Projects that KIKN is involved in
Shree Neel Barahi Higher Secondary School
It is a big secondary school with 700+ pupils in 2010 when KIKN first become involved. With KIKN’s support, the school has grown from strength to strength. It now boasts of approximately 1300 pupils with a well- resourced Science lab, library and a huge nursery class. It is now a ‘Beacon school’.
KIKN introduced dancing, Karate and English tuition classes to improve the extra curriculum activities in 2011. 35 computers and Solar Panels were purchased in January 2013. Resources were increased to enable more children to take part in the various classes. KIKN continues to contribute half of the salary of a computer teacher and Karate teacher.
A breakfast club was started in 2012 with 100 children, increasing to 150 in 2018.
Through working together, KIKN had been able to send its first university student in June 2014. She was studying at Neel Barahi. She has since graduated in Business Studies. She was elected as a councillor in her residential area. She is now sponsoring a child in her own right, fulfilling her promise of helping another when she started working.
KIKN sponsors 2 children from the school still in the junior classes.
Lubhoo School
In January 2016 we received a very generous donation from Dr and Mrs Eric Fellows, the sponsors of two of our children, and we were able to take on Lubhoo School as our third school.
It is situated in the Lalitpur district of the Kathmandu Valley, a poor village some 7kms from the city centre (but 13kms via potholed roads). At the time there were approximately 250 children aged from 3 to 16 years. It is now staffed by a Headmistress and over 30 staff and helpers. It is a state school with basic facilities.
Together with a grant from Futures For Kids, we were able to purchase 20 computers, installed solar panels together with providing new desks and chairs. The school has also made the computers available for the local population to use as well. The extra funding also enabled us to set up a much needed breakfast club for 100 children at the school in 2016.
New class room furniture was purchased, as well as a new Science lab. A Reference library was also set up in preparation for the start of a newly approved vocational college in Engineering in April 2019.
KIKN now sponsors 6 children from the school, the majority of whom are in the junior classes.
Ishwor Adharbhot School
This little school sits in the most deprived area of Kathmandu.
In September 2016, when the Chief Officer was introduced to this school, there were only 50 pupils. The school is very poorly furnished in a small compound serving an extremely poor community where there are many beggar children. No school fees are payable. A breakfast club was set up in September 2017. This attracted the 30+ beggar children to start coming to school. The school roll now stands at 85-90. Attendance is erratic. The children now beg in the street before and after school.
KIKN purchased a computer, printer, table and chair for the school, and purchased food for the families of the 30 beggar children in 2017. The Nursery room was fully furnished with additional funding from FFK later in 2017.
During her visit in September 2018 the Chief officer was able to have an in-depth discussion with the English speaking principal to discuss their priorities.
It appears to be a well run school with limited resources to modernise/update their facilities. Their first priority was to have a fully funded breakfast club. KIKN set up a new breakfast club from April 2019 (KIKN’s 6th) for the school feeding 135 pupils a day.
Funding permitting, KIKN will support the school to achieve its aspirations for the future.
Shree Buddha Secondary School
This is KIKN’s 4th school. The school was set up over 50 years ago with a handful of children. It now has over 600 pupils with 26 teachers. It takes pupils up to Year 12 (A level) standard , but only in the Arts stream.
It is situated on the outskirts of the Kathmandu valley, surrounded by green fields and mountains. It is quite a rural spot. Apart from a few shops, most of the parents either work in the fields or as unskilled labour. Most exist below the poverty line.
KIKN started a new Breakfast club ( KIKN’s 7th) for 50 children on 1 Sept 2019, but has since increased this to funding 75 places, which the school has expanded with its own resources to feeding 150 young children.
With a recent unexpected donation, the 3 nursery rooms are being fully and completely refurnished to provide a conducive environment for learning for the over 60+ young children. In addition, 12 computers were purchased to start Computer Science study in the senior forms in the school. In 2020 KIKN started to fund a nursery class teacher/feeding assistant in view of the young age of many of the nursery class children, and this funding was increased in 2022.
Nepal Adarsha Secondary School
This school is KIKN’s 5th. A small Breakfast club (for 50 children) was started on 1 September 2019 which was expanded to 100 in January 2020.
An inner city school with very little outside space for sports. The school was set up over 60 years ago. It was rebuilt following the 2015 earthquake. The school buildings sit on both sides of a cul de sac.
It has a Smart class where e-learning is the norm. There were just over 300 pupils with 26 teachers when KIKN first started supporting the school. This has now grown to 400 in 2023.
The school hopes to set up a year 12 class next year to meet the governments requirement. This is a school catering for the children of manual and unskilled parents.
Shree Janavikash Secondary School
In early 2023, KIKN also started to support Shree Janavikash Secondary School. It is a government school also located in a very poor area, approximately 3km from Save Lives Foundation. Shree Janavikash school is on the banks of the Bagmati river, in an area where the establishment of a cement factory has led to an increase in the local population, and thus the opening of the school.
The school has 450, roughly split evenly between girls and boys. There are classes up to year twelve (6th form). After visiting the classrooms, the Trustees met with the school Principal and Finance Officer. They were given details of the school’s academic results, and their wishes to develop the school.
From early 2023, KIKN has funded tiffin for midday meals for 50 pupils.
Shree Guhyeshwori Bal Shikshya High School
KIKN began supporting Guhyeshwori Bal Shikshya High School in early 2023 funding midday meals for 50 pupils. It is a government school is in a slum area of Kathmandu city, about 4km form Save Lives Foundation. It is a relatively small school with 215 pupils, with slightly more girls than boys. Most of the children come from slums around the school. The school operates from nursery to year 10 (14-16 years old), with 23 teachers who are well-educated and Montessori trained, and the school has good educational results.
When the Trustees visited in 2023, it was reported that generally only around 130 pupils attend at any one time. It is a post-earthquake (2015) building, but only the façade appears modern.
Save Lives Foundation Orphanage
This was the first point of contact for Lai See when she started her journey in Nepal in 2008. Lai See returned to stay for a month every year until her passing in 2021 enjoying a growing close relationship with both the children and Uma Mathema, their host mother, treating Lai See as an additional family member.
Uma Mathema has acted as KIKN’s agent in Nepal since the start of the charity in 2011.
In January 2021 Uma officially discharged her legal liability for the children to the parents and village elders, when the young people living at the Orphanage were of the age to choose to stay living with Uma if they wished. This was because in Nepal it is not legal for orphanages to care for people over the age of 18. They all continue to live with Uma, other than Rajesh who is on an internship in Thailand. They all consider Uma to be a mother to them.
The 8 young people at the orphanage form part of KIKN’s sponsored children.
They are the brightest of all the children. 7 of them are now undergraduates at University, studying Pharmacy, Hotel Management, Business Administration, Mass communications, Law, Mathematics, and Psychology. 1 younger one is still in A-level classes, achieving excellent grades.
KIKN’s 24 Sponsored Children
The children come from the schools we support as well as some that are not. It is through the local knowledge of Uma Mathema that some of these children were brought to our notice. They include the 8 children from the Orphanage. The age range is 9 to 23 years of age. There are currently 18 girls and 4 boys out of the 24 we sponsor.
Apart from paying for the educational material and fees, all the children receive a monetary value from KIKN usually around the time of the Dashain Festival. This enables them to buy any new items of clothing required or spend it on food items for the festival.
KIKN now has 4 graduates who have completed their course of study, one an ex local councillor who is now doing a masters degree in Psychology, one now working in a bank after completing an accountancy degree, another who has just got a teaching job in the Kathmandu valley post degree and a recently qualified nurse in 2023. There are currently 14 of the 24 sponsored young people studying at university for various qualifications with the remaining 8 still at school level. KIKN is continuing to help all of the remaining 24 reach as high a level of academic attainment as they wish and the charity founder, Lai See Chew left a legacy to ensure that the charity can meet its promise to all the remaining students.
Updated April 2024