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Children living in a remote Nepalese community now have a new school thanks to fundraising efforts in Jasper.
The youth of Lisakhani lost their school in the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015.
The Shree Seti Devi School was one of 7,000 schools destroyed. About 9,000 people were killed, more than 22,000 injured, and four million left homeless.
And Raj Ghimire, a Nepalese native who has been living in Jasper since 2014, wanted to help.
He, fellow Jasperites and a team in Nepal joined together to create Mountains of Relief, a non-governmental organization.
And the fundraising and giving have been relentless.
Their biggest project yet, building the new school in Lisakhani, is now complete and pupils have a home to study in with working bathrooms and a safe water system.
鈥淭hey are very happy to have a roof,鈥� said Ghimire.
鈥淭hey were outside with no roof for two years and if it rained or was too windy they had to go home.
鈥淭hey are very happy, all the community are very happy, very thankful to all the people and supporters in the Jasper community.鈥�
But the $49,965 project was not an easy one to complete.
Ghimire said the community lives at an elevation 2,100 metres and is only accessible by a gravel road that floods in the rainy season.
Materials for the school were transported halfway from Kathmandu, Nepal鈥檚 capital six hours away, by truck then transferred to tractors for the gravel-road journey.
鈥淚t was very challenging for sure,鈥� said Ghimire.
鈥淭he cost of the transport was equal to the cost of materials and waiting for the non-rainy season was a big deal.鈥�
But it was all worth it in the end. Ghimire said it is 鈥渁 dream come true鈥� to have the school built and can鈥檛 wait for the next venture.
Mountains of Relief built a water supply system and hosted a traditional commencement ceremony in Lisakhani and that project is about to expand nationwide.
The NGO has also helped fund temporary shelters, given financial aid to new mothers and other earthquake victims for survival essentials, donated to the Shree Niranjana Higher Secondary School repairs and cleared rubble in the Langtang Valley.
鈥淭hank you to all the community of people in Jasper here all the friends and family who have supported us from Canada and all over the world,鈥� said Ghimire.
鈥淵ou have been always beautiful.鈥�
Mountains of Relief has fundraised in Jasper through donation jars, garage sales and music nights - and has received donations and support from all over the world.
Ghimire gave special thanks to Debra Cochrane from Dunster, BC, for donating ten per cent of every dollar sold at Jasper Farmers' Market.
