Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

Do you have any good ideas to rescue a poor village in Nepal? How about education? Lumbini in Nepal, hometown of the Buddha, is poor, and many people cannot receive an education. Tzu Chi has built a preschool learning center in Sonbaha village in Lumbini, hoping to reverse the fate of poor children through education.

Landlord Ram Manoj Provides Land Willingly

Tzu Chi has cooperated with a community learning center in Lumbini to open the preschool education center. The most touching part is that landlord Ram Manoj provided his land free of charge to build a simple classroom to support the project.

He said: “Women in our village are uneducated. Because of poverty, they cannot send their children to school. Now the poor children can study in the preschool center.”

Simple Classroom, Difficult Work

The Nepalese volunteers who undertook the project built a sample house for practice. At the same time, this provided the opportunity of cash for work for villagers in Lumbini. But many difficulties remained when they started the construction.

Teoh Paik Lim (張柏林), a Tzu Chi volunteer from Malaysia, said: "It had been raining for several days since the third work day. But the whole team decided to wear raincoats and boots and continue the work to complete the simple classroom as soon as possible."

Pass on Skills

Maniram Pradhan, a Tzu Chi volunteer in Nepal. said: "The local volunteers are very hardworking. We hope to pass on these skills to them. One day, when they need them, they can do it themselves.”

One of the volunteers is a policeman, who only encountered Tzu Chi two months ago. He chose to take a two-week leave and came from Kathmandu to help the construction. He said: “I am very happy to learn a lot and I hope to participate in more activities like this—doing volunteer work. I want to do my best to help others.”

After the completion of the preschool education center, children from poor families nearby can go to school here. In the near future, they can live a better life using the knowledge they have acquired.

Through education, we can build a better world. Join Tzu Chi and let us stretch out our helping hand to the needy.

Story: Wu Nan-kai, Younis, Kiriti and Dushi from Nepal