Should you wish to contribute to the Association and its projects, here are the ways you can help:
To see who has helped so far - visit our Donor Registe
Contribution of funds
Contributions can be made by:* mailing a cheque to: Quality Education Nepal Inc.
29 Blue Mount Road, Trentham, Victoria, Australia 3458
Should you wish to claim tax deductibility, please make your cheque payable to Rotary Australia Overseas Aid Account
We will forward it to RAWCS for issue of a tax deductible receipt. Make sure you include your name and address.
Otherwise you can simply make your cheque payable to Nepali Village Initiatives Association Inc.
* direct funds transfer to BSB 633-000, a/c 139743538, (please give your name as reference)
* PayPal from your bank account or credit card (AU$15.00 minimum, subject to credit card charges) by clicking the "Donate" button.
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In the latter cases we would appreciate you emailing info@nepalaid.org.au to advise of your contribution.
Alternatively you can send a direct remittance to RAWCS, BSB 033 688, Account Number 102902 quoting reference number 43/2009-10. The reference number is essential for the money to be attributed to our project. If you do this, please email info@nepalaid.org.au cc. gunnell1@bigpond.com giving details of your donation and your name and address for issue of a receipt.
Application of funds
You can if you wish nominate how you would like your funds to be applied. Presently the options are:
* English medium teaching programme (two teachers at Paudwar amd one at Gibung are presently costing around $4,500 per year)
* Khayer Barahi Milk
Production Co-operative Society Limited as a matching donation to contributions by villagers
* Teacher training program, focussing on how to teach rather than what to teach (experiental teaching rather than rote learning)
* Freight costs for "Donations in Kind" (see below). Air freight on a 100kg consignment of books to Kathmandu can cost around $600.
* General contribution, which could be applied to any of the above or to new initiatives that may arise in Paudwar or elsewhere.
Carriage of computers to Nepal
Our Rotary District (9800) operates a DIK store ("Donations in Kind") which specialises in sending donations to overseas countries, generally in container loads. In this project, we don't operate on that scale. We have on occasions sent goods by air freight, which is fine for books which are not subject to duty. Computers are another matter. The Nepali Government (admittedly desperate for cash) imposes ridiculous levels of duty, especially when you consider that the computers are donations which may be close to value-less in their country of origin, and are destined for government-owned schools and local communities in Nepal.
We have had to circumvent this by taking computers over whenever we travel. We've not had any problems, despite our group arriving in 2009 with 16 computers. Two parcels of them were put through the arrivals X-ray machine, but no questions asked.
Any traveller is entitled to carry at least one computer into the country without duty. What we ask is, if you are travelling to Nepal, please contact us at nepalaid@gmail.com. We can supply a computer which should fit well within your baggage limits (20kg + 10% leeway in economy class plus 7kg hand luggage). Take it with you and leave it at a nominated hotel in Kathmandu where we will arrange pick-up.
We've already had volunteers do this for us, which has been much appreciated.
Volunteering to visit the village
Should you wish to visit the village with a definite intention of assisting, please contact us. Probably the best form of assistance is simply talking with and reading to the children to improve their English. As noted elsewhere, much of the English teaching is done by Nepalis to whom English is a second language. Exposure to native English speakers in such ways as the reading of stories can be most helpful in complementing the efforts of these teachers.
Before volunteering, please be aware of the difficulties in reaching the village (including an arduous 4-hour climb), and of the relatively primitive living conditions. These include water supply from public taps; shared public toilets (squat toilets with water supplied by bucket); wooden beds with thin mattresses. Please check out the photo gallery to get a better idea.
Donations in Kind
We have in the past delivered or dispatched by air freight donations of computers, medical supplies and books. While these are always welcome, there are logistical problems. Computers - and probably medical supplies - incur burdensome customs duty if declared, which we have so far managed to avoid by taking them as accompanied baggage. Books, not incurring duty, have been sent as airfreight, but at a cost around $6.00 per kg. We only wish to send items of good standard - computers not less than Pentium 4s, and books in new or as new condition. We would need to review the suitability for the Nepali children of any books received. If you do have such items which you'd like to donate, please contact us. Contributions to freight costs would be much appreciated.
Support for the Association
The Association has only recently been established. If you would like to support it by joining the committee, by raising funds, gathering materials (books, etc.) that could be sent over to villages in Nepal, or in other ways, please contact us.
