Aftershocks, mountainous terrain and roadblocks could not stop the rebuilding of the Keystone Boarding School in Sindupalchowk, which reopened a year after the April 2015 earthquake.
CN PHOTOS: Daniel Poh
In April 2015, an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude struck Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people and injuring over 20,000. Partnering with Crisis Relief Singapore (CRS), City Harvest Church had dispatched five medical relief teams to Sindhupalchowk, the worst-hit area in eastern Nepal.
“During a medical relief trip to the province again early this year, we learned from our interpreter that his hometown in Simle, about a two-hour drive from Sindhupalchowk, had been severely affected,” says Kenneth Sim, the CHC pastor leading the relief work.
“The quake had destroyed three schools, and the children had nowhere to go to receive a proper education. Teachers were conducting lessons under the tree or canvas shelter.”
Compelled to help improve the situation, Sim, with the support of CHC, initiated efforts to rebuild the Keystone Boarding School in Sindhupalchowk, which comprises a kindergarten and a primary school.
Due to the school’s location on top a mountain, restoration efforts were delayed for four months.
“Around the Simle region, the areas are more prone to landslides and many roads were obstructed or closed. The project was pushed back further due to many aftershocks as well,” Sim recalls.
He also worked closely with the locals to source and transport building materials to mountain.
It was a challenging undertaking, to say the least, but one well worth the effort. The rebuilding was completed last month, and is currently staffed by
nine teachers, with an enrolment of 104 students.
“We were able to do all this because of the generous donations from the congregation of CHC and many who volunteered to go and help in one way or another,” says Sim.
