Bagrote School Appeal

SCHOOL EXTENSION

 

...see Ruth's Bagrote/Gilgit blog -

http://bagrotvalley.tumblr.com

 

This appeal, centred on the Bagrote valley in northern Pakistan, raised £7,500 towards an extension building for a community-funded school in the village of Datuchi. The school in question is run by a local NGO-registered self-help group, BASE (http://bagrot.org/text/base-1.html) who work to improve lives in the valley through open education and support for the poor.

 

The need for a new extension can be seen as a symptom of their success in doing this – pupil numbers have grown, and boys and girls now come from all over the valley to attend the classes.

 

The result is a chronic lack of space, with lessons needing to be taught outside, without chairs, desks, shelter etc. The extension will resolve this and allow all pupils to be taught in proper classrooms inside.

 

The extension had actually been planned and costed locally for some time, and some outside funding had already been secured. However, the sums involved were beyond the local community and the project was shelved due to lack of sponsorship. We are delighted to have been able to help in this respect, and to bridge the short-fall through our appeal, allowing the much needed work to go ahead.

 

We believe that this is a great project to support – the school is well run and well attended. As with all our campaigns, the extension will be undertaken at minimal cost, with significant local community involvement and without payments to intermediaries.

 

We would like to sincerely thank all those who contributed to this appeal.