remote village in Western Nepal, to help more than 250 children aged 4-15 years, affected by the violence of civil war, reclaim their passion and joy, experience the power of learning, and lead whole and healed lives. 
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NEEDS, GOALS, AND OUTCOMES
The needs to be met through this commitment are extensive. Many Nepalese children saw their parents murdered during the war, leaving them with psychological and emotional challenge turmoil and less attention and energy for their studies. In the aftermath of the war, the society is fragmented and prejudice based on class and caste is predominant. The need for individual healing and community reconciliation is very strong. Yet the government has initiated no programs or projects to address post-war problems. Moreover, the Nepalese school curricula have never focused on peace and peaceful living in communities. In a war-racked nation, it is crucial for children to understand why peace is so important at all levels. 

The goals of this project are to contribute in healing and reconciliation process of a post conflict society and to help in integration of people from different caste. The Sarswati Peace School will play a vital role in re-establishing a sense of normalcy in the lives of children, fundamental to their healing and reintegration process. The project aims to foster social equality and community reconciliation through the children's positive experiences. Education can help save a child’s life and break a nation’s cycle of hatred and poverty. The school will be a secular temple of knowledge, peace and reconciliation. 

The strategy underlying the Sarswati Peace School is to invest in the education, social and emotional recovery and development of the children of Nepal, to secure a more vibrant, open, and promising future – not just for them, but for the country. We are investing in the future of Nepal through a grassroots, culturally-appropriate peace education effort that not only meets the educational needs of the children in the village, but also radiates outward into their families, and forward into the future, by equipping them for peace in their adult lives. Also, we want the school to serve as a model for schools in other countries affected by war. Drawing on the resources of our rich cultural heritage, and using a play-based curriculum from around the world, we will integrate activities such as drama, storytelling, music and dance, arts and crafts, and sports. As children play and learn together, it will provide an opportunity for them to heal, open up, communicate, and grow. Many studies have suggested that group oriented games and creative activities are vital for children’s mental, psychological and social development. With newfound friends and a welcoming school environment, the young children will be motivated to attend school, think freely, and not worry about being segregated. Moreover, the teachers will receive unique training on peace curriculum every six months as compared to village schools where teachers never receive continuing education training. Through an integrative child psychology department, personalized (or individualized) counseling sessions will be available for the children, and parent-child sessions will focus on developing loving and peaceful relationships at home, thereby extending the opportunity for rehabilitation to the greater community. The project will help heal and galvanize a community battered by war for more than a decade, and serve as a model for other communities seeking to rebuild educational systems disrupted by violence and conflict.

The progress of 250 children will be measured in terms of children served and skills acquired. I want to foster a culture of care and love within the framework of traditional values that provides an opportunity for children to look into their lives and connect with others. Our teachers, supported by robust arts and play curriculum, will individually evaluate our students for academic mastery as well as increased emotional intelligence. The school environment will enable each child to develop a non-violent character and practice using techniques embedded in local culture to creatively resolve conflict.   
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INNOVATION
Our integrated approach of immersing students in the best of fine arts and traditional community values can serve as a model for war-ravaged nations. The tenets of peace are infused directly into every aspect of the curriculum; not just as extracurricular activities. The school will also have a garden where children plant their saplings and nurture them. The school library will house books on peace education. The children will be shown movies and documentaries that inspire, motivate and help them overcome their traumas. Mama Lucy, the founder and headmistress of Shepherds Junior School from Tanzania, will work with us in Nepal this summer to design teacher training and peace-centered curriculum. The school has been combining traditional values and culture into modern education system. Our school will blend age-old dances, meditation techniques, street theatre and arts, games like dandibiyo (national game), soccer and cricket into the curriculum. During the summer camp, we used “heart and mind mapping method” as a way to understand the extent to which the children were traumatized by the war. They would draw a big heart and write whatever is in their heart. We repeated the exercise over the six-week period and the children who drew guns and bullets in the beginning started drawing flowers and books towards the end.
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SUSTAINABILITY
Economic Sustainability: There are families in the village who can afford to pay a small fee to send their children to our peace school. About half the children who attend Sarswati will be given scholarships while rest of them will be paying tuition. In addition, Sarswati Foundation will bear 50% of the teacher’s salary costs. The school will also run computer trainings and will provide resources to villagers for which they will have to pay a small fee. 

Environmental Sustainability: The school will initiate a permaculture project, generating income through a farm, fishery and poultry. Every attempt will be made to make the school premises a plastic-free zone. 

Social Sustainability: The village has already formed a school management board under Sarswati Foundation. Whenever possible, most work will be done by local people. In addition, students would be encouraged to come back and become teachers. 
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IMPLEMENTATION
The biggest challenge is to successfully navigate government corruption and bureaucratic hurdles. In addition to the challenges of securing funds and low-cost materials, there is also the challenge of making sure the funds are used for the purposes for which they are intended. We need to ensure that government corruption does not undo our efforts to build and sustain the school.  To confront these challenges, we will draw on my experience of launching a six-week peace camp in Arupokhari in summer 2009, which served 42 children and was funded by David Projects for Peace. We are ahead of our planned schedule so that such problems do not hinder our goals. We are also seeking help from experts and professionals. And direct talks with top leaders of political parties. Moreover, all of our events and financial transactions are recorded properly thus eliminating any doubt of corruption from government authorities. 
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IMPACT
Outcome: Restored access to education for children in Arupokhari
Metrics:
• Completion of school building and computer lab construction by June 2011.
• Number of enrolled students per year, beginning in Fall 2011.

Outcome: Intellectual development of Sarswati students
Metrics:
• Rates of student persistence in school
• Student performance on classroom tests and assignments

Outcome: Psycho-social development of Sarswati students, including skills for peaceful conflict resolution
Metrics:
• Positive teacher and psychologist assessments of student psycho-social development and conflict resolution behaviours
• Reduced rates of participation by Sarswati graduates in violence-prone youth wings
• Employment of Sarswati graduates as teachers in Sarswati or other peace promoting schools or organizations

Outcome: The impact of school on the village and beyond
Metrics: 
• Use of computer lab by villagers
• Peace and harmony in the village
• Initiation of other peace schools in Nepal or elsewhere  
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PROJECTED TIMELINE
Phase I: February-May 2010
• Working on massive fundraising drive (For e.g. on April 29 in Northfield, MN) in USA, UK and the Netherlands.
• Working with a team of architectures from Nepal and the United States to finalize the building designs.
• The local team in Arupokhari has started selecting companies to buy construction materials and hiring local construction company for the project.
• I have already started collecting books for the school library and contacting publishers and bookstores in Kathmandu for possible deals.
• Advertisements for teachers went out in early march and interview start in early July 2010.

Phase II: July 2010- March 2011
• Buy and transport construction materials to the project site.
• Finalize the local company that will begin the physical construction of school buildings from Mid-August 2010.
• Teachers training run from September to November 2010. 
• Purchase and transport books, computers and other resources to the project site by December 2010.

Phase III: December 2010- June 2011
• Admission begins from December 2010.
• Classes start from June 2011 and some of the construction will also be going on at the same time.
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THE TEAM

Subhash Ghimire - Project Director of Sarswati Peace School
Subhash is the founder and executive chairman of Sarswati Foundation. After having spent four months in helping war affected kids in Arupokhari, a remote village in western Nepal, he started the foundation to further the cause and help war affected kids attend school. FOR MORE INFORMATION SUBHASH, CLICK HERE
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Ania Lichota - International Director of Sarswati Peace School
Ania has climbed highest peaks on every continent except for Mt. Everest; which is planned for April and May 2010. Through her climbing Ania has raised money for UNICEF and Home Orphanage in her native Poland. With Everest climb she wants to raise money to build a Peace School in Arupokhari Village-4, Gorkha. She wants to invest in the better future of the world through educating young people.

Ania’s aim is also to commemorate two outstanding and world renowned Polish climbers, Wanda Rutkiewicz and Jerzy Kukuczka both of whom died while climbing mountains in Nepal.  Rutkiewicz   is regarded as one of the greatest woman mountaineers ever. She was the first European women and the first Pole to climb Mount Everest successfully in 1978. She died while descending from K2 in the summer of 1986.

Jerzy Kukuczka became the second man, after Reinhold Messner, to climb all 14 mountains higher than eight-thousand meters.  He died while attempting an alpine style climb of the unclimbed South face of Lhotse (8,516 meters) in 1989.

Ania apart of working full time for an Investment Bank in the City of London, she is a motivational and inspirational public speaker, mentor to high performing teams, personal and executive coach. She graduated from LSE in '97, got awarded a PhD in '06, worked for GE for 7 years (in 9 countries) and now works as a change program manager at UBS in London.

She lived and worked in 16 countries worldwide. Ania has NLP licence. Through climbing highest peak on every continent she's gained unprecedented insights into individual and group performance and psychology and how people deal with complexity and adversity in extreme environments. Ania translates her findings into a framework of self and leadership development. She trains others to achieve what they think is not possible by enhancing their beliefs, building self and cross-cultural awareness and empowering people to explore their true potential. Coming from communist Poland, which went through an economic and social transformation, she understands the need of giving young people a chance to develop and learn in love, free play and supporting environment.   MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ANIA CLICK HERE...
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For more information, please contact: 

Subhash Ghimire
Founder & CEO
Sarswati Foundation
subhash@sarswatifoundation.org