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W&H supports Nepalese school

school in Gorakhani
Thanks to the generosity of W&H, and other donors, it was possible to get reconstruction work underway soon after the earthquake.

What links W&H to the small village of Gorakhani in the Nepalese Himalayas? It all began in the autumn of 2010 when Wilhelm Brugger, Head of Product Innovation 2 (Dentalwerk Bürmoos), set off on a journey which took him to the Solukhumbu district in the south of the Everest region. Over the course of a long trekking tour, he got to know two Nepalese Ngawang Pasang and Kaji Sherpa. Back then, they could not have known that they would still be in contact to this day.

Ngawang Pasang and Kaji Sherpa spend each winter at the Hochwurzenhütte, a mountain hut in Schladming (Austria), so as to work and earn money. When they are in Nepal, they are also involved in building a comprehensive infrastructure in their home village of Gorakhani. During their conversations together, Wilhelm Brugger found out about an aid project dedicated to building a new school in Gorakhani. In fact, he was so impressed with the commitment of the two Nepalese, that he reported back to W&H regarding the school construction project.

As a result, Peter Malata, decided to assist with the construction of the school by making a donation of EUR 10,000. Alongside W&H, other donors, including the Rotary Club of Salzburg, the Weltladen Laufen fair trade shop, the Gorakhani Welfare Society and many more, also added their support. This made it possible to fully finance and, following planning and preparatory work, successfully complete the construction of the school in Gorakhani within just six months between May and October 2011. In October 2011, the school opened its doors to 150 children and five teachers.

The two initiators, Ngawang Pasang and Kaji Sherpa, kept Wilhelm Brugger, and thereby W&H, up-to-date with all the latest activities. W&H has since lent further support to the school, helping to pay for a school library and providing teaching aids and laboratory equipment, computers with a power supply and musical instruments.

Support the building up

Windows and doors are salvaged.
Windows and doors are salvaged.
The school's facade is rebuilt.
The school's facade is rebuilt.
Many added their support.

Chance for a better future through education.

The school was running extremely well until there was an unexpected natural event in spring 2015, which caused a huge setback for the development work in Gorakhani. In April 2015, but mainly during a second earthquake in May 2015, countless facilities in the area were severely damaged, including the newly constructed school building. Various Austrian organisations, businesses and friends of Ngawang Pasang and Kaji Sherpa immediately expressed their willingness to come together and help with the reconstruction work in Gorakhani.

W&H also provided swift and nonbureaucratic assistance in rebuilding the school, making a financial contribution of EUR 8000. Thanks to the donation from W&H, as well as further financial contributions from the Rotary Club of Salzburg, the Eine Welt Gruppe (One World Group) in Bürmoos and additional donations made by private individuals and collected during talks, it was possible to begin the reconstruction work on the destroyed school building as early as the summer of 2015. A water supply project was also launched alongside the reconstruction of the school, with W&H again providing significant assistance.

»We have a long-term partnership and friendship that links us with Gorakhani. We are particularly concerned with the construction of the school, as we want to give the children in the area the chance to have an education. An education means a future and therefore the promise of a better life. We will also continue to support development work in the Nepalese region in future,«states Peter Malata.

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