Project Goal: 30,000 Mobile Schools
Content: Basic health, democracy/reconciliation/human rights, Bible stories/dramas
Languages: Tamang, Nepali, Sherpa, Chepang, Maithili, Magar, Tharu, Limbu
Population: 28,901,790
Literacy Rate: 48.6%
Religion: Hindu 80.6%, Buddhist 10.7%, Muslim 4.2%, Christian 1%, other 3.7%.
Project Summary: The larger Phase 2 scale-up project follows a very successful pilot project implemented in the Himalayan mountain region in 2006-2007. Even with the rugged and rural terrain, we are reaching an average of 150 Nepalese with each audio kit. The scale up project will reach at least 4.5 million over the next two years. This project builds on the original content of holistic training addressing community-wide issues. Content will be expanded to include democracy/human rights/reconciliation in addition to basic healthcare and Bible stories/dramas used in the first phase. Content will also be developed in seven other languages, reaching more Nepalese in their mother tongue. Distribution will concentrate in the rural and remote areas of Nepal, covering 48 of the 75 districts. SOS audio kits will be placed into communities at the Village Development Center level, utilizing the known and trusted leadership networks at that level. Where possible, church networks will help facilitate the distribution, positioning the church in the communities as agents of positive transformation, reconciliation, hope and healing.
Country Background
Since 1951, Nepal has been transitioning from a hereditary monarch to a constitutional monarchy to a parliament democratic system. In 1990, reforms established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A Maoist insurgency, launched in 1996, gained traction and threatened to bring down the regime. A parliament was established and dissolved several times since then. Most recently, after nearly three weeks of mass protests organized by the seven-party opposition and the Maoists, the king allowed parliament to reconvene on April 28, 2006. A peace accord between the government and the Maoists was signed in November, 2006.
Nepal’s status as one of the poorest countries in the world – with an average life expectancy of 62 years, low literacy rates, and limited access to safe drinking water, sanitation and immunization is underpinned by centuries-old caste-based, gender and ethnic discrimination. Over 80% of the population lives in rural areas, with a large majority remaining very poor and uneducated. Over half the population lives on less than one dollar a day. The enormously rugged terrain makes it difficult to access many of the rural communities with traditional media and training.