WORKING HARD FOR EVERY DONATED EURO
Freiberg/Gati, Nov 13, 2016
The WACKER Relief Fund has not forgotten the people of Nepal. Their support in helping to rebuild and keep schools running has been ongoing since the 2015 earthquake. The South Asian country has still not recovered from the disaster and the torrential monsoon rains of 2015 and 2016 have destroyed important supply routes. Siltronic staff member Rüdiger Zschoke traveled through the region for three weeks in October 2016 with a group of students from the Geschwister Scholl High School in Freiberg, who are part of the Namasté Nepal student company.
“Since the heavy monsoon rains, villages in the mountains can only be reached with jeeps. Up until recently, all daily supplies had to be carried over an 8 km distance to Gati,” said Steffen Judersleben, who coordinates the Namasté Nepal student company. Improvisation is the order of the day: shelters are built with corrugated iron, wooden boards and tenting material.
The WACKER Relief Fund has been supporting the nonprofit student company since 2015. Founded in 2005, Namasté Nepal collaborates with a Nepalese aid organization in the building and running of schools and kindergartens in the Sindhupalchok province. The earthquake left a trail of devastation in Freiberg’s twin village Gati, situated around 100 km north west of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. The school in Gati, which will enable pupils to attend classes up to tenth grade, is to be reconstructed and seven primary schools are to be rebuilt in the surrounding villages in the mountains.
There are currently prefab classrooms for grades three to six and grade eight. Students in the seventh, ninth and tenth grades attend class in newer buildings that were spared severe damage. First and second graders are taught in corrugated iron huts. Village life congregates at the earthquake-proof kindergarten erected by Namsté Nepal, which fortunately suffered no damage at all. “This is where we cooked meals with the villagers,” said the pupils from Freiberg High School who visited in October with their teacher Anett Zschoke. “The hospitality of the people in Nepal was overwhelming,” said Siltronic’s Rüdiger Zschoke, who accompanied his wife on this trip. “The happiness and gratitude in the Gati children’s eyes rewarded our every effort,” said Isabell Kost, a member of the student company, in summing up the trip.
It is his third trip to Nepal and he expressed his “great respect for the Nepalese families who patiently deal with daily life under the toughest conditions without giving up.” He also commended the student company who works very hard for each and every donated euro. “Communication between Freiberg and Gati is usually by phone or email. Now we have been there in person and a warm friendship has developed. Precisely this cooperation is the basis of the school project’s success. And Namasté Nepal’s efforts continue undaunted despite the hurdles along the way.”
The WACKER Relief Fund has collected €100,000 for the reconstruction of schools in Nepal. The annual Nepal City Run has become a tradition in Freiberg. Twenty-two Siltronic employees along with seven members of the SV Siltronic sports club participated in this year’s charity run. The 1,192 rounds brought in close to €1,500 for the Nepal project.
You can read more about the Nepal project at www.nepalfreiberg.de. And take a look at the non-profit student company’s online shop: http://www.nepalfreiberg.de/cms/index.php/shop. Renowned Nepalese coffee, for example, would make a great Christmas present, or a beautiful Nepal calendar – all for a good cause.
Contact
Wacker Chemie AG
Public Affairs
Joachim Zdzieblo
Tel. +49 89 6279-1165
Email joachim.zdzieblo@wacker.com
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